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Stay More #4
Cockroaches of Stay More
Harington turns to the insect world of his Ozark town of Stay More. The cockroach community perambulate on gitalongs and apprehend their environment through sniffwhips. Maidens dance to the scents and sounds of the bewitching Purple Symphony of early evening. The faithful attend prayer meetings - the exalted Lord is Man, of the Holy House, (so called because when He's drunk He shoots holes in the walls with His guns). Meet our hero Squire Sam Ingledew, an intrepid fighter, philosopher, and leader, afflicted by deafness - and by acute bashfulness in the presence of females. Meet the lovely Letitia Dingletoon, who lives with her Maw, Paw, and forty-two siblings in an old log, and is in a fair way of losing her virginity. The cast of characters is rounded out with a few mammals, and mythological critters too. There is cliff-hanging action, there is merrymaking. So come visit, and stay more in this fanciful irreverent underworld.
300 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
16 people are currently reading
391 people want to read
About the author
Donald Harington
37 books114 followersDonald Douglas Harington was an American author. All but the first of his novels either take place in or have an important connection to "Stay More," a fictional Ozark Mountains town based somewhat on Drakes Creek, Arkansas, where Harington spent summers as a child.
Harington was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He lost nearly all of his hearing at age 12 due to meningitis. This did not prevent him from picking up and remembering the vocabulary and modes of expression among the Ozark denizens, nor in conducting his teaching career as an adult.
Though he intended to be a novelist from a very early age, his course of study and his teaching career were in art and art history. He taught art history in New York, New England, and South Dakota before returning to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, his alma mater, where he taught for 22 years before his retirement on 1 May 2008.
Harington is acclaimed as one of America's greatest writers of fiction, if not one of its best known. Entertainment Weekly called him "America's greatest unknown writer." The novelist and critic Fred Chappell said of him "Donald Harington isn't an unknown writer. He's an undiscovered continent." Novelist James Sallis, writing in the Boston Globe: "Harington's books are of a piece -- the quirkiest, most original body of work in contemporary U.S. letters."
Harington died of pneumonia, after a long illness, in Springdale on 7 November 2009.
Harington's novels are available from The Toby Press in a uniform edition, with cover illustrations by Wendell Minor. Since his death, The Toby Press has made available the entire set of Harington novels as The Complete Novels of Donald Harington.
Harington was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He lost nearly all of his hearing at age 12 due to meningitis. This did not prevent him from picking up and remembering the vocabulary and modes of expression among the Ozark denizens, nor in conducting his teaching career as an adult.
Though he intended to be a novelist from a very early age, his course of study and his teaching career were in art and art history. He taught art history in New York, New England, and South Dakota before returning to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, his alma mater, where he taught for 22 years before his retirement on 1 May 2008.
Harington is acclaimed as one of America's greatest writers of fiction, if not one of its best known. Entertainment Weekly called him "America's greatest unknown writer." The novelist and critic Fred Chappell said of him "Donald Harington isn't an unknown writer. He's an undiscovered continent." Novelist James Sallis, writing in the Boston Globe: "Harington's books are of a piece -- the quirkiest, most original body of work in contemporary U.S. letters."
Harington died of pneumonia, after a long illness, in Springdale on 7 November 2009.
Harington's novels are available from The Toby Press in a uniform edition, with cover illustrations by Wendell Minor. Since his death, The Toby Press has made available the entire set of Harington novels as The Complete Novels of Donald Harington.
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July 20, 2016
Cockroaches of Staymore: A Place in the Choir
Cockroaches of Staymore by Donald Harington was chosen as a group read by On the Southern Literary Trail for December, 2014. Special thanks to Trail Member William who nominated this novel.
The Cockroaches of Staymore, First Ed., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, New York, 1989
Donald Harington, December 22, 1935-November 7, 2009
Cockroaches of Staymore is my third visit to Staymore, Arkansas. With each visit, I have been sad to leave it. I have wished that I could Stay More, as its inhabitants are known to implore you to do. not that they genuinely mean it. It's a recognized courtesy in that little community, a compliment you pay to the value you attach to the members of your community and your guests to it. If you stop and think about it, not many of us have that attitude towards our company these days. We don't say it, but our silent thought is, "When the Hell, ya'll gonna get home? Time's a wastin'. The wife's not too sleepy. The supper's done. I might just get lucky tonight. Too bad, buddy, if it's not in your stars tonight. Well, ever dog has his day. Too damn bad if this ain't yours." But we keep that to ourselves. Humans have a way of reading our unsent signals though. The way we cut our eyes, look at our watch. Cut the volume up a little on the TV. Mutter a little something about needing to get an early start on tomorrow's day. And before you know it, the party's over.
But in Staymore, well, in Staymore, things just move at a little slower pace. It's nice. Folks just never make you feel like you're being hurried along. That's nice. Don't you think?
I discovered Staymore, Arkansas, and its creator Donald Harington as a result of reading an issue of Oxford American Magazine, the Journal of Fine Southern Writing. Harington was recognized as the winner of the Oxford American's first Lifetime Achievement Award for Southern Literature in 2006. Oxford American and its fine staff have frequently put remarkable works in my hands. I owe it to them for connecting me to Donald Harington.
My first visit was what I believed to be the first Staymore novel, Lightning Bug. I knew immediately I had fallen into the hands of a master author who held me spellbound, the creator of a world in which I longed for, to live in, to escape to, to never leave. My review is here. Lightning Bug.
I quickly realized that it was easy to establish the order in which the "Staymore" novels were published. Almost simultaneously I discovered that the plots of the dozen or so tales do not flow chronologically from a historical perspective. If you've not ventured into Harington Country before, I'd actually recommend you start with The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks. For here are the origins of the very founding of the town, its early history, and its earliest residents. For background on Staymore, here's my review. Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks.
When William nominated Cockroaches of Staymore, my immediate reaction was Trail Members visiting Staymore for the first time would possibly think Mr. Harington had taken a trip with Carlos Castaneda or Timothy Leary. In the most benevolent light, first time Harington readers would view him as a man whose cheese had slid from his biscuit. I am ever indebted to my good friend Jeffrey Keeten who acquainted me with this expression. It has frequent application. I appropriate it with proper attribution--of course.
After all, this is a book about cockroaches. Or, as these critters are referred to--roosterroaches. "Cock" has such negative connotations in polite society, roach society, that is. Though, sex is a very naturally received fact of life among them, both male and female. And the intricacies of the courtship are quite...intricate, shall we say? Ah, pheromones do make things much less complicated. Much more natural. Shall we say spontaneous? Among us human kind, spontaneity can be such a squelching factor in these days and times. How does your calendar look tonight? Not good. Is tomorrow good for you? Uhm...We have dinner with the .... then. OH.
Of course, I lived through what I'm told was a sexual revolution completely oblivious of one having taken place. Late bloomer. Well, you can't go home again. So it goes.
And we silly humans. Has anyone figured out why Man and Woman are in separate bath tubs in those Cialis ads? Oh. And those little blue, purple, and yellow pills that the ads tell all us guys over forty that we probably need? The average act of roosterroach coitus takes three hours. Uhm...and males roosterroaches have three, uhm...you know. And they don't have to go to the emergency room if those thingies are uhm...inflated in excess of three hours. Don't anybody get titillated out there.
But this is what we're talking about people! Would you read a book about these?
Be honest. You have a flyswatter in your home. Right? There's that can of RAID under the kitchen sink. You've laughed at the RAID commercials. You like your Orkin Man. You are not an organic gardener. Bugs make your tomatoes ugly. You believe in better living through chemistry. Down at the lawn and garden center you are known as "Ortho Man." You know that's you. You think Donald Harington's a Nutcase!
But, my friends, for you are all my friends, I must disabuse you of your preconceived notions, your biases, your prejudices. You are wrong.
This is something, I know, not easily accepted. So, we will take this in little steps. Consider it an exercise in gentle desensitization.
First, think of that little photograph above and think of those two insects being in love. Betrothed to one another. They're singing a little song.
There now. Think about it. Now, we're going to take a little break to let all of you think about this. Actually, I'm being threatened with my life by the Queen and Cousin Kathleen, who is much like the Queen. Together they are they who must be obeyed. And we shall continue this upon my return to FREEDOM!
Having sung, "Let my people go" numerous times, only to be ignored or given baleful stares, I am free. Cousin Kathleen is busily packing. Her flight out leaves this afternoon. I do hate to see her go. Really, I wish she would stay more. I have told her so. She has replied in kind that the Queen and I should just fly back to Dallas with her and stay there a spell. We finally wound the discussion down with the general agreement that we would do this again real soon. That's true Staymoron style.
So, back to Harington's highly original and inventive Cockroaches of Staymore. These critters, you will discover, are quite like us humans. Actually, Harington probably used them as an example to us, pointing out just how foolish we men and women can be.
The world of the roosterroaches in inexorably intertwined with that of the humans of Staymore. And the roosterroaches have taken on the class structure of Staymoron society. Each of the little critters is a familiar of the former human residents of Staymore.
At the high end of roosterroach world are the Ingledews, just as it was in the human society of Staymore. It was the Ingledews that founded the town after all. And all the other former residents of Staymore have their roosterroach doppelgangers.
However, things are not as they once were in Staymore. The town, once teeming with its citizens is now abandoned except for the presence of two humans. One is a man, an outsider, Larry Brace, living in "Holy House" as it is known to roosterroach society as encouraged by Brother Chid Tichborne, the Reverend Frockroach who preaches the Gospel of Joshua H. Chrustus, Son of Man. Man is no less than Larry Brace.
It's only natural that the roosterroaches worship Man. For it is on the refuse of Man on which the roosterroaches survive. Religion can get right complicated. Brace's house is Holy house because he, uhm...drinks alcohol. A lot of it. And when he is far gone in his liquor, when he sees a roosterroach skittling across the floor to what they call the cooking room, he pulls out a revolver and lets off a round or two. So, Man's House is Holey because Larry has shot it full of holes. In the process, Larry's wild stray rounds may blast away an unfortunate roosterroach. Tichbourne explains that the departed has "gone West," been "Raptured," and gone to live at the Right Hand of Man.
Frankly, Brace has become a rather undependable "Lord." Tichbourne thinks of changing worship from that of Man to that of Woman. The other human residing in Staymore is Sharon, the granddaughter of Latha, former Postmistress of Staymore, owner and operator of the town's General Store, and the heroine of Lightning Bug. Sharon lives in Latha's former residence which she shares unknowingly with the Ingledew roosterroaches. The Old Squire has a cabinet in the kitchen, where the best victuals in Staymore are to be found. His son, Sam, has taken up quarters in an eight day clock overlooking Sharon's bed. Sharon's home is known to the roosterroaches as "Parthenon."
Sam Ingledew is an exceptional roosterroach. Consider him as a non-Chrustian, an Existentialist. Sam refers to himself as Gregor Samsa. Ring a bell? For all his self perceptions, Sam has managed to fall in love with Sharon and wonders what it might be like to make love with her. That would be quite a metamorphosis. To linger over Sharon's face as she sleeps, he has lived in the clock too long. The chimes of the clock have made him deaf. Once again, Harington inserts a bit of himself into his own novel. Harington lost his hearing almost completely at the age of twelve. He has previously appeared as such characters as "Dawny" in Lightning Bug where he was hopelessy in love with Latha.
Leda and the Swan, Giovanni Rapiti: Stranger Metamorphoses have happened. Right?
The pickings for roosterroaches in Holey House are becoming slim. Man has become an unpredictable provider. Frockroach Tichbourne develops a scheme to convince lowly Jake Dingletoon that he is in fact an Ingledew, entitled to claim kin to the Old Squire and Sam Ingledew. If Tichborne can insert Dingletoon into Parthenon, generous, but slow witted Jake will open Parthenon to all the roosterroaches of Staymore.
Harington artfully interweaves the roosterroaches' lives with those of Larry and Sharon. Roosterroach society is divided when Frockroach Tichborne decides to worship Woman instead of Man. And Tichborne will stop nothing short of "INSECTICIDE" to put his plans to take over Parthenon in place.
Two worlds, insect and human, begin to swirl out of control. When Larry shoots himself in his gitalong-er-leg, can the roosterroaches save him? Can they get word to Sharon?
Did you ever think an IBM Selectric Typewriter could be a thing of value?
What's a white mouse doing in Staymore?
Oh...and for all you doubters in Joshua Crust--read Cockroaches of Staymore to learn about the biggest and baddest of all roosterroaches, the Mockroach. He'll put you in mind of Uncle Screwtape. You know. The Uncle who wrote all those letters to his nephew.
While I was quite melancholy at the beginning of this quirky novel to find Staymore abandoned by the human characters I had come to love, I became enchanted by the world Harington created in the society of the roosterroaches. The little critters are more like us than any of us would care to admit. And Harington uses them to point out all the foibles, weaknesses, strengths, and the best of what it is to be human.
Cockroaches of Staymore could easily turn out to be my favorite of Harington's Staymore novels. This is a brillianty sharp work of humor and satire that skewers class structure, religion, politics--you name it. However, it's too early to tell this novel will be my favorite visit to Staymore. I have nine more journeys to make to that magical place. Harington has written the most original anthropomorphic work since Aesop's Fables
EXTRAS!
Biography of and Interview with Donald Harington by Edwin Arnold
Donald Harington and his Staymore Novels A Thirty Five Year Celebration, by Bob Rasher
SOUNDTRACK
The Bug, Dire Straits, 1992
It's a Bug's Life, Randy Newman
The Typewriter by Leroy Anderson
Cockroaches of Staymore by Donald Harington was chosen as a group read by On the Southern Literary Trail for December, 2014. Special thanks to Trail Member William who nominated this novel.
The Cockroaches of Staymore, First Ed., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, New York, 1989
Donald Harington, December 22, 1935-November 7, 2009
All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now--
Bill Staines, 1966
Cockroaches of Staymore is my third visit to Staymore, Arkansas. With each visit, I have been sad to leave it. I have wished that I could Stay More, as its inhabitants are known to implore you to do. not that they genuinely mean it. It's a recognized courtesy in that little community, a compliment you pay to the value you attach to the members of your community and your guests to it. If you stop and think about it, not many of us have that attitude towards our company these days. We don't say it, but our silent thought is, "When the Hell, ya'll gonna get home? Time's a wastin'. The wife's not too sleepy. The supper's done. I might just get lucky tonight. Too bad, buddy, if it's not in your stars tonight. Well, ever dog has his day. Too damn bad if this ain't yours." But we keep that to ourselves. Humans have a way of reading our unsent signals though. The way we cut our eyes, look at our watch. Cut the volume up a little on the TV. Mutter a little something about needing to get an early start on tomorrow's day. And before you know it, the party's over.
But in Staymore, well, in Staymore, things just move at a little slower pace. It's nice. Folks just never make you feel like you're being hurried along. That's nice. Don't you think?
I discovered Staymore, Arkansas, and its creator Donald Harington as a result of reading an issue of Oxford American Magazine, the Journal of Fine Southern Writing. Harington was recognized as the winner of the Oxford American's first Lifetime Achievement Award for Southern Literature in 2006. Oxford American and its fine staff have frequently put remarkable works in my hands. I owe it to them for connecting me to Donald Harington.
My first visit was what I believed to be the first Staymore novel, Lightning Bug. I knew immediately I had fallen into the hands of a master author who held me spellbound, the creator of a world in which I longed for, to live in, to escape to, to never leave. My review is here. Lightning Bug.
I quickly realized that it was easy to establish the order in which the "Staymore" novels were published. Almost simultaneously I discovered that the plots of the dozen or so tales do not flow chronologically from a historical perspective. If you've not ventured into Harington Country before, I'd actually recommend you start with The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks. For here are the origins of the very founding of the town, its early history, and its earliest residents. For background on Staymore, here's my review. Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks.
When William nominated Cockroaches of Staymore, my immediate reaction was Trail Members visiting Staymore for the first time would possibly think Mr. Harington had taken a trip with Carlos Castaneda or Timothy Leary. In the most benevolent light, first time Harington readers would view him as a man whose cheese had slid from his biscuit. I am ever indebted to my good friend Jeffrey Keeten who acquainted me with this expression. It has frequent application. I appropriate it with proper attribution--of course.
After all, this is a book about cockroaches. Or, as these critters are referred to--roosterroaches. "Cock" has such negative connotations in polite society, roach society, that is. Though, sex is a very naturally received fact of life among them, both male and female. And the intricacies of the courtship are quite...intricate, shall we say? Ah, pheromones do make things much less complicated. Much more natural. Shall we say spontaneous? Among us human kind, spontaneity can be such a squelching factor in these days and times. How does your calendar look tonight? Not good. Is tomorrow good for you? Uhm...We have dinner with the .... then. OH.
Of course, I lived through what I'm told was a sexual revolution completely oblivious of one having taken place. Late bloomer. Well, you can't go home again. So it goes.
And we silly humans. Has anyone figured out why Man and Woman are in separate bath tubs in those Cialis ads? Oh. And those little blue, purple, and yellow pills that the ads tell all us guys over forty that we probably need? The average act of roosterroach coitus takes three hours. Uhm...and males roosterroaches have three, uhm...you know. And they don't have to go to the emergency room if those thingies are uhm...inflated in excess of three hours. Don't anybody get titillated out there.
But this is what we're talking about people! Would you read a book about these?
American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, one of the oldest life forms on earth. They have been with us forever.
Be honest. You have a flyswatter in your home. Right? There's that can of RAID under the kitchen sink. You've laughed at the RAID commercials. You like your Orkin Man. You are not an organic gardener. Bugs make your tomatoes ugly. You believe in better living through chemistry. Down at the lawn and garden center you are known as "Ortho Man." You know that's you. You think Donald Harington's a Nutcase!
But, my friends, for you are all my friends, I must disabuse you of your preconceived notions, your biases, your prejudices. You are wrong.
This is something, I know, not easily accepted. So, we will take this in little steps. Consider it an exercise in gentle desensitization.
First, think of that little photograph above and think of those two insects being in love. Betrothed to one another. They're singing a little song.
Oh, we don't know what's coming tomorrow
Maybe it's trouble and sorrow
But we'll travel the road
Sharing our load side by side
There now. Think about it. Now, we're going to take a little break to let all of you think about this. Actually, I'm being threatened with my life by the Queen and Cousin Kathleen, who is much like the Queen. Together they are they who must be obeyed. And we shall continue this upon my return to FREEDOM!
Having sung, "Let my people go" numerous times, only to be ignored or given baleful stares, I am free. Cousin Kathleen is busily packing. Her flight out leaves this afternoon. I do hate to see her go. Really, I wish she would stay more. I have told her so. She has replied in kind that the Queen and I should just fly back to Dallas with her and stay there a spell. We finally wound the discussion down with the general agreement that we would do this again real soon. That's true Staymoron style.
So, back to Harington's highly original and inventive Cockroaches of Staymore. These critters, you will discover, are quite like us humans. Actually, Harington probably used them as an example to us, pointing out just how foolish we men and women can be.
The world of the roosterroaches in inexorably intertwined with that of the humans of Staymore. And the roosterroaches have taken on the class structure of Staymoron society. Each of the little critters is a familiar of the former human residents of Staymore.
At the high end of roosterroach world are the Ingledews, just as it was in the human society of Staymore. It was the Ingledews that founded the town after all. And all the other former residents of Staymore have their roosterroach doppelgangers.
However, things are not as they once were in Staymore. The town, once teeming with its citizens is now abandoned except for the presence of two humans. One is a man, an outsider, Larry Brace, living in "Holy House" as it is known to roosterroach society as encouraged by Brother Chid Tichborne, the Reverend Frockroach who preaches the Gospel of Joshua H. Chrustus, Son of Man. Man is no less than Larry Brace.
It's only natural that the roosterroaches worship Man. For it is on the refuse of Man on which the roosterroaches survive. Religion can get right complicated. Brace's house is Holy house because he, uhm...drinks alcohol. A lot of it. And when he is far gone in his liquor, when he sees a roosterroach skittling across the floor to what they call the cooking room, he pulls out a revolver and lets off a round or two. So, Man's House is Holey because Larry has shot it full of holes. In the process, Larry's wild stray rounds may blast away an unfortunate roosterroach. Tichbourne explains that the departed has "gone West," been "Raptured," and gone to live at the Right Hand of Man.
Frankly, Brace has become a rather undependable "Lord." Tichbourne thinks of changing worship from that of Man to that of Woman. The other human residing in Staymore is Sharon, the granddaughter of Latha, former Postmistress of Staymore, owner and operator of the town's General Store, and the heroine of Lightning Bug. Sharon lives in Latha's former residence which she shares unknowingly with the Ingledew roosterroaches. The Old Squire has a cabinet in the kitchen, where the best victuals in Staymore are to be found. His son, Sam, has taken up quarters in an eight day clock overlooking Sharon's bed. Sharon's home is known to the roosterroaches as "Parthenon."
Sam Ingledew is an exceptional roosterroach. Consider him as a non-Chrustian, an Existentialist. Sam refers to himself as Gregor Samsa. Ring a bell? For all his self perceptions, Sam has managed to fall in love with Sharon and wonders what it might be like to make love with her. That would be quite a metamorphosis. To linger over Sharon's face as she sleeps, he has lived in the clock too long. The chimes of the clock have made him deaf. Once again, Harington inserts a bit of himself into his own novel. Harington lost his hearing almost completely at the age of twelve. He has previously appeared as such characters as "Dawny" in Lightning Bug where he was hopelessy in love with Latha.
Leda and the Swan, Giovanni Rapiti: Stranger Metamorphoses have happened. Right?
The pickings for roosterroaches in Holey House are becoming slim. Man has become an unpredictable provider. Frockroach Tichbourne develops a scheme to convince lowly Jake Dingletoon that he is in fact an Ingledew, entitled to claim kin to the Old Squire and Sam Ingledew. If Tichborne can insert Dingletoon into Parthenon, generous, but slow witted Jake will open Parthenon to all the roosterroaches of Staymore.
Harington artfully interweaves the roosterroaches' lives with those of Larry and Sharon. Roosterroach society is divided when Frockroach Tichborne decides to worship Woman instead of Man. And Tichborne will stop nothing short of "INSECTICIDE" to put his plans to take over Parthenon in place.
Two worlds, insect and human, begin to swirl out of control. When Larry shoots himself in his gitalong-er-leg, can the roosterroaches save him? Can they get word to Sharon?
Did you ever think an IBM Selectric Typewriter could be a thing of value?
What's a white mouse doing in Staymore?
