Land O'Goshen

Charles McNair's novel Land O'Goshen is one of the most unusually entertaining books I have ever read. I find myself referring to it often as a source of inspiration in the art of creativity for both myself and my students. I have had the great pleasure of hearing Mr. McNair read from his novel and that experience truly brought the book to life. Each year my students beg me to read it to them and I try to emulate his style of "performing" the work. If I could only get him to visit my classroom and share with my students his thoughts on writing, his use of language, and his incredibly entertaining way with words-both written and spoken !

The religious right will definitely not be happy, and to be honest they probably aren't as dangerous or sinister as "Land O' Goshen" would have us believe.Still, McNair effectively captures the language and spirit of the Bible Belt, no doubt drawing on personal experiences as a Dothan, AL native. And, clearly, he understands the problems that come from placing blind faith in ANY body - left OR right - who seek to control the manner in which people live their lives.Decidedly liberal - but pleasantly so - this 40-ish writer has largely hit the target about the proper balance between self-determination VS society-fitting behavior. Given the age of the protagonist and his young female companion, the suggested sexuality of this piece is troubling, but also easy to believe. Writing in dialect, southern or otherwise, always risks slowing the reader down and pulling the reader out of the book. That's a minor problem with this piece, but not terribly so. If one reads in larger chunks instead of a few pages at a time, the eyes and mind fall into the rhythm easily enough.Except for shorter works published in the Black Warrior Review and other venues, this is the first published long-form from this author. A friend and dorm-mate of author Mark Childress while in school at the University of Alabama, McNair has not matched the flow of his chum - but he seems well positioned to come back to "pick up the spare."

Rarely does a writer's first effort garner as much acclaim as Charles McNair's Land O' Goshen. McNair's publishing house thought enough to nominate it for the coveted Pulitzer Prize in Literature. His formula combines a bit of Mark Twain and maybe -- as some have suggested -- Ray Bradbury. I tend to lean more toward Flannery O'Conner. The humor in McNair's tale is derived from his irreverent and oft over-the-top description of the icons of life in the south. Those who have never supped on fried chicken, steamed cabbage, sweet potato pie and a sweaty glass of iced tea may have a hard time appreciating much of the home spun humor in McNair's work. The story details the adventures of the Huck Finn-like Buddy. Buddy does battle with the forces of the Christian right whose leader, the Father, has seized control of the country. His army of Christian soldiers romp around the countryside seeking out those partaking of the vices of cigarette smoking, drinking and other less than lily white activities. While the story is somewhat controversial, even by the author's own admission, the off beat and less-than-serious handling of the subject can make even philosophical detractors enjoy the colorful work of McNair. The story does have the underpinning of a serious social subject matter. In fact it is one that the author feared would have many of the Christian right pounding on his door with pitch forks and torches. Whether McNair's purpose was to write a compelling tall tale or to make a political statement, only he really knows. My conversations with him tend to lead me to the former. Let's hope McNair's next work is up to the same level of descriptive language and tale-telling, but maybe with a more universal story concept. I for one will look forward to it. Maybe something about a baseball player?