Uke Rivers Delivers (Yellow Shoe Fiction) [Paperback]

R. T. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2006 | Series: Yellow Shoe Fiction

In the best tradition of southern storytelling, Uke Rivers Delivers features raconteurs as beguiling as the tales they tell. These lyrical, darkly humorous monologues portray a range of denizens of the American South desperately trying to come to grips with their inherited pasts. A Confederate reenactor receives a message from the beyond to lay to rest the remains of Stonewall Jackson's horse. A docent at Washington and Lee University's Lee Chapel offers prim instruction on the facts and legends about "the General" with both reverence and irony. The young son of a lewd, alcoholic, self-dubbed evangelist acquires the wits—and the will—for survival by protecting the family's sunflower crops. A midget ukelele virtuoso is so surprised by his own eruption into violence that he can attribute it only to genetics. One of Jeff Davis's fellow cross-dressers; the killer of John Wilkes Booth; a Rebel deserter whose superior exacts his pound of flesh—all these characters and more, through their twisted and torn vernaculars, seek understanding and revival in R. T. Smith's superb collection. AUTHOR BIO: R. T. Smith's fiction has been published in Best American Short Stories, New Stories from the South, Best American Mystery Stories, and two Pushcart Prize anthologies. He is the author of thirteen volumes of poetry and has received the Library of Virginia Poetry Award. Raised in Georgia and North Carolina, he now lives in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He is the editor of Shenandoah:The Washington and Lee University Review.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These 14 monologues are not so much short stories as Robert Browning–like soliloquies. In them, poet (Split the Lark) and Shenandoah editor Smith shows history dominating current Southern life. An obsessed Civil War re-enactor follows the bidding of the ghost of Stonewall Jackson, stealing the taxidermied remains of his horse in "Little Sorrel." Sybil Mildred Clemm Legrad Pascal, a docent at Lee Chapel of Washington and Lee University (the Virginia school where Shenandoah is based), offers her own views of the general's life. In the title story, a short ukelele player, Parham "Uke" Rivers, tells his eventful life story, which involves some dirty business with his driver and nurse-lover Sunny (whose "hospital costume in the bedroom was a special treat"), but which centers on his love for the lovely, departed Stella. Smith does a credible job with his various players' down-home diction, but their tics and concerns never coalesce into character, standing out like items in a curio shop. (Oct.)
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From the Publisher

"Fifteen stories rooted in Southern history, from a prizewinning poet. Smith, editor of Shenandoah, has an ear for the Southern vernacular and a fondness for eccentric--if not grotesque--characters. All but one of the stories are monologues by the central figure, who is often a participant in some historical event. In "Trousseau," one of Jefferson Davis's guards tells of the Confederate president's capture by the Union army, when Davis was reported to have been disguised as a woman. "Shooting Booth" is presented as a first-hand account by Boston Corbett, who killed Lincoln's concerned assassin. In "I Have Lost My Right," the narrator meets a courier from Stonewall Jackson's command. Other stories look at history from a remove: "Docent" is narrated by "Miss Sibby," who shows visitors Robert E. Lee's tomb on the grounds of Washington and Lee University, and the narrator of "Little Sorrel" reports visitations by Stonewall's ghost. Not all deal with the war. The title story is told by a midget ukulele virtuoso who discovers that his wife is unfaithful. And the opening story, "Jesus Wept," is told by a farm boy whose father decides that God has spoken to him when lightening strikes their outhouse. Smith laces these stories with humor, often (as in "Docent") at the expense of the heroic Southern tradition the narrators believe themselves to be upholding. The dialogue seems stilted at times, especially in the pieces with 19th-century settings, where it reflects the flamboyant rhetoric of that era. Still, combined with the author's fondness for sometimes arcane bits of lore--models of Martin ukuleles, or details of Jackson's campaigns--this tendency may limit readership. That would be a shame.

At their best, these flavorful pieces reside firmly in the tradition of great Southern storytelling." - Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 142 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (October 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807131873
• ISBN-13: 978-0807131879
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,774,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uke River does Deliver, January 26, 2007

By 

Southern Bard (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Uke Rivers Delivers (Yellow Shoe Fiction) (Paperback)

This is a wonderful, poetic short story collection. The writing is like lightening. Some of stories (Uke River Delivers & Bitterwolf) rank among the finest stories I've ever read.

R.T. Smith's writing, though charged, controlled, and always rhythmic is sometimes hard to follow. But so is Laurence Durrell and James Joyce. And, I dare say, they couldn't write stories with such historical, emotional flair.

I highly recommend this to anyone, especially those interested in intelligent, Southern literary fiction.