Father and Son: Winner of the
Southern Book Award by Larry
Brown
You'll Cheer The Ending Of This Gem.
Larry Brown is the master of the raw and the sparse and of bringing
Mississippi to the world in a language that is as stripped down and bare as
Faulkners is dense. Brown is at his best when he writes of the tensions
between one screwed-up man and another, in this case a father and son.
One has just been let out of prison, and he shouldnt have been. The other
is drunk and disabled and intends on staying that way. To make things
worse, there is a conflict with the sheriff, who is good and righteous but
who tried to put the moves on the parolees woman while he was in prison.
To tell more would be to violate Browns mastery of dialogue and of that
which goes unspoken in this sly story of father, son, and misery.
Personal Review: Father and Son: Winner of the Southern Book
Award by Larry Brown

This is a story that is the anthisis of The Prodical Son. Instead of a
repentent son asking fogiveness of his father, "Father and Son" by Larry
Brown tells of a rebellious son, Glen Davis, fresh from prison and angry
with the world.
Bobby Blanchard is the sheriff who put Glen in jail after he killed a young
boy while Glen was driving drunk. To add drama, Bobby is in love with
Jewel, Glen's girlfriend and the mother of Glen's illegitimate son. Think of
Gary Cooper walking down Main St. in "High Noon" and you have the
picture of Blanchard.
Glen's mother, Emma, died while he was in prison. Glen is a viscious
drunk treating everyone with hatred. This includes his father, Vernon, a
WWII vet who was wounded and partially disabled in the war.
Almost as soon as he gets to town, Glen takes his father's rifle and robs
and kills a local bar owner with whom he had a grudge.
Brown has written a compelling novel describing rural life in Mississippi in
the mid 1960's. In his detailing of the downtrodden, there are similarities of
fellow Oxford, Miss. native William Faulkner. In the descriptions of the
poor, the numerous misfortunes that befall them and their acceptance of
tragedy as a way of life Brown bears a strong resemblance to Steinbeck. I
could even view the characters here as kinfolk to the Oaklahoma
characters in "The Grapes of Wrath."
The history leading up to events in this novel include Vernon having an
affair with Mary, Bobby's mother. She became pregnant but by the time
Vernon knew of it, he was in the army and couldn't get leave. She married
another and he was killed during the war. Vernon only married Emma
after the war when she became pregnant with Glen. During his life, Emma
constantly spewed her hatred for Mary to Glen, she felt that Vernon was
having a prolonged affair with Mary.
The story is superbly written with tragic and heroic figures at crossroads.
Once finished, the story of Glen and his half-brother, Bobby, will stay with
the reader for a long time.
Highly recommended!
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