The Search for Savin' Sam

Rating:
Summary: cdkirshner
Review: Don't overlook this rather obscure work! Written by Former President Jimmy Carter's nephew-- the son of his brother Billy, this book is quite a find! This story is of one of the most dysfunctional Southern families since Conroy's Prince of Tides. The big difference is that this family never made it to the "big city" long enough to get lost in its anonymity.

Savin' Sam is a former used car salesman who now travels around South Georgia with a bus full of terminally ill men and women who are spending their last days "witnessing" at revivals in an attempt to pass on bits of wisdom acquired during their life. All is fine until a well-known and cold-hearted former Senator becomes terminally ill and takes up with Savin' Sam much to his family's dismay. What ensues is a son's journey through South Georgia in search of his father, in hopes of making amends for years of separation and general distain for each other. On the way, the son finds the true nature of himself and ultimately finds his true father.

This is a must for those who really love wacky southern fiction. The characters are rather Faulknerian-- full of eccentricities on the surface, but all have substantial depth. Having grown up in the South, I could identify with the odd characters and the plot seemed remotely plausible. I laughed at the realism, but ended up a little tearful at the end.

Rating:
Summary: cdkirshner
Review: Don't overlook this rather obscure work! Written by Former President Jimmy Carter's nephew-- the son of his brother Billy, this book is quite a find! This story is of one of the most dysfunctional Southern families since Conroy's Prince of Tides. The big difference is that this family never made it to the "big city" long enough to get lost in its anonymity.

Savin' Sam is a former used car salesman who now travels around South Georgia with a bus full of terminally ill men and women who are spending their last days "witnessing" at revivals in an attempt to pass on bits of wisdom acquired during their life. All is fine until a well-known and cold-hearted former Senator becomes terminally ill and takes up with Savin' Sam much to his family's dismay. What ensues is a son's journey through South Georgia in search of his father, in hopes of making amends for years of separation and general distain for each other. On the way, the son finds the true nature of himself and ultimately finds his true father.

This is a must for those who really love wacky southern fiction. The characters are rather Faulknerian-- full of eccentricities on the surface, but all have substantial depth. Having grown up in the South, I could identify with the odd characters and the plot seemed remotely plausible. I laughed at the realism, but ended up a little tearful at the end.