On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Here's the place to begin our discussion of Poachers by Tom Franklin. No spoilers, please.

Mike

I am not a hunter. I am not an outdoor person. I am not the rough and ready type at all. I do not play contact sports – or, for that matter, much any sport. Not even poker or darts. I walk the dog. I read. I take care of all of my ADLs as necessary.

I do live in the south in the Bible Belt and try to acknowledge that by paying some attention to southern literature. I joined the GR group On the Southern Literary Trail some time ago and have discovered quite a few new authors as a result. I have just recently come to understand that there is a genre sometimes called Grit Lit. I guess grit can refer to the food made from corn or to the abrasive made from fine sand.

So I am surprised when our author Tom Franklin writes:

What am I doing here at the Blowout, during hunting season, without a gun? It’s a familiar sensation, this snag of guilt, because when I was growing up, a boy who didn’t hunt was branded as a pussy. For some reason, I never wanted to kill things, but I wasn’t bold enough to say so. Instead, I did the expected: went to church on Sundays and on Wednesday nights, said “Yes, ma’am” and “No, sir” to my elders. And I hunted.

Hardscrabble from the start. Engaging, tight writing. Raises my eyebrows at my own family roots.

I can't say I wasn't given fair warning. I have the anthology Grit Lit on my TBR shelf and have actually read some of the stories in it. But as I am reading Poachers I am just finally getting a sense of what "grit lit" actually is, the "hardscrabble" as Judi calls it. And I am not sure that, as a genre or type, I like it. Being a "hunter" is not a part of my family tradition.

Larry, I suppose a certain amount of what I've written on occasion could be called "grit lit" by some. The author Larry Brown was known for being one of the first purveyors of that particular sub-genre of Southern literature. My problem with those who would be pegged as "grit lit writers" is that I have no desire to be mired in only that narrow wedge of the Southern experienc when it comes to storytelling. This is true of myself as a reader and in my own writing. It is certainly a streak of what constitutes the South--and me--and a particular breed within that world. But I prefer for there to be balance and for those characters to have their place within it and the tension that exists betwixt them in relation to others of differing social strata and manners. Grit lit is fine to a point, with me. But too much endless grit makes Randy a dull boy.

Randy wrote: "But I prefer for there to be balance and for those characters to have their place within it and the tension that exists betwixt them in relation to others of differing social strata and manners. Grit lit is fine to a point, with me. But too much endless grit makes Randy a dull boy."

Maybe that sums up my recent experience, Randy: too much grit is wearing me down. I need more corn, less sand. Can't say Tom Franklin doesn't exhibit some very fine writing skills in Poachers, though.

He’ll be waiting on my steps early one morning as I’m getting home from work. He’ll crack jokes about punching a time clock. He’ll tell me he sold the Triumph in Tempe, Arizona, and moved in with a Navajo woman for too many months, then stole her Trans Am and drove to California to live with his friend Laura, an actress. That he got a bit part in a Robert De Niro gangster film and somebody recognized him and the FBI found him and he did time. That when he was released after two years, he rode the bus east across the country. He watched the states pass him by, buttes and deserts and oil wells and famous rivers and markers of historic events. Outside El Paso they passed a huddle of Mexicans standing in their yard watching their house burn down. In another bus he crossed Louisiana during the dark early morning hours with a plastic flask in his pocket, watching his cigarette tip glow in the window, reading the names of places and trying to remember if he knew anybody from there.

But do I really want to get to know anyone like him? Maybe not right now.

Randy wrote: "Larry, I suppose a certain amount of what I've written on occasion could be called "grit lit" by some. The author Larry Brown was known for being one of the first purveyors of that particular sub-g..."

Randy, I hear you. However, I think the genre is much broader than you imply. Here's the link to Grit Lit: A Rough South ReaderGrit Lit: A Rough South Reader published by the University of South Carolina. http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/books/2012... .

