Meander Belt: Family, Loss, And Coming Of Age In The Working-class South (american Lives)

In Meander Belt M. Randal O'Wain offers a reflection on how a working-class boy from Memphis, Tennessee, came to fall in love with language, reading, writing, and the larger world outside of the American South. This memoir examines what it means for the son of a carpenter to value mental rather than physical labor and what this does to his relationship with his family, whose livelihood and sensibility are decidedly blue collar. Straining the father-son bond further, O'Wain leaves home to find a life outside Memphis, roaming from place to place, finding odd jobs, and touring with his band. From memory and observation, O'Wain assembles a subtle and spare portrait of his roots, family, and ultimately discovers that his working-class upbringing is not so antithetical to the man he has become. Meander Belt Is A Reflection On How A Working-class Boy From The American South Came To Fall In Love With Language And Writing, Amidst His Relationship With A Father Who Values Physical, Rather Than Mental, Labor-- Mirrored Mezzanine -- Arrow Of Light -- Here -- The Junk Trade -- Superman Dam Fool -- My Mother Taught Me How To Be -- Rock And Roll High School -- Halfway Between -- Thirteenth Street And Failing -- Memento Mori, Part One : Calls In The Night -- Memento Mori, Part Two : Jackson General -- Memento Mori, Part Three : The Howlers -- Rain Over Memphis -- Ornamental Stairs -- On Love -- Dear, Brother -- How To Walk As A Non-traditional Graduate -- Barking Hours -- Into This Place. M. Randal O'wain. "Meander Belt is a reflection on how a working-class boy from the American South came to fall in love with language and writing, amidst his relationship with a father who values physical, rather than mental, labor"-- Provided by publisher Meander Belt is a reflection on how a working-class boy from the American South came to fall in love with language and writing despite his relationship with a father who valued physical rather than mental labor.