Carry My Bones

This is a very engaging and unique story. I really enjoyed reading this book, and look forward to reading more books by this author in the future. A must read!

Like a good country song you've never heard before, this book keeps coming to mind again and again long after it has been finished...One could almost hear and feel Arlo Guthrie's sounds and rhythms as the story progresses...This book has a rhythm to it...captivating, mesmerizing... Very good character development, very good...Pathos and humor of life nicely mingled...Quite a promising start for young J. Wes Yoder...His powers of empathy and observation are remarkable for his age and it shows through in his characters as they move through the story...The word "stunning" has been used to describe this young man's first novel. It is an appropriate choice of words. It is stunning, in its simplicity, in its character development, and in its appreciation for and descripton of the human condition... One question lingers. Can this young man--a quality young man and a quality writer--can he do it again? Or, like Harper Lee, will he be a one hit wonder? This one is a hit. Looking forward to the next. The poor, the downtrodden, the hopeless have a new voice.

Great book J. Wes. I really enjoyed this book. I read it in a day. I am from east Alabama and it made me long for it. I know people just like the ones he is talking about. He writes the southern character to a T. Good work and War Eagle!

Have you ever read a book and found it hard to resurface to the real world after closing the pages? That's what "Carry My Bones" was like for me. J. Wes Yoder does an excellent job of creating a world where these men find and live their way. He's very good at "less is more"... good at long, slow character development, (I loved the way the "old man" turned out), good at making his point in such a subtle way that I imagine most readers are caught off guard, believing what he tells them in their hearts before it reaches their minds. I'm looking forward to this writer's future and all that he has to offer us.

This is an incredibly well done first novel by a young writer, J. Wes Yoder, the next Great Southern Writer, a tale interwoven with the craftmanship usually seen after many decades. It is a beautiful story of relationships, revelation and redemption.