In following your thoughts about this genre, consider how Tom Franklin's writing has changed since Poachers. The degree of violence spiraled up in Hell at the Breech and more so in Smonk. However, there is a distinct change in Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. His latest written with his wife Beth Anne Fennelly, The Tilted Worldis considerably milder.

So you hear the voices of Grit Lit writers modulating on different frequencies. However, predecessors to our contemporary authors could easily fit the Grit Lit mode, including Erskine Caldwell, Cormac McCarthy, and Harry Crews.

You are only mired in Grit Lit if you allow yourself to be. I do prefer it to moonlight and magnolias. Just my two cents.

Mike

I don't allow myself to be mired in any sub-genre of Southern literature. So, no worries. Like I stated, many folks would probably assign much of my output as a writer to the "grit lit" sub-genre. Personally, I find it all a bit unnecessary. There's nothing new here. But, to each his own. The only real links I see betwixt the aforementioned authors is a certain Southern bent and works that have often focused on working class folk in a pseudo-realistic way.

Apologies for my deviation on the debate of "grit-lit", but regardless of the genre, Franklin's earnest introduction "Hunting Years" has me primed and craving more.

Although I did not grow up in Alabama, I was born into a hunting family. Making our daily pilgrimage through "the kudzu netted graveyard" that was our environs during hunting season, deer hunting was more than just a hobby for my family. It was a way of life, bringing a certain perspective to how one viewed the world at large. Even as a child I realized it was as if redemption could only be found at the bottom of a Budweiser or in the blood of a fresh kill (quasi-Biblical, yes?).

Like the author, I occupied a liminal position in this lifestyle. Though I preferred books to bullets, I became a seasoned hunter by the age of 9. And yes, I was privy to the ceremonial bloodbath that accompanies one's first kill, and as grotesque as the experience was, even as a youth, I came to understand that this blood, my kill, was my passageway to respect from my family and the community.

Given all of this and my love for evocative, razor sharp imagery, I look forward to see how Franklin's fiction unfolds.

Casey wrote: "I look forward to see how Franklin's fiction unfolds."

Can't wait to hear what you think! I think this is his first book and his journey as a "grit lit-ist" has varied in roughness over the course of his writing career as has been noted in earlier posts. Crooked Letter was my first from him and I have found his softer version of grit more appealing. I have his most recent The Tilted World (written with his wife) on my wish list.

I look forward to seeing how others take to this author's first book since I think many of us have read his later work as a part of this group. I am glad to move on to the other books we have on The Trail for July. Early in the month for a review, but here's mine: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

I just started this last night. I really loved Franklin's introduction and stories from his childhood centered around deer hunting. And maybe there's a problem with my perception, but the first story "Grit" read more like a comedy to me than a dark tale. Of course, being a woman, I am all too ready to see those male characters as bumbling idiots. Go, Jelalah!

I have read 4 stories so far, and am impressed with Franklin's talents in his first book. It's not always the case than an excellent novel writer can do short stories equally well, and vice versa, but Tom Franklin has no trouble with that. The 4th story, "Blue Horses" is very understated, and quite powerful. So far I like these a lot. They take me back to the type of people I grew up around. Alabama rednecks are not that different from NC rednecks, and every word rings true.

Finished! "Poachers" is the last story in the book and definitely my favorite. These stories get progressively darker in tone, but every one is a jewel.

Diane wrote: "Finished! "Poachers" is the last story in the book and definitely my favorite. These stories get progressively darker in tone, but every one is a jewel."
I share your perspective, your rating and the last story, Poachers, is my favorite as well.

My first impression is this is not my kind of reading. Being more specific, I don't care for these particular stories. They are too harsh and they don't have enough structure and there are too many throw away sentences. I will give you some specific examples in my final appraisal.

I have read the first four stories and I love his writing, if not the content, his grasp of place and time is almost flawless. He really draws me into these stories whether I want to be there or not.

Liked the writing but not all of the content. Poachers was favorite because to me it was the darkest and most unique.