The Passing: Perspectives of Rural America

by Ferrol Sams, Jim Harrison (Illustrator)

America's rural landscape is fading, but its beauty lives on in this elegant tribute.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Southern

144 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1988

Reviews

[Grant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was tempted to give this four or five stars just because I hold the author in such high regard. But honestly, this book is not very good. That's not to say it isn't without its own charm, but I would recommend it to Ferrol Sams fans only. If you haven't read his trilogy of novels, I would start with those. Or, if you're interested in shorter works reflecting on the old days, Epiphany: Stories is far superior to this collection.

[KayG · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming collection of stories by one of my favorite authors, this book takes one back in time to the early 20th century. People farmed, raised livestock, built their own homes, maintained the roads near their houses, and washed clothing in huge boiling kettles. Their lives were colorful and interesting.

[Marilyn Hartl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Ferrol Sams is like reading Pat Conroy - you feel instinctively that they both understand the feelings and the rhythms of the south.

[Belton Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read the original book with drawings by Jim Harrison that accompanied the stories. Evoking the gentility of the past and slower-paced life focused on community, family and friends, Sams captures the cusp of change from rural America to "the confusion of progress". With keen observation of situations and people, his use of local dialect and grammar brings life to remembrances. The lovely vestiges of the "ole" South with adverts on barns and sheds remind us of how old and national some brands are -- Calumet baking powder, CocaCola, Hershey Bars with Almonds, Maxwell House coffee, 7UP. Other adverts are more regionally focused --Rock City (world's eighth wonder), Red Goose Shoes (all leather for girls and boys), 666 cold tablets, Dr. Pepper, Mail Pouch Tobacco, Gold Dust washing powder, Gnoves Chill Tonic, Sloan's Liniment (sic). The combo of representational paintings and tales set in ordinary local argot whispers of a world gone by redolent with memory of gentle breezes, soft sunlight, sounds of water splashing in ponds or pails, and smells of sweet magnolia and Mama's cooking. The Passing is a complete and tempting taste of the bygone South.

[Margaret Elder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ordered this book because I had read and loved Sams' trilogy of works about his growing up, attending college, and being in the Army and medical school. This is an absolutely lovely little book that will appeal to anyone who has a rural background, an interest in history of the South, or who appreciates good writing that delivers chuckles as well as sentimentality. While I thought it would be a book of short stories, it's actually a book of essays about places, people, and tales of Sams' early life in a small Georgia town. It is a relaxing, quick read, (I only used the dictionary twice while reading it),and there is a definite time and place in almost any reader's life for a work like this to appeal. It was perfect timing for me.

[Michelle Vaughn · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are grandparent porch stories. You know, the stories your grandpa or your elderly neighbor tells about his/her childhood. There are some sharp observations about how what we call progress might not be progress, but also some alarmingly blasé references to the crimes of the past (in one passage, about a former prominant townsman, Sams writes, "When he died, he still possessed thirty thousand acres of land, a passel of slaves and a good name"), interspersed with some wickedly funny turns of phrases. But mostly, it's just a litany of anecdotes about people you do not know who've been long dead -- Son John Jones and Old Man I.E. and Newton Gaddis and Mr. John Burch's daughters, etc.

[Blake Wilbanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must for anyone who lives on the south side of Atlanta, especially in Fayette County. The Passing Stories is a historical perspective of Fayette Counry through a collection of thought provoking and hilarious tales from folks of the area.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief stories that evoke the old rural South before “progress” gave us traffic and technology.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant escape to a forgotten time.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great American stories of past. Reminds me of little house on the prairie for adults.

[Jeanne Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories, particularly the one about the washerwoman and the process by which Farm Soap is made, have the opposite effect of the one the author intended: making us nostalgic about the passing of rural culture in favor of homogenized TECHNO-UTOPIA. I am fine with TECHNO-UTOPIA if it doesn't mean total brute servitude, the draining of all decadent color from life in favor of the grim expectation of endless physical labor for pure survival (the nature of the labor determined strictly by gender, because what more logical sorting mechanism could there be.) Some of the stories--the last one, "Tools," "Men of Worth"--work pretty much as intended. I'm a sucker for this kind of book: a really close reading of different minutiae, food items or tools or whatever, and an explication of their meaning for THE HUMAN SOUL.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Passing: Stories  by Ferrol Sams (Longstreet Press Inc. 1998) (Fiction). More stories by one of the great Southern voices of the twentieth century and one of my favorite authors. My copy of this book has a beautiful inscription by the author to my father from one country boy to another. This book was inscribed to Papa as follows: “To Dave Ward for fond memories of Cross Roads – Ferrol Sams 1-16-93.” My rating: 7/10, finished 1998.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borrowed this from my father. His painting reminded me of Eric Sloane and Andrew Wyeth. I did find most of the reproductions were done in Tempura, which Wyeth used. The essays were based on the author's childhood rememberences of growing up in the rural south.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read these stories a few years ago. As I recall, they are about growing up in the American South in a bygone era. Although this type of nostalgic writing has its appeal, I found his writing style somewhat flat and one-dimensional.

[Elsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sams writes with a slow cadence of the deep South. His images evoke such memories for those of us who are older and give a new vison to the younger generations.

[Lisa Blankenship · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks Tommy! I enjoyed Mr. Sams sense of humor!