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Within the tradition of the great African-American women novelists, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks blazes her own trail. Parks tells the story of Billy Beede, a woman who has been impregnated by a bigamist coffin salesman, who sets out on a quest with her relatives to dig up her mother's body in La Junta, Arizona. Her mother's last wish was that she be buried with all her best jewelry, and Billy wants to rob the grave to help pay for future expenses. On the way, she and her relatives are plagued by the racist prejudices of the 1960s South - where a couple of the Beedes spend the night in jail though they have committed no offense. This surreal narrative makes for an original and unsettling book.
Unlike As I Lay Dying, which really does read like a dream -- and not a good one, either -- Getting Mother's Body is a straightforward, light-footed novel with none of the bleak, doomy undertones of Faulkner's; it's just about as funny and not nearly as scary. — Laura Miller
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $199.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
James Dicke
reviewed Getting Mother's Body on September 12, 2011
Getting Mother's Body
I have attempted to read this book 2 or 3 times in the past, but could never really get into it. This time I listened to the audio which was narrated, and at times sung, by the author Suzan-Lori Parks. Evidently, therein lay the magic of this book. I really got the feel of the setting and era by experiencing it this way.
Really enjoyed this quirky story about a child, her dead mother, and that mother's buried treasure. All of the characters were well developed and each told the story of their grand adventure in their own voice.
There were definitely no perfect people in this novel, but they all seemed to learn something very valuable about themselves by the end of the book. The character I was least interested in the beginning of the story turned out to be my favorite by the end.
If you're somewhat prudish, as I admit I am, the first scene of the story might put you off. Don't let it. Keep going and you will find a 'treasure' within. I will seek out more of Parks work for sure. She is also a very accomplished playwright so I will at least make it a point to see one of her plays. Come to think of it, I got a sense of that while reading this novel and Getting Mother's Body would make an excellent and very entertaining play.
Recommend!
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