Where Trouble Sleeps

by Clyde Edgerton

For his seventh novel, Clyde Edgerton returns to the setting of his own childhood--rural North Carolina at mid-twentieth century. This beguiling novel tells the story of a tight-knit crossroads community and what happens when a quick-change artist stops for gas and an oil check, sees opportunities, and decides to stop there for a while.

A New York Times Notable Book.

"You'll spend a lot of time laughing and wiping your eyes and reading passages aloud to anyone who'll listen."--Boston Globe

"This may be Edgerton's best novel ever. I say that each time I finish one of his books."--Newark Star-Ledger

"Edgerton, evoking Flannery O'Connor, composed chatty, tone-perfect tales of small town life that illuminate the knife edge between satire and nostalgia." --Entertainment Weekly

"A slyly satiric and artful story . . . Edgerton reveals the innocent, the deluded, and the hypocritical with an unerring sense of humor and truth."--Publishers Weekly

"In the pitch-perfect tradition of Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner, Edgerton spins things wildly, masterfully, hilariously out of control."--Maxim.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Novels, Southern, Book Club, Adult Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Clyde Edgerton is widely considered one of the premier novelists working in the Southern tradition today, often compared with such masters as Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor.

Although most of his books deal with adult concerns--marriage, aging, birth and death--Edgerton's work is most profoundly about family. In books such as Raney, Walking Across Egypt, The Floatplane Notebooks, and Killer Diller, Edgerton explores the dimensions of family life, using an endearing (if eccentric) cast of characters. "Edgerton's characters," writes Mary Lystad in Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, "have more faults than most, but they also have considerable virtues, and they are so likable that you want to invite them over for a cup of coffee, a piece of homemade apple pie, and a nice long chat."

Raised in the small towns of the North Carolina Piedmont, Edgerton draws heavily on the storytelling traditions of the rural south in his novels. Without the distractions of big-city life and the communications revolution of the late twentieth century, many rural Americans stayed in close touch with their relatives, and often shared stories about family members with each other for entertainment.

Among Edgerton’s awards are: Guggenheim Fellowship; Lyndhurst Prize; Honorary Doctorates from UNC-Asheville and St. Andrews Presbyterian College; membership in the Fellowship of Southern Writers; the North Carolina Award for Literature; and five notable book awards from the New York Times.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. This story seemed lost and rushed. The dog was cool and the time period made for some interesting descriptions but it felt like a blind date that you knew you had to get through but couldn’t wait to finish.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to finish the books I was already reading before starting something new, but I couldn't resist a book that starts with "Alease Toomey sat at her dresser, putting on lipstick, getting ready to take her son to see the electric chair for the first time."!

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an alternate universe Mayberry, NC with a bunch of quirky characters. LOL.

[Patrick Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this story, the devil comes to Listre North Carolina in the guise of Jack Umstead. The story is seen through the eyes of six year old Stephen, who goes through town trying to figure out which residents in town will go to hell. Umstead goes through town plying his mischief. The story comes to a head when Umstead meets the church going Blaine sisters because he does not understand where trouble sleeps. Stephen witnesses as rootless amorality encounters deep rooted moral flexibility. It is more one-sided than it would seem. One of Edgerton's best.

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up two years ago and read it during lunch breaks. It was not compelling, nor a page turner, but it was a pleasant place to go for a little break. Then, one day, I got busy and stopped. I didn't feel a great loss.
Reading this is very much just like sitting on a bench in a small town and watching the people live their ordinary lives around you. Which I think was what was intended and is pleasant in that aim.
Many people did not enjoy or continue this book, and I agree, there is nothing "great" about it, and I clearly left it sitting for a very long time, but these last few days when I picked it back up, determined to finish, that quiet, observational time on a bench in rural NC was just what I needed.
It is funny without being overt and it exposes ignorance, faith, hypocrisy, and a certain sweetness, all through anecdotal vignettes. There is a central story-line, but it is not aggressive.
I read another Edgerton book a long time ago, Raney, and that one was pretty obviously humorous. This one is much more laid back and subtle, which is nice it its own way.
I'm glad to have read it, but I won't be recommending it much.

[Juliette Kuhn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird. Don't know what else to say. It had a North Carolina connection but just strange.

[Janice Torrance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this was a pretty good book. It reminded me of the writing of Flannery O'Conner with self-righteous hypocrites. The title refers to the dog named Trouble and the people of this small town would predict the weather based on where Trouble would have his nap. At times, I felt like characters were just thrown in and had nothing to do with the main story. I wasn't enamored with the author's writing style but it was a quick read.

[James Gnall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow to start. It just kinda jumps around characters with very little direction for the first 50 pages or so but once your learn the main ones and the plot develops a little it is a decent story.

[Dox · Rating 2 out of 5]

A stranger comes to Listre, looking to see what he can shake out for his own profit. In the meantime, the people in the little town are living their lives. Mainly the story is told from the perspective of a six year old boy who spends a lot of time observing his world.

