Customer Reviews

The Untidy Pilgrim (Deep South Books)

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I loved this book. The cast of characters can't be beat and the description of life in Mobile at the time made me think how different it is now, but how it hasn't changed at the same time. Anyone who read "Milking the Moon" should read this as well - I'd recommend reading it afterwards so you can appreciate Walter's view of the world.

An Untidy Pilgrim enjoys a cult following in Mobile, Alabama, because Mobile native Eugene Walter uses the book to provide a vivid description of the way things were here "back in the day." Today, Pilgrim stands as a sweet, coming-of-age story that reminds of us how much society has changed over the years.

Pilgrim concerns a young man's coming of age during an action-filled season. The best aspects of Pilgrim are its: a) vivid, eccentric people, b) depiction of a bygone era, and c) "cozy" plot that will give readers a warm fuzzy. Pilgrim also contains interesting settings that "come alive" for the reader.

As a Mobilian, I enjoyed this book. But I'm not sure that it is for everyone. The novel drags a bit too much in the middle and I had to plow through it a little bit. Moreover, some of the twists in the plot were far too easy to predict.

In the end, Pilgrim is a book that Mobilians and those who came of age in the South during the 1940s and 1950s will enjoy. Others probably will want to look elsewhere for the best in Southern fiction.

I read about this book in a Pat Conroy book, his newest cookbook. And since he presented this author as an intersting character, I decided to purchase the book. Well, that was a bad decision. I waded through about forty pages and did something I seldom do: I tossed it away, but in a recyle can. May it become a better book in its next life.