Reviews

Billy Ray's Farm: Essays from a Place Called Tula by Larry Brown

mickeymole's review

5.0

This was the first book I read by Larry Brown. I've read it twice now, and will read it again. There's something about his writing that makes me feel at home, makes me feel closer to other humans than I would have without it. It's simple and direct, straight from his heart to mine. I suppose it helps that I grew up in a similar place in the rural south, so I recognize the cast of characters he develops. (I'm speaking of his fiction work). His characters are real. I've known them and been them. In this collection of essays, he shows with his easy prose, all the ugliness along with the beauty of living.
If you are a writer or aspire to be, you must read this book.

pbobrit's review

4.0

I find it almost therapeutic to return to a Larry Brown book. His writing is so simple, but elegant and much deeper than a surface reading would reveal. This book is a collection of short stories, whose common link is place, specifically his son's farm and Larry's fishing pond and cabin in Tula, MS. He is writing about what he knows and makes it interesting and engaging. It is a snapshot of his and his family's life, a reflection on the process of writing, and above all a celebration of a place and its people, past and present.

blevins's review

3.0

Larry Brown dishes out some essays about living in rural Mississippi. It's classic Brown: no nonsense, spare writing, no phoniness whatsoever. Great writing. Some of the essays subject matter was more interesting than others or this would have rated higher for me.