Oh...and for all you doubters in Joshua Crust--read Cockroaches of Staymore to learn about the biggest and baddest of all roosterroaches, the Mockroach. He'll put you in mind of Uncle Screwtape. You know. The Uncle who wrote all those letters to his nephew.
While I was quite melancholy at the beginning of this quirky novel to find Staymore abandoned by the human characters I had come to love, I became enchanted by the world Harington created in the society of the roosterroaches. The little critters are more like us than any of us would care to admit. And Harington uses them to point out all the foibles, weaknesses, strengths, and the best of what it is to be human.
Cockroaches of Staymore could easily turn out to be my favorite of Harington's Staymore novels. This is a brillianty sharp work of humor and satire that skewers class structure, religion, politics--you name it. However, it's too early to tell this novel will be my favorite visit to Staymore. I have nine more journeys to make to that magical place. Harington has written the most original anthropomorphic work since Aesop's Fables
EXTRAS!
Biography of and Interview with Donald Harington by Edwin Arnold
Donald Harington and his Staymore Novels A Thirty Five Year Celebration, by Bob Rasher
SOUNDTRACK
The Bug, Dire Straits, 1992
It's a Bug's Life, Randy Newman
The Typewriter by Leroy Anderson
July 24, 2011
Hah!
The cockroaches of Stay More are the main characters, taking on the names of the humans. Set later on in the timeline of Stay More, Latha's granddaughter, Sharon, is present.
Religion, social and economic status, family, and my favorite line involved a jab at racism ('she'll see him because he's white!'). All performed by cockroaches! There's play with language and tenses.
Lord, again with the incest.
The very last word...it spun me about from smilingly coasting to the completion of a story into sadness.
Oh man, as I was reading this, I was struck by the fact that Harington was writing about himself, in this and all his other books. His author blurb notes that he became deaf at 12 due to a bout of something-coccus meningitis. The hero in this book is a deaf cockroach...and I wonder how else they are similar to each other. Looking back, the lost little boy in love with the postmistress, who became an academic whose soul was slowly being crushed, and my god! maybe even the Boston curator who returned to the Ozarks? I wonder to what extext these books about Stay More are autobiographical.
The cockroaches of Stay More are the main characters, taking on the names of the humans. Set later on in the timeline of Stay More, Latha's granddaughter, Sharon, is present.
Religion, social and economic status, family, and my favorite line involved a jab at racism ('she'll see him because he's white!'). All performed by cockroaches! There's play with language and tenses.
Lord, again with the incest.
The very last word...it spun me about from smilingly coasting to the completion of a story into sadness.
Oh man, as I was reading this, I was struck by the fact that Harington was writing about himself, in this and all his other books. His author blurb notes that he became deaf at 12 due to a bout of something-coccus meningitis. The hero in this book is a deaf cockroach...and I wonder how else they are similar to each other. Looking back, the lost little boy in love with the postmistress, who became an academic whose soul was slowly being crushed, and my god! maybe even the Boston curator who returned to the Ozarks? I wonder to what extext these books about Stay More are autobiographical.
December 17, 2014
This is the way things ought to be, he reflects. This
is how Stay More should be all the time: no excitement,
nothing happening, a full belly, and the cool of the
evening (but it's a mite too dry and don't look like it
aims to rain again for quite a while), and the old
familiar sounds out there in the yard and the road and
the grass a-stirrin themselves up into the Purple Symphony.
Doc Swain could just sit here forever, and hardly even
breathe. Maybe spit now and again, not to mark his space,
nor because he's chewing tobacco or anything, but just
to spit for the pure cussed sake of spitting. (p 274)
Is this Man or is this Roosterroach (the term Cockroach is not used in polite roach society) speaking/thinking/musing upon life in Stay More? The beauty of Harington's wonderful creation is the relative equality of life forms, the anthropomorphizing of one of the oldest of earth's creatures into a worshiper of Man.
This is my second foray into the world of Stay More (definitely far from my last!) and I have had many laugh out loud moments while reading and, strangely, also some quite touching moments too when reading of the lives of some of the roosterroach and human residents of this town. There is so much here....pathos, rebellion, courtly love, evangelical fervor, monsters, renegades, true love, and of course deceit and jealousy.
Once again I have to thank On the Southern Literary Trail as this was a December group read. I highly recommend this book and visiting Stay More, Arkansas for a visit or a bit of a stay.
is how Stay More should be all the time: no excitement,
nothing happening, a full belly, and the cool of the
evening (but it's a mite too dry and don't look like it
aims to rain again for quite a while), and the old
familiar sounds out there in the yard and the road and
the grass a-stirrin themselves up into the Purple Symphony.
Doc Swain could just sit here forever, and hardly even
breathe. Maybe spit now and again, not to mark his space,
nor because he's chewing tobacco or anything, but just
to spit for the pure cussed sake of spitting. (p 274)
Is this Man or is this Roosterroach (the term Cockroach is not used in polite roach society) speaking/thinking/musing upon life in Stay More? The beauty of Harington's wonderful creation is the relative equality of life forms, the anthropomorphizing of one of the oldest of earth's creatures into a worshiper of Man.
This is my second foray into the world of Stay More (definitely far from my last!) and I have had many laugh out loud moments while reading and, strangely, also some quite touching moments too when reading of the lives of some of the roosterroach and human residents of this town. There is so much here....pathos, rebellion, courtly love, evangelical fervor, monsters, renegades, true love, and of course deceit and jealousy.
Once again I have to thank On the Southern Literary Trail as this was a December group read. I highly recommend this book and visiting Stay More, Arkansas for a visit or a bit of a stay.
December 9, 2014
Donald Harington has created a complex society of cockroaches in the town of Stay More. I never would have guessed I would grow so fond of this group of little critters in the Ozarks, but the story won me over after a few chapters. The writing is humorous and satirical with a bit of philosophy thrown in. Heartwarming and fun!
