Category Archives: Pearson, T. R.

T.R. Pearson. A Short History of a Small Place. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985.

The suicide of Miss Myra Angelique Pettigrew – an aristocratic woman who had lived alone for years with her pet monkey, Mr. Britches – is the story that begins this novel, but is by no means the only one told. Narrated by young Louis Benfield in a rambling, funny voice that has been compared to the narrative style of William Faulkner, this novel portrays the people of Neely, N.C., a fictional Piedmont town that may be based on Reidsville.

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Filed under 1980-1989, 1985, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Pearson, T. R., Piedmont, Rockingham

T. R. Pearson. Glad News of the Natural World. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.

Pearson’s widely-acclaimed first novel, A Short History of a Small Place, was the story of young Louis Benfield of Neely, N.C. Now, twenty years later, Pearson returns to Neely and picks up the story of 34- year-old Louis. Tired of his listless life at home and his dead-end job, Louis moves to New York city, but things don’t get a whole lot better. He bounces from one odd job to another and makes several desperate stabs at romance that are only doomed to fail. It is only when tragedy strikes his family that Louis is forced to make responsible decisions and, in a way, finally grows up.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2005, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Pearson, T. R., Piedmont, Rockingham