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Summary: Captures beautifully Knoxville Summer of 1915
Review: My interest in this book came about after seeing a performance of Samuel Barber's opera "Knoxville Summer of 1915". Before the performance there was reading from "A Death in the Family" the book for which the opera was named. A few days later I purchased the book. When I began reading I immediately understood why Agee's writing would inspire such a beautiful piece of music. No, the book is not perfect. It is tedious and repetitive in spots and some parts just don't work, but it is some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read. Agee does a wonderful job of capturing the world from a child's point of view: the almost dream-like descriptions of the Rufus' environment; the love and trust he has invested in his parents,in God and in the world; the sleepy sense that time is moving slowly for him etc. I believe the book is well worth the read despite the rough spots. As another reviewer pointed out the book was unfinished at the time of the author's death, and I believe this certainly accounts for many of the rough spots. It also offers a unique chance to see a published novel as somewhat of a work in progress and to learn something about the writing process. This is one of my most cherished books.
Rating:
Summary: A Death in the Family
Review: No surprise, this is not an uplifting subject matter. Nevertheless, this is one of the most amazingly well written novels I have read in a long time. (To be honest, I try to read about one book a week - many of which are highly rated.) Those of you who have enjoyed this novel - take a minute, go to the library, check out or read Agee's biography; cuz this book is based on his father dying when he was six years old. Sooo, although it is fiction - and amazing - it is truly based on fact. Wonderful & Enjoyable!
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Summary: A classic!
Review: Originally being from Knoxville, TN I heard about this book my whole life. I had never picked it up until now and I am currently reading it. The amazing thing for me is the descriptions of Knoxville. Never have I read a book where I could actually SEE the scenes as Agee describes Forest Ave (my former room mate at UT moved there!) and the descriptions of the old Theatre and Gay Street are wonderful. The old Miller's building is now offices for UT but it still stands. Anyway, I have never been pulled into a novel like this one, but it may be the Knoxville connection. "Death In The Family" is an American classic and Mr. Agee passed on WAY before his time.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice idea, tedious, wish it'd been finished
Review: Personally, I am not someone who enjoys long, drawn-out pages about the little things in life. I don't criticize those who do; I just don't myself. And that's what this novel is like - pages upon pages concerning little happenings that lead up to and then follow the death of family man Jay. Quibbles about religion, food, funerals, hearing...while the scope of the story contains genuine feeling, it's just not enough for me. And, sadly for the reader, author Agee died before truly completing his work on the novel. The editors have now tacked passages Agee had written (but not yet included) onto the ends of each section; it strikes me as invasive, somehow - who knows what Agee would have done with them? Maybe he wouldn't have put them in after all...I just felt like I wanted to see more of what his original plan was. It's a good book and for some (as apparent from the many positive reviews) it will speak volumes and touch souls. It just didn't do it for me. But, it's in no way something that's unreadable or bad. It's most interesting, surely.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful, yet Confusing
Review: Recently I read A death in the Family by James Agee. My reaction to the book was I loved it, there was so much feeling invovled in the book. You were forced to learn a lesson, not to take anyone or anything for granted. The only problem I had with the book was everything in italics. I was totally confused, to me it had nothing to do with the book. After reading it I found out that the editor's put all of the italics in, because Agee had died before the book was completely finished and the editors were not sure where to put it, so they put it at the end of each section. Over all, I really liked the book, it was warm and it shows how much family really does mean to some people.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful literary masterpiece
Review: Set in Knoxville, Tennessee shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, James Agee's novel, A Death in the Family, is a powerful story of a close-knit family whose happiness is destroyed when tragedy befalls them. Within the few days that the novel spans, Agee powerfully portrays a grief-stricken family struggling to cope with a death in their family. In this Pulitzer Prize winning novel, readers meet the Follets, a family bound tightly together by the love they share for one another. ...Throughout his novel, Agee explores several literary aspects. Although the narration varies, Agee primarily relays his story through the character of Rufus Follet, a six-year-old boy who can not comprehend the concept of death..... With a combination of young and older characters, Agee is able to successfully depict the typical reactions to death that people of various ages experience. As the title of the book reveals, it is not surprising that A Death in the Family contains a sympathetic tone. Since the time frame of the book spans only a few days, Agee is able to describe each character's response to the tragedy in detail. Therefore, readers get a real sense of feeling for the Follet family and what they are going through. By focusing solely on the few days leading up to and following the death, Agee draws readers into the plot and makes the story much more moving and heartfelt than it would be if the novel was about Jay's entire life. Thus, it is James Agee's exceptional use of techniques that makes A Death in the Family a literary masterpiece.
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Summary: Confussed...
Review: Sorry to all of those who liked James Agree's book. I didn't. I didn't follow the parts that were in italic. Who was speaking? Nothing happened in the book. You knew someone was going to die, but Jay Follet didn't die until about a third way into the book. Did Jay's fahter die or not? I couldn't tell. I know Jay left him to come home, but was he dead or alive? I thought Mary was a very believeable women in her response to her husband's death, for the time period. If Mr. Agree had wanted to give the book a little bit of a happier/funnier tone he could have gone on more about Aunt Hannah before she found out about Jay's death. She seemed to be a very quirky person her her time. I felt bad for Rufus. He got picked on all of the time, by the school boys. He never had a friend, which is sad. A boy his age needs friends.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent Novel
Review: The protaganists of the novel A Death in the Family are Jay and Mary Follet. The story takes place in 1915 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Life is perfect for the Follet family until Jay goes to see his dad, who has had a minor heart attack, and on his way home gets into an accident and dies instantly. The antagonists would be Jay's death or the wreck he had. The theme is dealing with the loss of a loved one and having family help you through it. The author uses flashbacks to tell teh story. I believe everyone handled Jay's sudden death well by just remembering the man he was and how he affected their lives and everyone showed their respect for him. I thought it was a great book.
Rating:
Summary: A tedious masterpiece
Review: This book is as tedious as the time period in question: the literary device here is obviously to make you understand the horror of living every darned second of pain and misery of a night when a close relative dies. Vivid, evokative, but tedious as hell. I shouldn't have bothered to finish this book. If you read the first 20 pages you know everything you need to know.
Rating:
Summary: Under the circumstances...
Review: This book is one of those classics you've never heard of. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1958. I've had it on my shelf for a while. I probably would have had a completely different perspective on it had I read it six months ago. Recently, one of my best friends died in a freak bike accident. I'm not sure what made me decide to read this book now-if I was looking for insight, answers, or just trying to relive it again. I definitely relived it. I suppose anyone who has ever lost a loved one suddenly could relate to many parts of this story. But for me, the book was eerily similar to my own experience. It's about a man, Jay Follett, a father of two, who dies one night in a car crash. Through the eyes of Jay's wife, his son, and his brother, Agee paints an incredibly moving picture of a family struggling under the weight of Jay's death. By switching views, he blends innocence, anger, tenderness, and love in a way that, somehow, conveys all these emotions at once. I feel like I lived this story two months ago, and everything about it rang true to me. There were no answers to help explain anything, but this book is a beautiful articulation of what it's like to suddenly have life turned inside out in the worst way. And the opening chapter is one of the most touching I have ever read.
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