Sap Rising [Hardcover]

Christine Lincoln (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2001

In this spare and mesmerizing debut work of fiction, Christine Lincoln takes us inside the hearts and minds of African Americans whose lives unfold against a vividly evoked Southern rural landscape. As they navigate between the old and the new, between youth and adulthood, they find themselves choosing between the comforts of what they trust unquestioningly and the fearsome excitements of what they might come to know.

An abandoned seven-year-old girl living inside a fantasy of invisibility . . . a young woman weighing the life she’s expected to want against the freedom that will transport her to the unexpected . . . a boy whose world is both expanded and contracted by stories he hears from a beautiful stranger—the characters who inhabit this
profoundly moving collection are brought to life with a remarkably light touch and an extraordinary depth
of insight and emotion.

Christine Lincoln possesses a gift of great originality. In Sap Rising, she proves herself one of those rare writers whose work transcends its own rich particularity to speak with stunning clarity to the most fundamental elements of the human experience.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In her debut collection, Sap Rising, Christine Lincoln gives us 12 linked stories of life among the black folk of Grandville, a small town in the rural South. Her characters are drawn to the city, but once there, they want to return to the country. Likewise, her prose pulls back and forth: a stark minimalism of form plays against a lush lyricism that reads at times like Southern-fried magical realism. In the opening story, "Bug Juice," young Sonny sneaks out of his bed and glimpses a wider world when his uncle brings a magnificent enchantress to visit from the city. The boy and the woman sit outside on the porch in the dark together, and Sonny comes to a strange new understanding of his own blackness. The whole town, it seems, dreams of escape--from the country, from poverty, from racism, from life itself and all its failures. --Claire Dederer

From Publishers Weekly

Abandonment and acceptance, city versus country living, and the aching desire for freedom are the themes of the 12 linked short stories gathered here. Gently and skillfully, Lincoln leads readers back and forth in time collecting and juxtaposing fragments of stories set in a town called Grandville, in the rural South. In "Bug Juice," nine-year-old Sonny gets a taste of grown-up dreams and desires when his uncle comes to visit with a city woman "the color of ripened mulberries," who tells him stories about "Af-free-ka." Later on, in "All That's Left," Sonny appears again as one of a group of friends who decide to gang up on a prissy girl, Pontella. Pontella is the daughter of Ebbie Pinder, who runs away from Grandville and returns with baby Pontella, only to desert her three years later. When she realizes her mother isn't coming back, in "A Hook Will Sometimes Keep You," Pontella comes to believe she is turning invisible, though her Aunt Loretta loves her dearly. Lincoln's language can be trite and self-consciously folksy, and her tales fit a little too snugly in the mold of down-home Southern storytelling, but she supports their sentimental trappings with harsher truths. (Sept.)Forecast: Lincoln has already been the subject of a number of feature stories in national publications since she won a major writing prize as a graduating senior and 34-year-old single mother at Washington College in Maryland. A 12-city author tour and national print advertising are supporting this title, but it may fall between the cracks, being too literary for readers of commercial African-American fiction and too soft focus to succeed as literary fiction.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1st edition (September 11, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375421408
• ISBN-13: 978-0375421402
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,201,577 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:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Stories!, April 13, 2002

By 

jahva28 "jahva28" (St. Louis, Mo United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sap Rising (Hardcover)

I first heard about this book on The Oprah Winfrey Show about a year ago, and although I don't usually share the same fervor on books that Oprah does, I did enjoy this collection of 12 short stories on the lives on Grandville, MD residents. I found the stories to be heartfelt and I was left with thought after reading each story. I especially enjoyed the stories about Boag and also Cinny. The writing was very descriptive in a lyrical sort of way and I was able to visualize the surroundings as if I were there. What majic words can bring to the imagination. Great debut of short stories.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare Gem, January 17, 2012

By 

Word Nerd - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sap Rising (Paperback)

As a Literature and Composition teacher, I am always on the lookout for a new worthwhile read, especially one I can recommend to my district's recommended reading list. I found a proof edition of this at our local used book store and read the first story sitting on the floor of the shop. I found Lincoln's spare, poetic voice mesmerizing and the stories moving and quietly powerful. This collection reminded me very much of Joyce's The Dubliners. An amazing debut for an author I hope we see more. I look forward to seeing this one discussed in classes to come.Dubliners (Penguin Popular Classics)

5.0 out of 5 stars A new voice taking root, April 22, 2003

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sap Rising (Paperback)

Date Reviewed: April 1, 2003

A new voice in literature is screaming to be heard, as I learned from reading SAP RISING by Christine Lincoln. A collection of short stories reminiscent of Maxine Clair's Rattlebone, SAP RISING incites a hunger in the reader that is satisfied only by turning page after page.

The stories center around characters living in the South during a post World War II America, but their voices are even more resonant than the setting. In these pieces, whose names flow poetically with their storylines, events take place that make you suck in your breath in wonderment, and, at times, heartbreak.

Rather than tell you about each story, its plot, and the key players, I will tell you that if you enjoy fierce writing and in-your-face characters, this is a book you will want to read.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers