Customer Reviews

A Short History of a Small Place: A Novel

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This is a beautiful Southern novel that moves at it's own pace to paint a picture of a small town populated by unique individuals. It is told through the eyes and ears of a young boy, Louis Benfield. There is no pretense to the tale Louis passes on to the reader, merely a child relaying what he has heard being said between adults or to him by an adult. The naivete and the simple artless manner that Louis passes on the information he has heard in conversations is the key to this delightful tale. The stories all center at some point on Miss Myra Angelique, who was the beloved sister of the former Mayor.
The stories each take on a life of their own, but eventually find their way back to Miss Myra Angelique. This book is full of wonderful Southern sayings and "wisdom" that will leave you laughing at their simplicity and homespun quality. There is however an underlying complexity to this wisdom that weaves it's way into the Southern tale. T.R. Pearson leaves no stone unturned, even delving into the realities of prejudice and intolerance, not with any judgement involved, but as a part of the history of the town of Neely observed and interpretted through Louis's young eyes, heart and soul. T.R. Pearson can truly join the ranks of the true, great Southern writers. He portrays the Southern culture with delightful humor and honesty that evokes thoughtfulness and deliberation on the true meaning of the tale that has been carefully crafted with a casual feel.

"A Short History of a Small Place" is on my personal list of ten best American novels. Mr. Pearson is a Southern story-teller to the bone, interrupting himself, digressing, supplying minute detail, but always focusing on the main thread of the story, always evoking a sense of place, and always, always depicting characters whose eccentricities are both endearing and defining.

I first became acquainted with Mr. Pearson and this, his first-published work, in the mid '80s when I was living in North Carolina and heard this novel read on a radio program, a medium which suited it perfectly, given Mr. Pearson's conversational style. Soon after, I read it for myself, and have since reread it in entirety and in part, enjoying it even more with each new visit.

Through the eyes of young Louis Benfield, who though apparently innocent is a keen observer, the reader meets the inhabitants of Neely, NC and learns some of the history that causes them to do the things they do. The ancient Miss Pettigrew, who has never recovered from being jilted is a not-too-distant cousin to Miss Haversham. The Epperson sisters with their petition and seemingly unending quest, Louis's mother who washes dishes and stares out the window (behavior that the reader comprehends immediately, but Louis only gradually), the town Sheriff who is not as fearless as he seems to Louis, all are fully drawn portraits of endearing people.

Every year, close to Christmas time, I take out "A Short History" and re-read the Christmas pageant section in which Miss Pettigrew's appearance causes such a stir that the dog (that would be the dog playing the part of the donkey in the Christmas play) knocks over a candle and nearly sets fire to the whole church. It is both uproariously funny and completely recognizable for anyone who grew up in a small place (regardless of geography) and participated in the yearly church Christmas pageant.

Since "A Short History", I've eagerly awaited each of Mr. Pearson's successive novels and have enjoyed all of them;his humorous observation of human frailty remains keen. With each successive novel, he has tightened his style and honed his descriptive abilities, which is admirable, but I must admit that it was the expansive, langorous style of his first story -- a style of story-telling that took me back decades to a front porch, summer heat, and my grandmother's voice -- that I most admired and enjoyed.

I first read this book many years ago, and have read it several times since. Pearson is a first-rate storyteller, a modern day Mark Twain. A Short History of a Small Place is without a doubt the funniest book I've ever read, and of the hundreds of books I've read in my adult life, it's one of my top 3 all time favorites in any genre. His descriptions are hilarious and priceless. His narrative style had me hooked from the first page, and I've been a fan ever since. His description of the townspeople's actions and reactions during an rare snowstorm is hysterical. I've read that particular passage again and again, and laughed out loud every time. I find myself often reading passages aloud to someone else, because I just have to share the sheer joy and mastery in his writing.

The other two books in this trilogy -- Off for the Sweet Hereafter, and The Last of How it Was -- are also wonderful and brilliantly funny. But they are all stand-alone books. You don't need to read them in sequence. I've read all of Pearson's books, and A Short History of a Small Place remains my favorite. It's one of a kind, a thoroughly entertaining read.

There's really no present day writer who can compare to T. R. Pearson. He's an original. His narrative style will sweep you in, hold you captive, and leave you wishing for more after you've turned the last page. Pearson has written a true American classic.

I read this book more than 10 years ago, and I'm longing to read it again. I need to buy a new copy because I loaned out the original and haven't seen it since. My husband first read the book while he was attending summer school. Not being able to sleep in the dorm room on a hot, humid night in Minnesota, he read "A Short History" during the wee hours and found himself on the floor from laughing so hard. I found the book similarily entertaining. We often pulled it out and read parts of it to friends (It was great entertainment after dinner), especially the chapter where Pinky Throckmorton brings himself the nearest he's ever been to the seven deadly sins. The characters in this book are unforgetable. I want to read this again and delve into the world of "...and Daddy says..."

When my sister returned from a trip to souteast Asia she was laden with fabrics and carvings and all sorts of exotic, fabulous things. The first thing she pulled out of her bag and dropped in front of me was a beaten-up novel by a guy named T. R. Pearson. It had "Pullin Library" stamped in blue on the inside of its cover (which was still hanging on for dear life), and she'd found it on the table next to her bed at a hostel in Tibet. It had obviously been carried around and read by many travellers.

Since then I've read it twice and loaned it to several others. I figure that even if it weren't in such bad shape as to be unreadable I'd still have to replace it, since all who read it laugh so hard they end up sort of snorting, which can't be too hygenic. It's a book, after all, not a Kleenex. So if you're the fussy type, get your own, don't borrow. By the time you are finished you will never be able to think of weasles again without laughing.

Every person I've persuaded to read this book has loved it! This first of Pearson's novels introduces the reader to the unique geography created from his imagination, memory, and brilliant writing. The tone of the book is at turns hilarious, profane, heartwarming, and at times bittersweet with yearning for the vanished past. The stories told in the book, whether exotic and improbable or mundane and domestic, lace in and out of each other as characters collide, rebound, spin off in various directions and the narrator pours out an endless stream of penetrating and perceptive commentary along with the events. I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Pearson read from his more recent novel, Cry Me A River, which also should not be missed. His voice, once heard, sings in its perfect ability to convey his apparently tangled, but in fact elaborately and deliberately knotted golden fabric of fiction. If you love humor, brilliantly drawn eccentric characters, and convoluted storytelling to rival Tristram Shandy, read this book. Read sentences of it out loud to a loved one who loves to laugh. Read the whole thing yourself, laugh, feel sweet sorrow with the author for the passing of childlhood and an era, sigh.....and then go look for other Pearson novels, particularly The Last of How It Was, Off for the Sweet Hereafter, and Gospel Hour

This book was hilarious from the very beginning. As soon as I read the first page about Miss pettigrew trying to fly off the stump with the sheet tied around her neck, I was totally hooked. It has to be the funniest book I've ever read...and I've read a lot of books in my 14 years on this planet. I would recommend this book to anyone with a sense of humor..you'll laugh your head off.

I reread this book about once a year, and I have given perhaps
10-12 copies to friends. This is storytelling at its very best.
If you have ever been in a small town and listened to the locals
gossip at a sewing circle or on the porch of the general store,
you'll understand the writing style. It's rambling narrative,
told by the young boy Louis Benfield. One thread leads to
another thread, which leads to a third thread: eventually you
return to the first thread and make some progress before going
off again to another thread. At the general store in your small
town Fred will be talking about his sister Betsy: well, Betsy's
husband Will is one of the Smythville Jeeters, the ones whose
father JimBob stole Joe Parker's prize hog. So the locals will
talk a bit about Joe Parker, and eventually we'll get back to
Betsy.

This is most definitely NOT a book that you can read if you have
a lot of distractions, are generally fidgety, etc. You need time
and patience--it's like the finest coffee or wine--you sip it
rather than gulp it down. I gave a copy to a colleague: she
started it 5 times and could never get through more than a few
pages. Then she had some time free of distractions, read the
whole book, and loved it. You have to listen to the sentences
in your mind, just as you would listen to the locals at the
general store.

Every small town has its characters: those who are eccentric,
those who are "peculiar" (there's a difference). There is Miss
Pettigrew, whose pet monkey Mr Britches climbs the flagpole in
his coat and porkpie hat. There are the three Epperson sisters
who live together and dress identically, and who one day decide
that they are triplets, and start circulating petitions to have
people acknowledge their triplethood. There are plenty of
people who are not eccentric or peculiar, but who manage to
do things which attract comment. A young friend of Louis
Benfield has a pet guinea pig named Artemus Gordon. When
Artemus Gordon gets sick, the boy's friends speculate on the
cause: one friend insists the guinea pig has gonorrhea, a
disease he heard (vaguely) about from his older sister. When
Artemus Gordon dies, the boy wants to ensure that he goes to
Heaven, so at an open-casket funeral (very common in the South)
he quietly places the dead guinea pig in the coffin when nobody
is looking. The furry dead beast, nestled beside the dear
departed, is soon discovered, causing quite a flurry. The book
is full of such stories. You find yourself developing a real
affection for Neely, North Carolina, and its people, and you
feel that you know the town and people well.

A real treasure!

The brilliance of this novel is the narrative voice-- a child observer who remains wholly unbiased, deadpan, as he relates the raucously funny antics of a gaggle of strongly opinionated townspeople. These are Dickensian-quality characters you appreciate even if you have never lived in the South. A laugh-out-loud funny read.

This is a book that I did not ever want to come to the end of. I thoroughly enjoy reading stories told through the eyes of children (To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer, Catcher In The Rye, to name a few), and A Short History Of A Small Place ranks with the very best of those stories. I admire the author of this book greatly because I think adults are quick to forget how we viewed the world as children, and T. R. Pearson remembers incredibly well and is able to remind/involve his readers and take them back to those times. This is a book that literally makes you laugh out loud and leads you to re-reading certain parts because they were so enjoyable and made you think to yourself "Hey, I remember exactly how that felt!" How wonderful that Pearson could so succinctly put into words feelings and senses that are all too often unexpressable. I truly admire Pearson for his magnificent writing. It's a wondrous story that I will always remember. And I will read it again and again.