In The Tennessee Country

by Peter Taylor

In 1916, a young boy, Nathan Longfort, is on the funeral train bearing the body of his grandfather, the Senator, from Washington, D.C., to Knoxville, Tennessee. The memory of this journey will haunt him for the rest of his life. On this trip, he meets the enigmatic Cousin Aubrey, a man of "irregular kinship," the black sheep of the Longfort clan. As the years pass, and Aubrey disappears into the world, Nathan begins to compulsively collect rumors about his faraway life—as Nathan's mother's first true love, a charmer of European society, a Don Juan, a worldly success—and sees it in stinging contrast to his own unfulfilled dreams of becoming an artist. Much later in life, the two men—now old—will meet again.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, American Fiction

225 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor was a U.S. author and writer. Considered to be one of the finest American short story writers, Taylor's fictional milieu is the urban South. His characters, usually middle or upper class people, often are living in a time of change and struggle to discover and define their roles in society.
Peter Taylor also wrote three novels, including A Summons to Memphis in 1986, for which he won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and In the Tennessee Country in 1994. His collection The Old Forest and Other Stories (1985) won the PEN/Faulkner Award. Taylor taught literature and writing at Kenyon and the University of Virginia.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

Few books make me angry. This one, for some strange reason, did just that. I don't often use the 1-star rating, but this one qualifies. Partly the writing style, partly the story it told, this book constitutes a major disappointment for this reader. Early on, there was a section where the author referred to one of his characters by name and relationship to the main character. Then for the space of several paragraphs, he repeated the name AND the relationship at every mention of the character. ENOUGH! Refer to him by name or by relationship, but not both. Another annoyance was that this was supposed to be about the main character finding a long lost relative and the interaction between them. However, the entire book, save for the last few pages were about the main character's life and why the "search" (if such it could be called) was so dang important to him. The portrait we get however, is of a poor, self-important, retired university professor who has no idea who his children, his wife, or his forbears are. I had to force myself to finish it. And by force, I mean literally swallow my gorge and make my eyes follow the prose. I picked this up because it purported to be about a part of the country where we had lived for many years and hope someday to return to. Tennessee got short shrift, however. Somehow, I expected better from a Pulitzer prizewinner.

[Ann]

225 pages, thousands of words and this book said absolutely NOTHING. It was torture trying to get through this redundant, droning, pointless book.
Doesn't even rate a 1 star

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually 2.5. This is an older author, and ive read many older books, but this story was just flat out boring . I kept waiting for the thing that would grab me and it never came, not even to the end of the book. Just an old man musing about choices in his life who sounds like he was coddled and whiney the only way i finished was it was the only thing i brought to read on two five hour train rides

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it took 100 pages to get involved. After that, I had a small interest in this character study. The whole thing, story,style,action is southern slow. Sometimes touching but I can’t really say that I enjoyed it or got that much out of it. Taylor is a skilled author. I think this time he may have become a little self indulgent.

[Keith Akers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book and managed to finish it, and actually it wasn’t bad, but the plot left me disappointed. The writing is good, and the plot has a great first sentence: “In the Tennessee country of my forebears it was not uncommon for a man of good character suddenly to disappear.” Really? Mysterious disappearances? Who are these people, and why do they go missing? Inquiring minds want to know, so we keep turning the pages. There is a specific character who has gone missing, Cousin Aubrey, which serves as a focus for our anxiety and curiosity. The plot unfolds slowly, but it maintained my interest, and I’m from East Tennessee, so I kept reading.

Eventually we find out what happened with Cousin Aubrey, but the answer is considerably more mundane than the promise of exotic events which have somehow spirited these people away. The real revelation is not about a mysterious plot twist, but about the narrator’s character and the character of his family members. It's nothing like "Cousin Aubrey reveals that he joined the French Foreign Legion and then spent two decades exploring the Middle East."

Basically, we find out that these people aren’t really communicating with each other, and our narrator is one of the people who don’t do to well at communicating. So they only SEEM to disappear. In reality, they just get tired of talking to you, or perhaps they’re embarrassed to talk to you or to the rest of the family for some reason. They don’t actually “disappear”; this is just a big tease, and where is the narrator getting the idea that people disappear all the time?

