Bridgers, Sean

A bold, revisionist take on the Western novel set in the Georgia gold rush, for readers of Charles Portis and Cormac McCarthy, by a powerful debut novelist with an original voice It's 1815 in the small town of Heron's Creek, Georgia, when Yip Tolroy--mute, medical anomaly, and social outcast--is born. His father has disappeared under mysterious circumstances, so he is raised by his mother: a powerful, troubled, independent woman who owns and runs a general store. She struggles to manage his needs, leaving Yip to find the means of asserting himself in an unforgiving, hostile environment. With the help of a retired doctor, he begins to transform his life by learning to read and write, his portal into the community a piece of slate and a supply of chalk. And then at the age of fifteen, Yip's life is altered irrevocably. In the space of a few days he witnesses the discovery of gold, meets his faithful friend and comrade Dud Carter, and commits a grievous crime. Thrust unwittingly into a world of violence and sin, Yip and Dud are forced to leave town and embark on an odyssey that will introduce them to the wonder and horror of the American frontier until the revelation of a secret means they must return to Heron's Creek and the fate that awaits them. With its colorful description of people and places, comic backbone, and compelling narrator, My Name Is Yip is a bold adventure--a gripping tale of courage, struggle, hope, and brotherhood--that reckons with the seductive pull of the American South and its dark and complex histories. "In his own appealingly eccentric vernacular, Yip tells how the discovery of gold and the commission of a crime get him and his new friend, Dud Carter, into a 'spot of bother' that requires a rapid exit from town." "A rollicking picaresque set in early nineteenth-century Appalachia…like a one-of-a-kind mash-up of Charles Dickens and Cormac McCarthy." "Bridgers's performance allows the listener to easily digest the sometimes stilted nineteenth-century speech…Bridgers provides a folksy, introspective portrayal of the determined outcast…Best of all is Bridgers's characterization of Dud Carter, Yip's unwaveringly cheerful sidekick, whose faith in him is steadfast." "A jaunt through old Americana with well-expressed characters and interesting events…The writing sparkles and his character-work is perhaps second to none." "A well-considered look at the American South…an entertaining piece of Americana, with prose at once lush and convincingly down home." "Vividly recreated period details…elements of the gothic, burlesque, and grotesque come together." "Extraordinary and vivid…Crewe has hit gold here." "An ambitious, cinematic debut novel." "My Name Is Yip is thrilling…brim-full of humor, strangeness, and charm." "What an astonishing book My Name Is Yip is! I love this book, everything about it." "I love the compelling narrator, somehow a cross between Charles Dickens's David Copperfield and Charles Portis's Mattie Ross. And like True Grit, Yip takes us on a wild ride." "Mute but eloquent, Yip comes thrillingly into our midst to unfurl his singular and singing book of revelations. Murder, gold, lost fathers…Paddy Crewe has a 24-carat gift." "Yip Tolroy may not speak, but his voice soars off the page in Paddy Crewe's terrific debut novel. My Name Is Yip is both an entertaining tale of gold, murder, and the impulse for revenge and a tender coming-of-age story amid the lawlessness of the American frontier."

Mode of access: World Wide Web