Losing Battles [Library Binding]

Eudora Welty (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2009

Three generations of Granny Vaughn's descendants gather at her Mississippi home to celebrate her 90th birthday. Possessed of the true storyteller's gift, the members of this clan cannot resist the temptation to swap tales.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Three generations of Granny Vaughn's descendants gather at her Mississippi home to celebrate her 90th birthday. Possessed of the true storyteller's gift, the members of this clan cannot resist the temptation to swap tales. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

One of America's most admired authors, Eudora Welty was born in Jackson, Mississippi, which is still her home. She was educated locally and at Mississippi State College for Women, the University of Wisconsin, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. She is the author of, among many other books, One Writer's Beginnings, The Robber Bridegroom, Delta Wedding, The Ponder Heart, Losing Battles, and The Optimist's Daughter. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439513198
• ISBN-13: 978-1439513194
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,399,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Resistance to the wit and warmth in this novel is futile, April 15, 2002

By 

D. Cloyce Smith (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Losing Battles (Paperback)

In "Delta Wedding" Eudora Welty explored the dynamics of a family wedding; "Losing Battles," which greatly resembles her earlier novel, is a similar yarn about a family reunion. The cause for the celebration is Granny Vaughn's 90th birthday, but the relations also gather for her grandson Jack's return from prison and to learn that the schoolteacher who had taught (and tortured) three generations of Banner's inhabitants has passed away that very morning.

Told almost entirely in dialogue, this novel reads like one of the lengthiest plays ever written. Welty moves from one conversation to the next, recording every word spoken by every character, rarely describing what they are thinking or how they are feeling, and supplying the "action" only when necessary. I can imagine that some might find this technique tiresome, but I couldn't stop turning the pages. Yes, it's a long read, but it's an easy one.

The novel displays Welty's usual small-town humor: townfolk so closely bound that they are unable to hold a grudge (Jack even comes to the aid of the judge who sentenced him), rapid-fire and droll sarcasm among family members ("What's a morning yell for?" "Mainly to show you're still alive after the night."), and rural parochialism and ignorance that are more endearing than disquieting. The one surprise (for Welty) is the pure slapstick of the situation created when the judge's car teeters on the edge of an incline--which it does for most of the length of the novel--and the family's various attempts to bring it safely down; the last chapter is more Keystone Cops than her usual high-brow Faulkner-style wit.

Like the book's many outsiders (Jack's wife, the schoolteacher, an aunt newly married into the family, the judge and his wife), the reader ultimately succumbs to the charm and magnetism of the Banner community. Any attempt to resist is just a losing battle.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great use of conversational humor, March 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Losing Battles (Paperback)

A friend of mine challenged me to find an example of a book that displays the one thing that remains Southern in our late 20th-century culture, and with Eudora Welty's "Losing Battles," I found it! Southern families have been strung across American since the end of World War II, but the one thing that keeps us together is the family reunion. Welty's work reconfirms this, and with her gift of conversational writing, created a masterpiece. If you're lonely for a bit of catching up on family information, even though the one depicted here may not be your own family, this one is it!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh Miss Welty--how you can tell a story!, August 29, 1998

By 

Mary A. Urry (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Losing Battles (Paperback)

It's true--hardly anything happens in this book--but I found the natural descriptions so beautiful--almost impresionistic and the unraveling of all the "tales" so fascinating! At first I was wondering how I could possibly be interested in the jailbird--Jack Renfro. But his own family loves him so. And I loved his darling little red-headed ex-schoolmarm wife. The irony of him saving the judge who sentenced him! It's so very funny. I laughed out loud. It's hard to tell who all the uncles and aunts are--but just read on--the stories will get told and it will become clear.