Larry Brown has been a force in American literature since taking critics by storm with his debut collection, Facing the Music, in 1988. His subsequent work—five novels, another story collection, and two books of nonfiction—continued to bring extraordinary praise and national attention to the writer New York Newsday called a "master." In November 2004, Brown sent the nearly completed manuscript of his sixth novel to his literary agent. A week later, he died of a massive heart attack. He was fifty-three years old. A Miracle of Catfish is that novel. Brown's trademarks—his raw detail, pared-down prose, and characters under siege—are all here. This beautiful, heartbreaking anthem to the writer's own North Mississippi land and the hard-working, hard-loving, hard-losing men it spawns is the story of one year in the lives of five characters—an old farmer with a new pond he wants stocked with baby catfish; a bankrupt fish pond stocker who secretly releases his forty-pound brood catfish into the farmer's pond; a little boy from the trailer home across the road who inadvertently hooks the behemoth catfish; the boy's inept father; and a former convict down the road who kills a second time to save his daughter. That Larry Brown died so young, and before he could see A Miracle of Catfish published, is a tragedy. That he had time to enrich the legacy of his work with this remarkable book is a blessing.

With contributions from Robert G. Barrier, Robert Beuka, Thomas Ærvold Bjerre, Jean W. Cash, Robert Donahoo, Richard Gaughran, Gary Hawkins, Darlin' Neal, Keith Perry, Katherine Powell, John A. Staunton, and Jay Watson Larry Brown is noted for his subjects—rural life, poverty, war, and the working class—and his spare, gritty style. Brown's oeuvre spans several genres and includes acclaimed novels (Dirty Work, Joe, Father and Son, The Rabbit Factory, and A Miracle of Catfish), short story collections (Facing the Music, Big Bad Love), memoir (On Fire), and essay collections (Billy Ray's Farm). At the time of his death, Brown (1951–2004) was considered to be one of the finest exemplars of minimalist, raw writing of the contemporary South. Larry Brown and the Blue-Collar South considers the writer's full body of work, placing it in the contexts of southern literature, Mississippi writing, and literary work about the working class. Collectively, the essays explore such subjects as Brown's treatment of class politics, race and racism, the aftereffects of the Vietnam War on American culture, the evolution of the South from a plantation-based economy to a postindustrial one, and male-female relations. The role of Brown's mentors—Ellen Douglas and Barry Hannah—in shaping his work is discussed, as is Brown's connection to such writers as Harry Crews and Dorothy Allison. The volume is one of the first critical studies of a writer whose depth and influence mark him as one of the most well-regarded Mississippi authors.

Seventeen-year-old Fay flees her abusive father and the migrant labor camps of her childhood and hitchhikes through Mississippi.

The movie The Passion of The Christ dramatically conveyed the price that Jesus paid on the cross to redeem the sins of the world. John Webb Kline's new book, I Could Use a Miracle Right Now, profoundly brings the message of the cross and what it means to us in the 21st century into perspective in a way that few books can. It is a story about one man's life-long encounter with the Living Christ--a story that one might call, The Passion of the Christian. It is a must-read for any true seeker of truth or follower of Christ. Author John Webb Kline describes his inspiring new book as a Workingman's Theology-a theology that helps us to find God in the midst of our everyday struggles and which helps us to make sense out of the seemingly senseless trials and tribulations we all face. Based on stories from his own, often tumultuous, yet miracle-filled life, Webb brings us to the amazing discovery that, not only is God's intervention for our lives real, but it is also there for each and everyone of us-hidden only by our rational worldviews and unbelief. This is a book about hanging on to faith when it would seem perfectly reasonable not to; a book for the faithless and faithful alike; it is a book for those who are feeling so hurt, so angry, or so left out of God's will that they have nothing left but the desire to curse God and die. In today's world, it very well could be your own handbook for survival. Heart to Hand Ministries director, Woody Wolfe has this to say about I Could Use a Miracle Right Now: "Webb is able to take us on that journey to see the true miracles that are the reality of our everyday lives even when the world had blurred our vision. Webb's uncanny ability to put into words, that which is at the heart of the true Gospel message, has been such a blessing to me. I wish this book would have been around during those first days of my full-time ministry when I was still looking to the world for affirmation. To truly understand that God is already knocked out about us, gives us the freedom to be just who we are and Webb has brought that vision of the uncompromising love of God to these pages." Please visit the Miraclenews website.

Larry Brown (1951–2004) was unique among writers who started their careers in the late twentieth century. Unlike most of them—his friends Clyde Edgerton, Jill McCorkle, Rick Bass, and Kaye Gibbons, among others—he was neither a product of a writing program, nor did he teach at one. In fact, he did not even attend college. His innate talent, his immersion in the life of north Mississippi, and his determination led him to national success. Drawing on excerpts from numerous letters and material from interviews with family members and friends, Larry Brown: A Writer's Life is the first biography of a landmark southern writer. Jean W. Cash explores the cultural milieu of Oxford, Mississippi, and the writers who influenced Brown, including William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Harry Crews, and Cormac McCarthy. She covers Brown's history in Mississippi, the troubled family in which he grew up, and his boyhood in Tula and Yocona, Mississippi, and in Memphis, Tennessee. She relates stories from Brown's time in the Marines, his early married life—which included sixteen years as an Oxford fireman—and what he called his “apprenticeship” period, the eight years during which he was teaching himself to write publishable fiction. The book examines Brown's years as a writer: the stories and novels he wrote, his struggles to acclimate himself to the fame his writing brought him, and his many trips outside Yocona, where he spent the last thirty years of his life. The book concludes with a discussion of his posthumous fame, including the publication of A Miracle of Catfish, the novel he had nearly completed just before his death. Brown's cadre of fans will relish this comprehensive portrait of the man and his work.

Father and Son tells the story of five days following Glen Davis’s return to the small Mississippi town where he grew up. Five days. In this daring psychological thriller, these are five days you’ll never forget. Convicted and sentenced on a vehicular homicide charge, Glen is the bad seed--the haunted, angry, drunken, and dangerous son of Virgil and Emma Davis. Bobby Blanchard is the sheriff, as different from Glen as can be imagined, but in love with the same woman--the mother of Glen’s illegitimate son. Before he’s been back in town thirty-six hours, Glen has robbed his war-crippled father, bullied and humiliated his younger brother, and rejected his son, David. Bobby finds himself sorting through the mayhem Glen leaves in his wake--a murdered bar owner, a rape, Glen’s terrorized family, and the little boy who needs a father. And, as he gets closer and closer to the murderous Glen, tension builds like a Mississippi thunderstorm about to break loose. This classic face-off of good against evil is told in the clear, unflinching voice that won Larry Brown some of literature’s most prestigious awards. And, reverberating with dark excitement, biblical echoes, and a fast, cinematic pacing, this novel puts a new side of his genius on display--the ability to build suspense to an almost unbearable pitch. Father and Son is the story of a powerfully complex kinship, an exhilarating and heart-stopping story. 1997 Southern Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction

Facing the Music, Larry Brown’s first book, was originally published in 1988 to wide critical acclaim. As the St. Petersburg Times review pointed out, the central theme of these ten stories “is the ageless collision of man with woman, woman with man--with the frequent introduction of that other familiar couple, drinking and violence. Most often ugly, love is nevertheless graceful, however desperate the situation.” There’s some glare from the brutally bright light Larry Brown shines on his subjects. This is the work of a writer unafraid to gaze directly at characters challenged by crisis and pathology. But for readers who are willing to look, unblinkingly, along with the writer, there are unusual rewards.