This was a December group read for the "On the Southern Literary Trail" group.
This was a December group read for the "On the Southern Literary Trail" group.
December 6, 2014
What a find. Donald Harington has managed to write a book about a universally hated creature, the Cockroach, (let me amend that to Roosterroaches, since cock has a bad connotation and is not used in polite society), and has made this reader reconsider my opinion of them. He has created a world, a philosophy, and given them a voice. Within the story, you get more facts about roaches, their bodies, their sex lives, and their eating habits than you ever thought to ask. Also embedded in this novel are allusions to other literature about roaches. One of the characters here is Gregor Samsun Ingledew, in a nod to Kafka's The Metamorphosis. There's also a scene where the roaches, led by Archy, attempt to use a typewriter to send a message to humans. Archy and Mehitabel was a great book from my past, and I loved recognizing the reference to it. Imaginative wordplay abounds throughout this story, and caused me to laugh out loud many times.
For an author to tackle all of these things very successfully in an improbable book, and to tell a story with a great plot, wonderful characters, much humor and pathos, to make fun of religion and humans, and to keep me reading and chuckling for 300 pages: Yes, this deserves 5 stars. Donald Harington is, in my opinion, quite simply a genius.
For an author to tackle all of these things very successfully in an improbable book, and to tell a story with a great plot, wonderful characters, much humor and pathos, to make fun of religion and humans, and to keep me reading and chuckling for 300 pages: Yes, this deserves 5 stars. Donald Harington is, in my opinion, quite simply a genius.
June 16, 2024
A community of anthropomorphic cockroaches (sorry, “roosterroaches”) is about all the society that’s left in the nearly abandoned Arkansas Ozarks village of Stay More, aside from pugilistic crickets, a lab-rat asylum seeker from Yankee-land, and other animalia. The humorous satire of human society is most pointed in its religion, with a cynical preacher leading the Crustian faithful of Holy House in worship of the Man, one of two humans left in the village, who doth provide their daily sustenance even as He raptures them with his holy bullets, sending them West to join the prophet Joshua Crust to sit on Man’s right hand.
On another day/month/year I might rate this higher, but it doesn’t quite match my current reading mood. On the other hand, I might not, as satires featuring animal characters are never my cup of tea, either. Still, it’s Donald Harington.
On another day/month/year I might rate this higher, but it doesn’t quite match my current reading mood. On the other hand, I might not, as satires featuring animal characters are never my cup of tea, either. Still, it’s Donald Harington.
September 19, 2014
Oh wow: a love story, class struggle, religious parable and retelling of Tess of the D'Ubervilles set in the American south with a cast of cockroaches. This one's really something.
Centering around a couple of houses in the town of Stay More, The Cockroaches... follows a bustling community of cockroaches (or, as they say, rooster-roaches; cock is a dirty word, after all) who pray to man, swim in cans of beer and have a rigid class structure. The town squires live in the nicer house, the middle-class people in the run-down Holy House and the poor folk in an abandoned house out back. Between hiding from a giant white rat and dodging bullets, one of the poorest women in town falls for both the town squire and the town pastor's son. Meanwhile, the town pastor tries to kickstart the end times, setting off a chain of events leading to gunplay, death and a scene where a roosterroach ends up in someone's mouth.
Once you get past the cast (who, in a nice touch, often pride themselves on their cleanliness) and Harington's dialects, there's a witty and oddly moving story that echos Hardy's classic while firmly remaining something unique. It's a fun read, with a bunch of in-jokes and a colorful cast, including a rat from Brooklyn, earthworms communicating in trucker-speak and a bug's take on the meaning of life and God. Recommended, especially those into magical realism. You'll never think about bugs the same way again.
Centering around a couple of houses in the town of Stay More, The Cockroaches... follows a bustling community of cockroaches (or, as they say, rooster-roaches; cock is a dirty word, after all) who pray to man, swim in cans of beer and have a rigid class structure. The town squires live in the nicer house, the middle-class people in the run-down Holy House and the poor folk in an abandoned house out back. Between hiding from a giant white rat and dodging bullets, one of the poorest women in town falls for both the town squire and the town pastor's son. Meanwhile, the town pastor tries to kickstart the end times, setting off a chain of events leading to gunplay, death and a scene where a roosterroach ends up in someone's mouth.
Once you get past the cast (who, in a nice touch, often pride themselves on their cleanliness) and Harington's dialects, there's a witty and oddly moving story that echos Hardy's classic while firmly remaining something unique. It's a fun read, with a bunch of in-jokes and a colorful cast, including a rat from Brooklyn, earthworms communicating in trucker-speak and a bug's take on the meaning of life and God. Recommended, especially those into magical realism. You'll never think about bugs the same way again.
June 20, 2015
It may not be necessary for all, but I suggest if you're going to read Mr. Harington, you start with Lighting Bug as a few things will make more sense.
You might also find it beneficial to NOT read all the wonderful 5-star GR reviews of this beforehand - just let it unfold into your life.
Told from the viewpoint of the cockroach inhabitants of the remaining bits of Stay More, AR, you begin to think of them as people. Wait, I need to think about that.......
You grin, you giggle, you cheer, you begin to love 'bugs' and how they overcome all the obstacles in their lives.
To suggest there might be a few thoughts on society, love, religion, medicine, family, sex, economics, politics and interpersonal relations would be an understatement, but they quietly sneak up on you rather than hit you in the face with a baseball bat. And you will be amazed at how Mr. Harington manages to manipulate, er, fracture, the English language.
This is pure fun with an amazing message and I will never look at roaches the same way.....
Read it people...
You might also find it beneficial to NOT read all the wonderful 5-star GR reviews of this beforehand - just let it unfold into your life.
