On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

You probably know this book better by its film name, "Paper Moon," directed by Peter Bogdanovich. However, the author Joe David Brown was an Alabaman. And the original setting was Alabama and New Orleans. Bogdanovich set the film in the "Dust Bowl" because he said "The South had been done before." Well, not the way Joe David Brown wrote it. If you've not read it, you're in for a treat. If you have, you'll find it just as entertaining as the first go around. I had the privilege of seeing the Alabama Literary Theatre, a group of fine Alabama Authors perform "Addie Pray" at the Alabama Festival of the book this past spring. I'm looking forward to this re-read. I read this one upon its original release in 1971. Let's talk about it.

I just started addie pray or by its other name paper moon. paper moon used to be called addie pray .
I was impressed by how long boy used addie with his crimes without addie questioning any thing.
I really like this book.

Thinking about that, why Addie just went along with it. She is a tough and precocious little cookie. Her mother has passed and Long Boy is the closest thing to a parent that she has. Want of family? Survival? Love of adventure?

Mmars wrote: "Thinking about that, why Addie just went along with it. She is a tough and precocious little cookie. Her mother has passed and Long Boy is the closest thing to a parent that she has. Want of family..."

No other option?

Yeah. Though Long Boy didn't force her, he did encourage her and certainly wouldn't have prevented her from it. It's so wrong, yet it doesn't feel that wrong as you read it.

I just saw the movie for the very first time a couple of days ago. Her mother was apparently a prostitute. Was that so in the novel?

LeAnne wrote: "I just saw the movie for the very first time a couple of days ago. Her mother was apparently a prostitute. Was that so in the novel?"

She was described in the book as being a girl who was on the wild side and liked a good time, but I don't think she was a prostitute.

Here is how the book opens:

"They say my mama, Miss Essie Mae Loggins, was the wildest girl in Marengo County, Alabama. I couldn't say about that. There's not much I remember about her at all."

Later we learn:

"To this day, I don't know whether Long Boy was my daddy or not. That sounds right peculiar, I know. But it was on account of my mama being -- well, fast and all. Miss Katie Lou Bishop, who was Mama's very best friend, told me that Mama always used to laugh and say that any one of three men could be my daddy, but if I was real fortunate I'd never find out which."

(The above quotes are not spoilers since the reader would learn about them at the very beginning of the book. The first opens the book and the second appears on p. 13.)

BTW, there are some major differences between the novel and the movie. Both are entertaining and well-done, but major portions of the novel did not make it into the screenplay. The setting was also moved from Alabama and New Orleans to Kansas.

Thanks, Howard! Im looking forward to reading this in a few weeks. The New Orleans scenes will appeal to me, Im sure!

Here is another thought.
I wonder if Addie really understands what goingo on.
Long Boy sees Aiddie as someone with something bad just happen , weak , too young to understand. I think he uses that as a way on chosing her to be his parter in crime.

I am a few chapters in, but I get the impression that Addie admires Long Boy's intelligence and coolness under pressure, and appreciates the chance to help him with the cons. Right or wrong has nothing to do with it, but survival in the depression does. Leanne, my library edition has a forward by Peter Bogdonovitch, who directed the movie. He explains the differences between the book and the movie, and why those changes were made. I'm going to re-watch the movie when I finish the book.

Diane, I will look for his explanation! It is hard for screenwriters and directors to do justice to great stories from the written page, but you have to admire them when they pull it off well.

People would anything to make it though a hard time.
I have to agree with diane on that

Diane wrote: "I am a few chapters in, but I get the impression that Addie admires Long Boy's intelligence and coolness under pressure, and appreciates the chance to help him with the cons. Right or wrong has no..."

I just finished reading the book for the second time and I also watched the movie yesterday for the first time in a long, long time. I don't have the copy with Bogdanovich's foreword, so I don't know his reasons for the changes, but I have some ideas of my own.

I won't discuss them now because they might constitute spoilers, but I hope to discuss them later and to see if I was right -- or even close.

Not finished yet, but this has been a real treat for me. I'm in the Charleston, SC area, and everything has been shut down this weekend because of record rainfalls and king tides, causing major flooding and road closures. Only thing to do is read, right? (And eat) I just finished reading a couple of heavier books that required some some major brain activity, so spending some time with Addie and Moses Pray has been a welcome respite for me. It's amazing how easy it is to run con games on gullible people if you're intelligent enough and remain cool under pressure. Thanks Howard, for nominating this, I am loving it!

Although Addie was smart and sassy, she also had a sense of vulnerability and needed a family. She and Long Boy had a strong bond. The Colonel, Mayflower, and Grandmama Sass also acted as substitute family members and were able to show her things about the world that Long Boy could not provide.

I'll join Diane in thanking Howard for nominating a great read. I've been reading a lot of war fiction lately so a humorous book is a nice change.