Here’s the sentence that someone needed to utter, in response to the narrator asking about Cousin Aubrey: “Oh, how the hell should I know where Cousin Aubrey is? He never visits and he hasn’t written in ages. I think he’s mad at us for some reason, or maybe he thinks we’re mad at him or are embarrassed by him because he’s illegitimate. Or maybe he’s just embarrassed because, you know, he was intensely interested in your mother before she was married. I wonder what THAT story is. Maybe your Mom could shed some light?” But instead everything stays repressed and unspoken.

Speaking of Mom’s love interest, this whole subject is never elaborated on after the initial revelation early on. I understand, with a modern sensibility, why Aubrey didn’t run away with Mom, because Mom was only 14 years old at the time (and Mom’s Dad is the former governor of the state!). Best to be cautious. But Aubrey was interested in all three sisters, including the two older ones, who might have been more suitable matches.

It seems as if there is more than could be told here. But even after Aubrey and the narrator meet in old age, they don’t talk about it. Again, this is the sentence that Aubrey needs to tell the narrator in old age: “Jeez, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing! I was young, and the governor was my uncle as well as her father, and also my means of support. And she was 14, I don’t think that’s even legal. I would need to have waited until she was much older, but that didn’t happen either.” The narrator’s inability to communicate, unfortunately, gets in the way of the plot at this point. Was Mom Aubrey’s true love? We’ll never know.

Along the way, we have a lot of detail about the history of his life, and why he didn’t become an artist, but instead settled into a more conventional but successful academic career. Thus, there is existential angst about “my life could have been very different.” While regret is a valid emotion worthy of novelistic exploration, it is stretched out over the length of the whole book without any insights provided on resolving the question. This left me wondering if I shouldn’t have read the next volume in the Outlander series instead. In the end, I am left sympathetic with all the characters who — in retrospect — seem to be annoyed with the narrator.

[Will Krugman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know and love a southerner that likes to tell long stories about family lore, this book is a great choice. Peter Taylor's almost stream-of-conscious storytelling and lore building here is fascinating to me, just like the premise and first lines in the book about men who just up and disappear. I was actually inspired afterwards to look up old friends and contacts I hadn't seen in years.

I did not like the narrator's confederacy worshiping uncles and father, which probably would and should be a big problem for a lot of readers. That's how a lot of southerners felt in those days, though, and I wish the narrator had more to say about the previous generations' shortcomings and downfalls. He kind of pulls an "I can't be racist because I have a black friend" card in the middle of the story, and I wish he had fleshed out how that relationship impacted his family.

*non-major spoilers ahead*


However I do wonder if this is a tale about fading legacies and the downfall of a great house. Afterall, the family falls from a place of power (the patriarch being a beloved governor and senator), to a young widow, to a university professor (narrator), to an artist (narrator's son) in four generations... not exactly promising, but not exactly a true downfall either. Maybe its about rebirth and creation, and hope for the next generation. Afterall, the author's chosen profession as an art critic and professor is to preserve the past, while his son's choice to actually BECOME an artist is more forward looking.


Five stars because I like the writing style, the plot continued to draw me in, and it had something to say (albeit not enough, imo) about race and southern culture. Plus, a lot of the story takes place in my hometown, and I liked reading about what it looked like at the turn of the 20th century.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The primary pull for me in picking up this book was its setting. It is always interesting to see how authors spin tales around familiar places. Growing up in Tennessee, it was cool to be able to vividly imagine the scenes in places I've been.

The story itself centers on a sheltered antihero whose life is shaped by one dramatic event in his childhood. He tells the saga of his family before and after that event. It's a great character study that weaves in commentary on both familial and cultural norms with a meandering plot that seems somewhat unconcerned about ever reaching its destination.

And right when I was thinking that the author's style reminded me of Mary and Percy Shelley, he mentioned the latter in the text. The novel definitely has that very descriptive wordy and gothic vibe.

While the setting and psychological depth of the characters are glowing positives in this book, it felt like a hell of a journey to go on just for the main character to figure out that the lives of the black sheep of the family are often more interesting than those who choose the status quo. I will say that I was a little surprised this won a Pulitzer, however it was a welcome change of pace compared to many modern novels.

[Mark Burris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of the book — "It's about men who disappear" — is intriguing, if somewhat elusive. Overnight, and as I write this, it seems to me that it's about those who disappear from family, friends and their worlds, but, rather, those who never appear to themselves. Nathan Longfort gives us the narrative of his life, beginning with the funeral procession by slow train of his grandfather from DC to TN, introducing us to all of his family tree ... including Aubrey. It's Aubrey's death at the end — clearly the end of something — along with Nathan's son Brax's coming of age as an artist that ultimately defines Nathan as someone he didn't quite become. But perhaps we don't define ourselves individually; perhaps we are defined by all of those around us ...

