Legendary Author James Still's Final Novel

Available from The University Press of Kentucky--April 2011 152 pages • 5.5 x 8.5 $21.95 cloth 978-0-8131-3372-0 Fiction

Chinaberry
James Still
Edited and with an Introduction
by Silas House

Afterword by Carol Boggess

Celebrated as the “Dean of Appalachian Literature,” James Still has earned the appreciation of audiences in Appalachia and beyond for more than 70 years. The author of the classics River of Earth (1940) and The Wolfpen Poems (1986), Still is known for his careful prose construction and for the poetry of his meticulous, rhythmic style. Upon his death, however, one manuscript remained unpublished. Still’s friends, family and fellow writer Silas House now deliver this story to readers, having assembled and refined the manuscript for publication.

Chinaberry, named for the ranch that serves as the centerpiece of the story, is Still’s last and perhaps greatest contribution to American literature. Chinaberry follows a young boy as he travels to Texas from Alabama in search of work on a cotton farm. Upon arriving, he discovers the ranch of Anson and Lurie Winters, a young couple whose lives are defined by hard work, family and tragedy. Still’s entrancing narrative centers on the boy’s experience at the ranch, highlighting the importance of home, whether it is defined by people or a place.

In this celebration of the art of storytelling, Still captures a time and place that are gone forever and introduces the reader to an unforgettable cast of characters, illustrating the impact that one person can have on another. A combination of memoir and imagination, truth and fiction, Chinaberry is a work of art that leaves the reader in awe of Still’s mastery of language and thankful for the lifetime of wisdom that manifests itself in his work.

James Still (1906–2001) was the author of several works of fiction and poetry, including River of Earth, The Wolfpen Poems and From the Mountain, From the Valley.

Silas House is the bestselling author of Clay’s Quilt, The Coal Tattoo, Parchment of Leaves and Eli the Good. House is National Endowment for the Humanities Chair in Appalachian Studies at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky.

“Chinaberry is the capstone of James Still’s extraordinary career. It is brilliant—dark and hilarious by turns, beautiful and chilling, perhaps the most original coming of age story ever written, with a mystery lodged right in the heart of it.” —Lee Smith, author of Saving Grace