Pickett's Charge

by Charles McNair

A comedy, a tragedy. Threadgill Pickett, veteran of the Civil War, breaks out from an Alabama old folks home and starts a quest northward to kill the last living Union Soldier. This is to avenge his brother, who was needlessly killed by Union soldiers, outside of any conflict. On his journey Threadgill encounters two brothers building a time machine, a trio of Klu Kluxers, a man collecting raccoons that turn out to be rabid, a wannabe country singer, and a truck-driving woman to make men stand in awe. He also encounters a Utopian society of blacks and whites who share family, food, love, and grief.

Genres: Fiction

350 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2013

Reviews

[Alison Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: Charles McNair is a friend and client.

Fans of southern tall tales and magical realism will love Pickett's Charge.

The protagonist, Threadgill Pickett, is a 114-year old Confederate veteran of the Civil War in 1964 when he is visited by the ghost of his twin brother. His brother tells him that one Yankee lives in Maine and prompts Threadgill's journey out of the nursing home and on the road toward vengeance.

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This hootenanny of a novel would have Flannery O’Connor snorting sweet tea out her nose on one page and crying her eyes out the next. Threadgill Pickett is a bona fide original, and so is Charles McNair.

[Beefyred · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super charged yarn, once airborne, entertains with high-altitude exuberance, as it skyrockets through the literasphere
shattering the altimeter as it barrel rolls through the pages.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allan Gurganus's Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells all meets Stephen King's The Green Mile and just for fun it's seasoned with a bit of the movie Groundhog Day. At 99, Lucy Marsden is but a child when compared to Threadgill Pickett who was 104 at the time Pickett's Charge took place. Both fictional characters wander a bit in their minds and their self-perceived glory and importance of their bygone lives and the miss-be-gotten era of the Old South. If you've ever spent time with the elderly, listened to their tales of the 'old days', and enjoyed it or felt that you learned something from them, you will understand what I mean.

Mr. Pickett at the end of 104 long and eventful years, is on a mission. This is a story of that journey, all that he encounters along the way, experiences of the past as they impact his present, and the outcome of his journey. I encourage you to invest the time that it will take to read and understand this little gem.

[Aaron Urbanski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had my hopes too high prior to starting this book. I might have enjoyed it more if this was not the case.

The main character is so one dimensional that, even though this is a book about a journey set to leap over state lines, the story goes nowhere. Secondary characters, while often colorful, come and go so quickly I never had time to appreciate them.

McNair opens countless doors that would allow him to explore social commentary but rarely enters them. This is the book's biggest shortcoming.

[Len · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pickett's Charge is a crazy, odd, funny and downright surreal romp through the Alabama countryside with one of the most interesting characters you'll ever want to meet. Threadgill Pickett is a Civil War veteran who at age 114 escapes from an old age home in Alabama on a quest to avenge his brother's death by killing the last known survivor of the Union Army. The quest itself becomes secondary to the journey and the unique characters Threadgill meets along the way. Ultimately its a story of closure for Threadgill, who certainly didn't have the life he expected after getting half his head blown off in the war.

But what makes this novel a marvel is the writing. Full disclosure, I have known Charles McNair personally for a dozen or so years and was a fan of his first novel Land O'Goshen, which came out in 1994. And while that novel met with critical acclaim and was a similarly surreal story, Pickett's Charge was well worth the nearly 20-year wait and I enjoyed it even more. Charles is a magical writer who's gift for descriptive writing is as powerful as any author I've ever read. His style is so unique that you really can't compare it to anyone. The best I can offer is that he's a Southern fried Kurt Vonnegut, which is high praise indeed. If I had to describe Pickett's Charge I'd call it Southern Magical Realism. The book was a joy to read for the writing alone. Single sentences made me laugh out loud and paragraphs made be giggle with wonder at how this stuff came to Charles -- if I didn't know any better I'd say the gentleman was taking some mighty fine hallucinogens while he was crafting this story (but I do know better so it must just be a wild imagination).

It's not often you find a story like Pickett's Charge. It's just so darn out there. I mean, nowhere else are you going to come across giant killer alligators, backwoods time travelers and a madman bootlegging rabid monkeys. What a joy!

Thanks Charles and please don't make us wait another 20 years for your next novel!

[Despina Panagakos Yeargin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the smartest, funniest, most moving and well-written books I've read in a long time. I recommend that you pick it up and invest time in reading a big chunk of McNair's 2nd book, before you set it aside for dinner, for a work day or because it's time to go to sleep.

Charles McNair has been books editor for PASTE Magazine since they began publication, he is a communications consultant and, for me, he stands as one of the finest writers of these early years of this century (and prior). I've read short stories by McNair that made me feel as if I'd never be able to write that beautifully and efficiently. He has worked at his craft, he has peeled away the unimportant and he has injected beauty, kindness and humanity into a sometimes surreal, sometimes LOL funny story of a Confederate Civil War veteran who escaped his Alabama nursing home to head north and kill the last Yankee soldier (who is also still alive). The story takes place in worlds 100-plus years apart, in 1864, where Threadgill Pickett survives the Civil War, and in 1964,where our hero encounters unbelievable characters and major events of the 1960s Civil Rights movement, all part of McNair's plan to drive home a message which I wholeheartedly believe in. Read Pickett's Charge and thank me later.

This book earned 5 stars because it moved me in so many ways and because I would read it again and be just as entertained and moved as I was the first time. My husband is reading it now. He looks up periodically and says, "Charles is a REALLY good writer" and that's the truth!

[LibraryGirl2008 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastically quirky tale of revenge and ruin, Pickett’s Charge is set in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement, and chronicles the efforts of 114-year-old Threadgill Pickett, the last surviving Confederate sympathizer, to seek out and murder the last surviving Union soldier—even if he has to escape from the nursing home to do it! As he sets out on his cross-country journey, he meets a cast of outrageous characters along the way. Although the story may be limited by its heavy use of local landmarks and city names that only Alabama residents would recognize, it’s still a finely layered psychological story.

[Greg Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mystical cross between Forrest Gump and O, Brother Where Art Thou, this completely original narrative is funny, confounding, bizarre, clever, and maddening. To summarize this as a 100-yr-old Confederate soldier's quest to find and kill the last Union soldier is entirely misleading. As intriguing as the premise is, it is totally not what the author has in mind--a poetic journey of a broken soul who must discover the futility of vengeance. Wait, that's not it, either. Hell, it's impossible to explain--just read it.

[Richard Modlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

To accept this story you have to exercise the willing suspension of disbelief. The story line is not plausible, though the story is a fun read. You continue to turn the pages, because you want to learn what the protagonist will get himself into as a young man and at 114 years old. Will he satisfy his desire for revenge.

[Teresa Gilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read - funny - author gives beautiful descriptions