Customer Reviews

The Schooling of Claybird Catts

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4 star:		(1)
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I've read and loved all of Janise Owen's books, My Brother Michael, Myra Sims and The Schooling of Claybird Catts. However, this third book hit a Southern Cord with me. Looking through the eyes of a child, the eyes of innocence facing some grown-up issues, makes this story extremely honest and real. It was wonderful; a must read for eveyone, even if you're not from the South.

Few writers have captured so much of the true Southern experience as Janis Owens. She has the discerning eye and sensitive spirit to do so not just once, but again and again with her trilogy of the Catts family. In her most recent edition to "the family", The Schooling of Claybird Catts, Ms. Owens portrays the innocence of the main character, Clay and the betrayal he feels when that innocence is abruptly lost to unraveling skeletons hiding in secret family closets. Claybird (as the family calls him) brings us into the flesh of his flesh as we experience the loss he feels over the death of his father, his longing to belong, his desire to know the truth behind the perpetual whispers of his existence, and like all of us, his need to be loved and accepted for who he truly is.

Ms. Owens writing reflects the richness of detail from stories that have been passed down from one generation to the next. And, of someone that has heard numerous versions of the same stories. Each novel portrays the truth as it is revealed through the eyes of its lead character resulting in layers of various depths and dimensions of this family's history. As any true Southerner would agree, it takes a multitude of voices to tell one story and thankfully, the Catts family has members that are willing to talk. In the fullness of their "telling," the complicated intricacies of their sins are revealed and, in due time, the saving grace that sustains them till the end.

Janis Owens perfectly captures her characters and brings them to life, incorporating them into our collective memory and making them our own. It is refreshing to read the words of a true Southern author with her ear open to the voices of the past while her characters determinedly, keep moving forward. Delightedly, we are able to take each new step with them.

I highly recommend that readers enjoy each of the Catts family books, buy them in triplicate, and read them back-to-back, but that they begin their journey with The Schooling of Claybird Catts. Clay is the perfect person to open the door to this simple yet complicated family, their powerful faith, quiet desperation and eventual victories.

Had no idea what to expect when I picked up this novel - and was hooked by the end of the first chapter. A marvelous tale, and told so well - Janis Owens is a wonderful fresh voice, another great Southern writer who has the kind of story-telling ability that draws the reader in without guile or the predictable plot twists and turns that have become the norm these days. Such a satisfying read, one that left me wanting more. A great book. Looking forward to reading her other books, and the next one she comes out with.

I've read all of this author's books and her writing has matured with this latest. It's my favorite of all three. Highly recommended. I loved it.

Our club found this on our library booksite and fell in love. It's about Clayton Catts who is a young man who is dealing with his father's death and his unknown uncle. Book book is not tragic but funny,southern but not too southern, and most of all just touching. Men even liked this book and we never agree on that!!

I was knocked out by My Brother Michael and immediately turned to The Schooling of Claybird Catts for more of Janis Owens' literary enchantment. I wasn't disappointed. Like Faulkner revealing life's complexity through multiple viewpoints in The Sound and the Fury, this book returns to the mesmerizing events of her first novel, only this time as seen through the eyes of young Claybird. The reader comes away from this story again as if emerging from a dream or spell, with a deep feeling for the humanity of these characters and something of the tragedy, the comedy, the sheer mind-boggling dimensionality and the bittersweet mystery and wonder of human experience. Claybird Catts is a revelation and a delight. While so much literature coming out of the South these days seems self-indulgent, self-parodying, as memorable as a trip to Walmart, Janis Owens is the most engaging and deeply satisfying writer of Southern fiction I have come across in decades. Every word she writes rings true, including "a", "an" and "the."

I read The Schooling of Claybird Catts because a bookseller recommended it to me as a book like The Secret Life of Bees, and she was right! This is a wonderful southern setting and the kind of characters we expect in that setting-quirky, entertaining and totally original.

I loved this book.

I was recommended this book by my bookseller and loved it. Its a story of a young boy and a lot like my brother and me. There is a scene that exactly happened to us. I don't know who this books sounds like. I reminded me of Truman Capote's early southern stories. A+++

There's something about the deep South that calls out for unraveling. What is the hidden mystery?
Some people are satisfied to see what they think they see. But not novelist Janis Owens. She brings all the ghosts out from the shadows. She wants the real story. It's the real story that we all want because it is only the real that changes our lives and makes us human. And in this wonderfully crafted, sad, funny and romantic book is that look beneath what we think we know that rewards us with a flash of understanding. It's all here: wealth, sibling rivalry, incest, family betrayals and falling in love forever, twice.

Like the kiss. His mother was supposed to kiss his uncle Gabe for show, for friendly, for ceremonious. But even her eleven-year-old son saw a different and unexpected connection. "I actually glanced around the room, wanted to ask someone: What was that? Did you see that?"

I stayed up until 3AM to finish it.

I loved this book. It is the best one of the trilogy and wrapped everything up very well. You relly need to read the other two first..."My Brother Michael" and "Myra Sims". I look forward to reading more books by Janis Owens.