[Kris Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

im writing this a month out and i can only remember the boy was obsessed with the mystery relative he saw on a family funeral train when he was young. Guess its not worth the read. so i have given the book a two star.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started so gracefully, a remembrance by the scion of a Tennessee political family. Then I kept waiting for it to tell me something. interesting instead of skimming the surface of the life of this family. Ended up not being able to finish so, I will never know the story of cousin Aubrey.

[Linda Dunlavy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written story of an older mans recollection of a funeral train ride in 1916 and the unanswered questions which have haunted him ever since. A little disjointed and anti-climactic but a worthy read nonetheless

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very self-absorbed narrator. Maybe would enjoy it more on reflection

[Kali den Heijer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read maybe a third of the book. It just did not interest me enough to continue reading it.

[Thomas MAst · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing characters. Plot is ok but not moving fast enough.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty slow going, but I kept going to find out what happened. Not much! I might try another of Taylor's to see if there's one with more life in it.

[Laura Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried. Gave it 30 pages, tho I usually try for at least 50. Snore. Bookclub choice, not my cup of tea.

[Cooper Renner]

Read 25-30%, then quit. Well-written (though with some repetitions that seem to indicate poor editing), but simply not involving to me

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was looking for something to read and discovered this in my bookcase. Don't remember when I bought it and don't think I had even started it before. Was intrigued by the storyline involving TN men who disappear, having just finished doing some genealogy research which required proving descent from a TN man who walked away from one family and started another one. However, this book really just wandered around and the end seemed anti-climatic. Perhaps the point is that the men who disappeared may have been running towards something, not running away from something. In any case, might have made a good short story but as a novel seems there was a lot of nothing happening for page after page.

[Richard West]

Mr. Taylor shares precious insight into Southern Culture. "In the Tennessee Country" was the first book i read by Peter Taylor. I selected the book on a whim simply because of the word "Tennessee" in the title. I have now read all of Mr. Taylor's fiction (Short Stories & Novels). "In the Tennessee Country" is typical of Mr. Taylor's fiction. He writes very simply. His dialogue is crisp and clear. He does not include complex themes or epic battles of Good .vs. Evil. He writes about ordinary people leading ordinary lives. His words are simply beautiful. His words flow so well that they seem "poetic". There is a rhythm. There are no missing words. There are no extra words. Mr. Taylor is simply a masterful storyteller.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to accurately rate this book. I liked the writing style, which read more like a leisurely conversation or reminiscence than a novel, but the story itself left me wondering exactly what happened. At times repetitive and overwrought, there is an animosity between the narrator and the other characters, but because the only voice in the novel is that of the narrator the reader is left with only a vague sense of what is behind the conflicts. If the point of this is to put the reader into the narrator's position then it is an effective, if not satisfying, method. Unfortunately, by the end of the novel I still wasn't sure what to take away from it.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

After discovering Peter Taylor's work years ago, I enjoyed "A Summons to Memphis" and "The Oracle at Stoneleigh Court" very much & was looking forward to reading more, but this one eluded me. Diffuse, and repetitive in places. I think I may have been fooled by the short chapters into believing I could read it in short hops. The book probably deserves a closer read than I gave it. It's one I'll try again.

[Vicki Luschek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book, actually, "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction." A young boy grows up to be an accomplished professor and his obsession with an elusive cousin, Aubrey Bradshaw and his regrets over not having taken a more A-typical path in life. Very well written. I'm hooked on Taylor's writing.

[Ginny · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was that about? This was my response on finishing this book. I finished it because the writing is easy/interesting--but the story is vague and repetitive. I felt like I should read something by Peter Taylor (who won a Pulitzer for another book, A Summons to Memphis). Now I've paid my dues. His other books may be better, but this one wasn't interesting enough to make me want to find out.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told in the classic Southern story-telling way...digressions, repeating of information, use of words that would never be used in "normal" conversation...this was a Story that was a character-driven story that was interesting until Part 3. The latter part was anti-climactic, that is, the reader was taken on a grand journey with a not very satisfying conclusion.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Peter Taylor.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written but kind of boring

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Christmas SF. Classic, well-written novel, Tennessee settting.

[Zuvielekatzen · Rating 2 out of 5]

not his best, for sure

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to get to the last page. ugh

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elegant, leisurely and wonderfully digressive.