Told from the viewpoint of the cockroach inhabitants of the remaining bits of Stay More, AR, you begin to think of them as people. Wait, I need to think about that.......
You grin, you giggle, you cheer, you begin to love 'bugs' and how they overcome all the obstacles in their lives.
To suggest there might be a few thoughts on society, love, religion, medicine, family, sex, economics, politics and interpersonal relations would be an understatement, but they quietly sneak up on you rather than hit you in the face with a baseball bat. And you will be amazed at how Mr. Harington manages to manipulate, er, fracture, the English language.
This is pure fun with an amazing message and I will never look at roaches the same way.....
Read it people...
January 16, 2010
This is a beautiful, funny, quirky, eccentric, imaginative novel. Harington has reimagined the village of Stay More through the perspective of the cockroaches who live there. The cockroaches take on the names and identities of the people who once lived in Stay More, and Latha's granddaughter, Sharon and her estranged lover, Larry Brace, are Man and Woman, who the cockroaches worship.
The intricate cosmology Harington creates is worth a dissertation study, from his trademark clever wordplay to the innovative details of the cockroaches spiritual life, their reason for going on through multiple instars until they reach imago. The cockroaches are pretty matter of fact about life and death, but they also develop deep feelings, skills, preferences and other anthropomorphic qualities in the span of a relatively short lifetime.
I cannot think of a wholly more creative, imaginative novel. There has never been and there never will be another storyteller like Donald Harington.
The intricate cosmology Harington creates is worth a dissertation study, from his trademark clever wordplay to the innovative details of the cockroaches spiritual life, their reason for going on through multiple instars until they reach imago. The cockroaches are pretty matter of fact about life and death, but they also develop deep feelings, skills, preferences and other anthropomorphic qualities in the span of a relatively short lifetime.
I cannot think of a wholly more creative, imaginative novel. There has never been and there never will be another storyteller like Donald Harington.
September 5, 2016
Erotic cockroach fiction
Ok that is mostly a lie. Read this book if you want to get lost in a world where cockroaches have their own society, religion, and dialect/vocabulary. The are brave roaches and cowardly ones, back-stabbers and dum-dums. At the very least, all the cockroach vocabulary was super interesting/entertaining to wade through and eventually discern the meanings of.
But don't read this if your stomach is a little off, or if you already feel ill. These are characters, but they're still cockroaches. I tried to read this book on a plane ride and had to put it down. But I picked it up again when I landed.
Ok that is mostly a lie. Read this book if you want to get lost in a world where cockroaches have their own society, religion, and dialect/vocabulary. The are brave roaches and cowardly ones, back-stabbers and dum-dums. At the very least, all the cockroach vocabulary was super interesting/entertaining to wade through and eventually discern the meanings of.
But don't read this if your stomach is a little off, or if you already feel ill. These are characters, but they're still cockroaches. I tried to read this book on a plane ride and had to put it down. But I picked it up again when I landed.
January 12, 2011
This is one of my favorite books. I can read over and over.
It is the most delightfully, irreverent piece of literature ever, in my humble and limited opinion.
The Cockroaches of StayMore follow the example of a long dead cockroach named Joshua Crust and worship Man. OK! So maybe part of the reason I love it so much is that I live in StayMore! Seriously!
Donald Harington, RIP, the creator of StayMore is unbelievably funny. Everything he has written is on my to read list!
It is the most delightfully, irreverent piece of literature ever, in my humble and limited opinion.
The Cockroaches of StayMore follow the example of a long dead cockroach named Joshua Crust and worship Man. OK! So maybe part of the reason I love it so much is that I live in StayMore! Seriously!
Donald Harington, RIP, the creator of StayMore is unbelievably funny. Everything he has written is on my to read list!
March 31, 2014
It's a retelling of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, except with roaches. It took me a little while to remember where I had read that plot line before, but once I did it made it more amusing.
August 18, 2018
p.6
"Jack lowered his sniffwhips and his tailprongs, tucking them all beneath him so that he was no longer confused by the flowering cacophony of sounds and scents, the strident bloom of seeking odors, the yearning blare of efflorescing aromas, the redolent reek of craving commotions, the purple smell of boisterous desires, the lascivious essences of unfolding tones, the rank voices and perfumes of swollen lust."
"Jack lowered his sniffwhips and his tailprongs, tucking them all beneath him so that he was no longer confused by the flowering cacophony of sounds and scents, the strident bloom of seeking odors, the yearning blare of efflorescing aromas, the redolent reek of craving commotions, the purple smell of boisterous desires, the lascivious essences of unfolding tones, the rank voices and perfumes of swollen lust."
August 13, 2025
This book is weird and gross, what with all the incest and sperm balls and... just, general bug sex stuff I doubt most people want to know about, but I love it for that.
I mean, why not? People already think roaches are gross, might as well play it up and get some gross-out laughs. Although, I personally found this book more generally entertaining than laugh-out-loud funny.
It's not going to be for everyone, though, and not just for the bug sex, or the fact that some people suck at suspending their belief and/or reading about creatures they find icky. It can be hard to read because all the accents are written out phonetically. For heavily-accented characters like the White Mouse, it's a headache to understand what they're saying until you get oriented with their dialect. The roaches have their own names for their body parts (and sometimes human things), which aren't explained but are usually self-explanatory, like "gitalong" (that is, "get-along") and "sniffwhip", so that shouldn't be too off-putting for long, at least. Speaking of which: since the roaches call themselves roosterroach instead of cockroach, Harrington missed a the opportunity to call the lady roaches "henroaches" instead of maidens!
At times, it's weirdly well-researched for a comedic satire using cockroaches as stand-ins for people. Some actual entomologist jargon is thrown in here and there. (The book is separated into instars instead of parts, for example.)
