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Andermatt County: Two Parables
Welcome to Andermatt County. Hill country. South-central Texas. The residents walk the terrain and feel the air as if in a haze of their own self-interest. The children live in a mystical void of wonder mixed with downtrodden hopes of their lives to come.
In YE SHALL BE AS GODS, meet Emmett Anhalt, a young, curious boy who lives with all women, none of them giving him the time of day, so he embarks on a walk through the brush and woods where he is introduced to the alluring ways of Rex Henry Burr--a serial killer. Emmett and Rex's journeys together are chronicled in this story, along with the lives and hopes and dreams of their victims and other residents of Andermatt County, each with his or her own personal quirks and downfalls.
In HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR BITSY, we are introduced to the proverbial paradise of living in Andermatt County's social circles. Esther Fielding, or bitsy, is turning six years old, and her mother only wishes for her to replace her love for dead squirrels and rodents with a love for dolls and teatimes. But is she doing this solely for herself? Or is Esther already limpidly trudging down the right road?
In YE SHALL BE AS GODS, meet Emmett Anhalt, a young, curious boy who lives with all women, none of them giving him the time of day, so he embarks on a walk through the brush and woods where he is introduced to the alluring ways of Rex Henry Burr--a serial killer. Emmett and Rex's journeys together are chronicled in this story, along with the lives and hopes and dreams of their victims and other residents of Andermatt County, each with his or her own personal quirks and downfalls.
In HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR BITSY, we are introduced to the proverbial paradise of living in Andermatt County's social circles. Esther Fielding, or bitsy, is turning six years old, and her mother only wishes for her to replace her love for dead squirrels and rodents with a love for dolls and teatimes. But is she doing this solely for herself? Or is Esther already limpidly trudging down the right road?
456 pages, Paperback
Published January 12, 2018
10 people want to read
About the author
Pam Jones
9 books30 followersPam Jones was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1989 and grew up in Connecticut. She studied Creative Writing at Hampshire College and is the author of The Biggest Little Bird (Black Hill Press/1888Center, 2013), Andermatt County: Two Parables (The April Gloaming, 2018), IVY DAY (Spaceboy Books, 2019), The Joyful Mysteries (Atlatl Press, 2020), and Anointed (Spaceboy Books, 2021). Her short fiction has appeared in The Cost of Paper, Boned, and Heavy Feather Review. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 11, 2018
The comparisons to Faulkner's Yoknapawtawpha County are obvious, but justified. A dark, at turns quirky, and very real microcosm is contained within this volume, spanning two novella-sized narratives. Jones' more fitting fellow travelers, of theme and prose, are Flannery O'Connor and Carson McCullers, and not because of their gender, but because of their shared brilliance, economy, and sensitivity to the place of outsiders, believers, and misfits.
What Pam Jones has done in Andermatt County: Two Parables, is of a classic American Literature tradition, and yet deserving of a 21st century intellect in readership. Reading both parables, "Ye Shall Be As Gods" (a gothic horror) and "Happy Birthday, Dear Bitsy" (a gothic comedy) is akin to a mystical experience.
--Jordan A. Rothacker, author of And Wind Will Wash Away and My Shadow Book by Maawaam
April 12, 2018
Two novellas of different people, in different years, in the same place. Andermatt County: Two Parables is difficult to read, sometimes. The people inside are troubled and hurting, trying to find meaning, and damaging each other in the process. One story follows a young girl whose parents try to connect with her using a gift that alienates the whole household. The other tells of a teenage boy who finds grace in a most horrible place.
Pam Jones's beautiful, complex prose leaves the reader to wonder at the character's motivations, emotions, and even reality. Taken line by line, it is deeply engrossing. As a whole, it is challenging and strangely uplifting. There is violence in this book, but it is never gratuitous. This is a rare book that I look forward to reading again someday soon. The two stories are placed back-to-back, giving us two front covers: it borders on gimmicky, but it also makes it much easier to pick the parable you wish to read first. I started with "You Shall Be As Gods", but I wonder how that narrative will feel different when I preceded it with "Happy Birthday, Dear Bitsy". Next time, we'll see...
This is challenging, satisfying Southern gothic. All things considered, read this book.
Pam Jones's beautiful, complex prose leaves the reader to wonder at the character's motivations, emotions, and even reality. Taken line by line, it is deeply engrossing. As a whole, it is challenging and strangely uplifting. There is violence in this book, but it is never gratuitous. This is a rare book that I look forward to reading again someday soon. The two stories are placed back-to-back, giving us two front covers: it borders on gimmicky, but it also makes it much easier to pick the parable you wish to read first. I started with "You Shall Be As Gods", but I wonder how that narrative will feel different when I preceded it with "Happy Birthday, Dear Bitsy". Next time, we'll see...
This is challenging, satisfying Southern gothic. All things considered, read this book.
April 13, 2019
I have tried a few different times to get through this book and just couldn't I am sorry to say. It's not that the book was written badly it's more it is just not for me. I hate leaving bad reviews for books especially when it because it's just a not for me book. The next person to come along may love it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews