No, it’s not the goldfish or one of the cats. James Agee wrote “A Death in the Family“sometime from the late 30s into the 40s but it wasn’t published until after his death. Our brown-edged paperback copy dates from the early 70s but I hadn’t read it until recently. Just the story of a death in a very ordinary family in the US but told through the eyes of various members, from the victim himself to his wife and his young son and daughter. Astonishingly well imagined. It’s very strongly in the tradition of North American writers, particularly Faulkner, perhaps, but also people like Sherwood Anderson and Hemingway. Despite having studied American Literature some 4o years ago, I find it hard to define what makes so many American novelists (especially those late 19th and 20th century men) so distinctive. Maybe if I read on, and re-read, I’ll get to it.
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