The best thing about this book was the interview put in as an extra where the author "interviews" his slick, trouble-making character, Jack Umstead. Otherwise, the book was generally easy to read, had enough dialect to feel genuine but not so much as to annoy the reader, but overall felt slow and uninteresting. These are characters working hard to maintain their existence, and they have histories and backgrounds, but they mostly amount to mildly interesting. The plot is rather thin; this is more of a novel about a place and the people in it.

[Marguerite Hargreaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small-town North Carolina meets a bad apple who's out to seduce the town's women and rob everyone else, even the Baptist church. Does Listre stand a chance? Clyde Edgerton's hamlet is drawn with love and humor. In Listre, everyone knows everyone else's bidness, from the shotgun-toting old maid to the preacher who sins in his heart to the dog that forecasts the weather. Without giving anything away, I'll just note that small town doesn't mean simple-minded. The characters in Where Trouble Sleeps are folks you don't mind spending time with. Their accents are the real deal. I didn't notice any kudzu, but the geography rang true. And, the pace of the novel is just right: I sped through this like I've hastened through many a burg in North Carolina.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good novel.

From back cover:

"Here, evil comes to sleepy Listre, N.C., circa 1950, in the form of a stranger with a pencil-thin mustache and a trunkful of dirty movies. Listre is the kind of rustic crossroads where the most exciting event in years was a collision between a mule and a pickup truck, where boys slip over to the Gulf station for a Nehi and a peek at the pinup calendar, and where everybody knows everybody else's secrets. It's the kind of place, in other words, where it seems like nothing ever changes - until the fateful day when everything changes at once."

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to say about this book. I simply loved Edgerton's "Walking Across Egypt," and I was hoping to be similarly entertained. I was not. This time, Listre, North Carolina, seemed peopled with only weirdos, not one of whom I could relate to or completely understand. The con-man drifter who stirs things up was believable, but the rest of the characters were not. I read the whole book hoping that at some point I'd grow to love it, but I'm not sure I even liked it all that much. A disappointment.

[Dan Baum · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of Clyde Edgerton, I look for his work in used bookstores (otherwise hard to find) and came across this one in Charleston, SC. Although noted as a NY Times bestseller and full of his quirky characters and sense of humor, this one wasn’t on par with Raney, Walking Across Egypt and Killer Diller. Not my fav but still fun.

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book's depiction of characters, especially clueless women, living in a tiny Southern town in 1950 made me cringe. To add insult to injury, it was published in 1997 to rave reviews. Much of the book is written from the perspective of a six-year-old asthmatic boy who drinks from a bottle and gets a job shooting the heads off chickens for a penny a head. Edgerton is no Welty, trust me.

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quirky. I finished it because I kept thinking it was going to pick up. Never did. Small town, tried to develop quirky characters and undertone of Christian values but didn't work. Book description on back was inaccurate.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a slice of life with a bang ending.

[Mark Seeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I finished reading Where Trouble Sleeps, I thought about a quote by Frederick Buechner about the foolishness of God to allow "lamebrains, misfits, nit-pickers, holier-than-thous, oddducks, egomaniacs and closet sensualists." The reason that quip came to my mind is that Edgerton's book has about ALL of them as characters! Listre seems full of these folks.

Comical, satirical, and snarky, Edgerton gets underneath the reader's skin exposing the folly of our feigned innocence and southern veneer. Unfortunately, his is mostly a cynical tale.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

(no 68 of 2025)

Alease Toomey (mom)
Stephen Toomey (her son)
Uncle Raleigh (
Terry Daniels (neighbor kid)
Cheryl Daniels (Terry's teenage sister)
Jack Umstead (con man in a stolen Buick 8)
The Blaine sisters
... set in Listre, NC, somewhere down east

[Cindy Bonner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Edgerton. Funny, peculiar, realistic and ominous. You know you're building towards something, but with Edgerton, you have to go with the sideshow, see the world through his characters. I grew up with people like these. I almost cried in the chapter titled, "Just As I Am," because I have been right there in that situation before. It's quick read, and an easy read. Nothing that will keep up up at night but fun.

[David Gramley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is set in the 1950’s, so it’s before my time. And it’s in a very small town. I didn’t fully catch a lot of the book’s subtle characteristics, but at least it’s in the south, and for that reason I enjoyed quite a bit. I’ve read several Clyde Edgerton books, and Listre is familiar to me. All told, a short and fun book, with a surprising ending which could have gone several different ways.

[Janis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not think this book would ever end! I stuck with it only because I had read and enjoyed Raney, Walking Across Egypt, and Killer Diller by Clyde Edgerton. I wanted Where Trouble Sleeps to be humorous and engaging, but the plot was all over the place and hard to follow. I should have given up reading this book after the first chapter.

[Elizabeth Ritter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was set in Listre, North Carolina. I really liked some of the characters. They struggled with temptation and, just like any small town, all knew each others business. It is the story of a son’s search for salvation and a story of how the town deals with a visit from evil. I wish the ending were a bit better. It started out with so much promise.