Also: Bonus enjoyment points for the segment where the clock breaks down at the end. Lovely bit of rule breaking with the writing there, using the roaches' belief about the clock literally controlling time.
I mean, why not? People already think roaches are gross, might as well play it up and get some gross-out laughs. Although, I personally found this book more generally entertaining than laugh-out-loud funny.
It's not going to be for everyone, though, and not just for the bug sex, or the fact that some people suck at suspending their belief and/or reading about creatures they find icky. It can be hard to read because all the accents are written out phonetically. For heavily-accented characters like the White Mouse, it's a headache to understand what they're saying until you get oriented with their dialect. The roaches have their own names for their body parts (and sometimes human things), which aren't explained but are usually self-explanatory, like "gitalong" (that is, "get-along") and "sniffwhip", so that shouldn't be too off-putting for long, at least. Speaking of which: since the roaches call themselves roosterroach instead of cockroach, Harrington missed a the opportunity to call the lady roaches "henroaches" instead of maidens!
At times, it's weirdly well-researched for a comedic satire using cockroaches as stand-ins for people. Some actual entomologist jargon is thrown in here and there. (The book is separated into instars instead of parts, for example.)
Also: Bonus enjoyment points for the segment where the clock breaks down at the end. Lovely bit of rule breaking with the writing there, using the roaches' belief about the clock literally controlling time.
February 18, 2019
I had to lay it aside, surprised. I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks' and 'The Choiring of the Trees', so I don't doubt one second the literary abilities of this great author. It must have been the subject itself I just couldn't identify with.
November 5, 2017
wow. Another perfect book by d.h. Cockroach watership down. even better?
January 5, 2018
Quirky. Good read.
April 5, 2018
I don't honestly know what I just read, but it was highly enjoyable. And unique. So, so unique.
May 6, 2018
Whimsical, clever and quite amusing. Lots of wordplay along with Donald Harrington’s dry wit. Lots of interest cockroach facts as well. Made me chuckle out loud quite a few times
June 4, 2019
Quick fun read. Ending is quite good. I think it would’ve served better as a short story instead of a full novel, but still very good with some real laughs.
November 9, 2020
Different.
December 21, 2021
Existential. Enough said.
May 21, 2022
Not as good as others
June 23, 2024
En sjarmerende og vittig fortelling om religion, klasse, døden og kjærlighet i et kakerlakksamfunn i Arkensas. En perfekt tidlig-sommer-bok!
May 5, 2020
i may never kill an insect, apart from mosquitoes, again
September 2, 2015
This is an epic tale of cockroach civilization in Harington’s hillbilly hamlet of Stay More, way back in the Arkansas Ozarks. The town is dying, with only two humans in residence, Larry and Sharon, each living in separate houses. From Roosterroaches, to Mockroaches, to Crustians, these intelligent insects worship, read, write, marry, and raise families. Some worship Man (Larry) while others rethink their concept of God – should he/she look more like them? Others reject religion entirely. The religious satire is central to the novel which is replete with preachers (roach preachers), religious factions (Crustians follow the teachings of Joshua Crust), and rousing religious services.
There is even a roach love story between Squire Sam Ingledew who, like the author, is deaf and Tish Dingletoon, eldest daughter of Josie and Squire John Dingleton, both of whom almost drown in a beer can.
Hilarious and thoughtful at the same time, The Cockroaches of Stay More ends with a tinge of sadness and a shift to future tense, a technique employed by Harington in many of his novels.
If you haven’t read Harington before, you should probably start with a couple of his novels featuring humans as central characters. By so doing, this one will be a much richer read.
There is even a roach love story between Squire Sam Ingledew who, like the author, is deaf and Tish Dingletoon, eldest daughter of Josie and Squire John Dingleton, both of whom almost drown in a beer can.
Hilarious and thoughtful at the same time, The Cockroaches of Stay More ends with a tinge of sadness and a shift to future tense, a technique employed by Harington in many of his novels.
If you haven’t read Harington before, you should probably start with a couple of his novels featuring humans as central characters. By so doing, this one will be a much richer read.
September 5, 2013
Started this installment in Donald Harington's cycle of Stay More books on my last climbing trip to Newton county Arkansas two weeks ago and finished it a couple of days before my next weekend climbing trip again in Newton county.
Cockroaches, religion, drinking, adventure, love, comedy, tragedy..... This one has it all packed into 300 pages.
Intrigued? Then read it, though before reading The Cockroaches of Stay More you should read The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks first and if you are really ambitious read Lightning Bug and Some Other Place The Right Place as well.
I will begin reading The Choiring of theTrees on my trip back down to Newton county the weekend.
Cockroaches, religion, drinking, adventure, love, comedy, tragedy..... This one has it all packed into 300 pages.
Intrigued? Then read it, though before reading The Cockroaches of Stay More you should read The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks first and if you are really ambitious read Lightning Bug and Some Other Place The Right Place as well.
I will begin reading The Choiring of theTrees on my trip back down to Newton county the weekend.
October 18, 2010
This one was funny, and I give him credit for creating a whole "roosterroach" world and language, but I didn't think it quite went as far as it could have gone. The plot was both fragmented and rushed, and most of the time he sounds like a white guy trying to be Marquez. There are worse role models one could have, though...
February 5, 2011
Ok, so I read this in high school and I really liked it a lot back then. It's possible I might think differently now but I still have the book and maybe I should read it. I have always liked books that were kind of like twisted folk tales, which this is like. My neighborhood nickname when I was young was also cockroach or bug, so I guess I identified with it.
January 3, 2014
I loved reading this book. I'd recommend it for all. The author did a great job with the dialogue. I may not be a fan of roaches--or any insect, for that matter--but I like that the main characters are roaches. After reading this story, you'll never look at insects the same way.
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