The Great Man Himself

Happy Birthday, Mr. Faulkner, born William Cuthbert Falkner on this day in 1897. The Great Man Himself, as crazy Ralph from Philadephia referred to Faulkner the summer I spent in Mississippi with sixteen other budding Faulkner nuts as we studied five novels and a slew of short stories. That's when my love affair with Faulkner's writing began, a love that continues to this day. I've read all the novels, most of the short stories, and taught several of them, and my appreciation of the complexity, vision, humor, humanity, and sheer fun of it all only deepens.

Where to begin to express to you the joys of Yoknapatawpha County? Maybe Luster's remark in The Sound and the Fury, when asked where he got that quarter: "Got it at the getting place." Or Ned William McCaslin Jefferson Missippi, dealer of the funniest fart in literary history in The Reivers. Or the mighty Flem Snopes, whose rise and fall, along with various stories of his many kinfolk (including one Montgomery Ward Snopes), is chronicled in the trilogy (The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion). Or Anse Bundren, who just wants some new teeth, aside from burying his wife among her people in As I Lay Dying. So many amazing stories overflowing with unforgettable characters: Dewey Dell and Dilsey, the two Quentin Compsons (one male, one female, a generation apart, though even an astute reader, unaided, can be forgiven for not realizing all this until 200 or so pages into The Sound and the Fury), Ike McCaslin, on and on. But I can only froth at the mouth. A good starting place is here.

I celebrated by re-reading the story "Was," the first story in Go Down, Moses. One of the funniest stories I know of (though like all of GDM, incredibly insightful about race), "Was" concerns the trials of confirmed bachelor brothers Uncle Buck (Theophilus) and Uncle Buddy (Amodeus) McCaslin as they endeavor to retrieve their runaway slave (and half-nephew, don't ask) Tomey's Turl, who's run away again to the Beauchamp plantation (aka Warwick) to see his lover, Tennie. Unfortunately for Uncle Buck, waiting at the Beauchamp place is Sophonsiba, the sister of another confirmed bachlelor, Mr. Hubert. Sophonsiba (she of the roan tooth and the very personal way of sweetening a toddy) wants nothing more than to marry Uncle Buck. Much amusement ensues, capped off by a great game of five card stud between Mr. Hubert and Uncle Buddy, with the lives of Buck, Sophonsiba, Tomey's Turl, and Tennie hanging in the balance of whether or not Buddy's hole card is the last three in the deck. I can't recommend the story, or just about any Faulkner you want to dive into, highly enough.

And to wish The Great Man Himself a most happy birthday, and to give "Brother Bill his great thrill," I provide you a snippet of his favorite TV show: Car 54, Where Are You? Yes sir, the Nobel laureate had a thing for Fred Gwynne and clan.

Mississippi John Hurt-Ain't No Tellin'

Mississippi Fred McDowell-You Got To Move

Bob Dylan-Mississippi

Bob Dylan-Tombstone Blues