[nat ☆彡]

interestingly enough i found it kind of boring and just whatever in the beginning but once i got into a groove(?), it grabbed my attention much more than i expected. in short, nothing particularly note worthy to me, but a nice short read that was easy to glide through. probably should’ve expected much more jesus discussion than i did lolol.

[Ann Riley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never has it taken me so long to read such a short book. I just haven't been able to focus lately. It was somewhat of an interesting read, but didn't hold my attention. Reminded me of Erskine Caldwell's writing.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange story

[Annette]

Not my favorite....

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book. Had some funny moments. I feel the end of the book needed work.

[Madison B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best but still classic Clyde Edgerton! A funny, light read that pulls you along from start to finish.

[Karen Curran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still laughing!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is for people who have read it **Spoilers!**

I belly-laughed twice near the beginning so of course I was hooked. Nothing I like better.

What I love about this is how FAMILIAR everything is. I don't live in the Carolina area, but I'm a Southerner, and just the WAY Edgerton's characters SAY things is just like I would say them.

Best thing ever: the reference to Flannery O'Connor's The Misfit. Edgerton wanted to write a story where the grandma gets the criminal. Yeah!

I love people who can write children. To see the world through a child's eyes is a gift, and then when you can describe what you see in a way that connects—ah!

Stephen loved to sweep dirt into the dustpan, move it back, sweep the line of dirt, move it back, sweep the line of dirt. It was a grown-up thing.

Stephen went inside and came back out with his pack of candy Luckies, opened it, pulled out a heavy chalk candy cigarette, pretended to light it from a pretend match struck on the bench, pulled both of his feet up, and crossed his legs beneath him. He held out the candy cigarette and practiced all the ways he knew of flicking off ashes.

I DID THAT! My grandfather owned a store with a mail bin you could climb up and sit on, and I KNOW I did this with those candy cigarettes. I still remember the wonder.

Here's what Stephen knows about toenails. His mom clips the toenails of the three old sisters, and she asks if he'd like to do some.

Stephen remembered what his mama's feet and toenails looked like. He remembered his daddy's, Uncle Raleigh's, Mrs. Clark's, Miss Bea's, Miss Mae's, and his own. His own toes were bland little faces, his mama's were good, and one time she let him paint them red, his daddy's were careful and a little bit afraid and real white, Uncle Raleigh's were red and messed up, Miss Bea's and Miss Mae's were the same—very mashed together, with Miss Bea's long second toes—and Mrs. Clark's had the cornflake and the one without any toenail at all. Every foot was a little community without a liner light. He had cut one of his mama's toenails one time and one of his daddy's three or four times and it was very pleasing, like sweeping lines of dirt into the dustpan. Like picking a old, dry, heavy scab. Like sitting on the grocery porch and drinking a Big Top grape. Like being a fireman or a cowboy. Like hearing the story of David and Goliath. Like baseball. Like cowboys killing Indians.

He's a Southern writer and captures the nuances of Southern culture, but that's not all. This bit killed me, so beautifully written, about love:

When Raleigh, just home from the Great War in 1918, had stood in the homeplace doorway, his sleeve empty, he had seen a look in Alease's face, a look from his sister who'd grown into a woman. And at that moment, standing there in his uniform, in the few seconds her eyes went down to the empty sleeve and back to his face, right then when her eyes came back to his face, he saw and felt the love that, as he thought he was dying in a muddy field, he knew he'd never again see in his mother's face, the love he remembered from his father's eyes, and the love missing from the faces of all the whores he'd had in England and France, the love he felt, even pictured, as he—among the wounded and dead—had tried to stand up and then had to sit back down, bleeding, the love he'd pictured moving away like a person entering a dark room. But the room's door never closed; he had lived, and at home standing in the doorway, he found all that lost love right there in front of him in this person of his sister, in that look on her face, in her eyes.

I really liked how Alease coached Stephen when some bullies had made him run home.

In the kitchen, Stephen's mother knelt and looked Stephen in the eyes. 'I don't care what he did. Don't you run from him if he pushes you. Next time you tell him to stop and if he don't, you push him back, and then if he does anything else you hit him as hard as you can. Do you understand?'

Later:

Stephen came running across the backyard. Leland was chasing him. Stephen opened the screen door, half fell onto the porch as he turned and hooked the screen door just before Leland grabbed it and pulled.
'You scaredy-cat. You chicken,' said Leland, breathing hard. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
Stephen turned to go on into the house. But he was face to face with his mama. She grabbed his shoulders, backed him against the porch wall. Her hands were wet. 'Don't you run from him again. Ever. Now you get back out there and fight him. You hear me? Get back out there right now and don't you come back in this house until you're finished one way or another. Now get out there.' She unhooked the door and pushed him out, hooked it back, and went inside, over to the window to watch. With her apron she wiped dishwater off the back of her hands.

Woah, what a mom!