Woodrow's Trumpet: A Novel - Hardcover

McLaurin, Tim

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393027015 ISBN 13: 9780393027013

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 1989

Synopsis

The sleepy Southern town of Oak Hills, gradually transformed by the influx of new, younger residents, becomes the scene of a funny, tragic battle when long-time resident Woodrow Bunce refuses to conform to the town's new ordinances

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

McLaurin offers in this second novel (after The Acorn Plan ) a group of richly drawn and memorable characters for whom we feel great affection despite troublesome flaws in the book. Three misfits band together to form a family that the townspeople--both old residents and new--of Oak Hills, N.C., cannot understand or accept. Woodrow Bunce, a gentle giant not right in the head since Vietnam, is descended from one of the rich, land-owning local families; he confounds his prosperous brothers by living independently on his small farm despite encroaching yuppie developments. When Nadean, a black former hooker and junkie, and Ellis, an orphan raised in a nearby boy's home, move in with Woodrow, the three find peace for the first time in their miserable lives. But Woodrow's gift to Nadean of a live palm tree and a pretend beach (complete with plastic flamingos) inflames the self-righteous Oak Hills newcomers. Zoning laws are used as a weapon against the bewildered Woodrow, and ugliness, violence, and tragedy ensue. Despite McLaurin's missteps here--he begins the story with an initially incomprehensible sequence of five "important" scenes; he paints his earnest yuppies with overly broad and banal satiric strokes; he neglects to tie up loose plot lines (what happens to the marijuana-growing Lupo brothers, or with Benson Bunce's career?)--this book has many moments that are truly wonderful.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Set in modern-day North Carolina just outside Chapel Hill, this is the sad/funny tale of the transformation of a rural farming community into an upscale suburb. Woodrow Bunce, the not-all-there offspring of a wealthy tobacco family, and his black girlfriend NaDean, one-time Washington, D.C. dope addict, affront both the local whites and blacks as well as the yuppie carpetbaggers when Woody builds a beach in his front yard, complete with palm tree, sand, and flamingos. The beach is a threat to property values and sets off community fighting. The opening chapters exude much warmth, good will, and joy, and engender wonder in the storyteller's art. The second half suffers from the obviousness of its escalating violence. The intended message seems to be that while this is the New South, not all that much has changed. A possible choice for larger public libraries; by the author of The Acorn Plan .
- James B. Hemesath, Adams State Coll. Lib., Alamosa, Col.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0393027015
• ISBN 13: 9780393027013
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256