Broadwell, Elizabeth Pell; Hoag, Ronald Wesley (Winter 1982). "Interview: Erskine Caldwell, The Art of Fiction No. 62". Paris Review. Winter 1982 (86). No, the book was not depressing to me personally although it was a depressing subject. The book was about a hard life that was slow to disappear. If you're looking for an off-beat classic, or depression-era literature that isn't too depressing, Tobacco Road is a great choice.

Years ago I was visiting Daddy's birthplace (at home) on a cotton farm in southwestern North Carolina, between Hayesville, North Carolina and Hiwassee, Georgia. I was sitting on the steps of Philadelphia Church with my cousin Rex and I asked him why Grandma and Grandpa moved around so much? He laughed asking me “you don’t know?” No, I didn't know. Rex said they were itinerant sharecroppers and they had to move where land was more fertile, where their crops would grow to feed the family. (I’m from a small (pop. 13,900) Florida city in north Florida, not a farmer for sure, so this came as news to me, the why of their moving frequently.) His first published works were The Bastard (1929) and Poor Fool (1930), but the works for which he is most famous are his novels Tobacco Road (1932) and God's Little Acre (1933). His first book, The Bastard, was banned and copies of it were seized by authorities. With the publication of God's Little Acre, the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice instigated legal action against him for The Bastard. Caldwell was arrested at a book-signing there but was exonerated in court. [13] Novelist Erskine Caldwell's Ashes Rest in Ashland, Ore". Jefferson Public Radio. Archived from the original on May 24, 2013 . Retrieved March 14, 2012. Everyone is unattractive, except 12 year-old yellow-haired and lovely Pearl Lester Bensey who is married to Jeeter’s friend Lov Bensey. Ok, let’s call it what it is, everyone seems to be ugly but it’s all ugly; the land, the situation, their rag clothes, the corn husk beds, the dirty sheets. Everything is ugly and damaged just like the land.Rich, Nathaniel (30 April 2012). "American Dreams: 'Tobacco Road' by Erskine Caldwell". The Daily Beast . Retrieved 2 October 2022.

Caldwell, Virginia Moffett, b. 1919". Dartmouth Library Archives & Manuscripts. dartmouth.edu . Retrieved October 2, 2022. a b c d McDowell, Edwin (April 13, 1987). "Erskine Caldwell, 83, Is Dead; Wrote Stark Novels Of South". The New York Times . Retrieved October 1, 2022. I felt I needed to "fill in" my gaps in Southern Fiction, but I think it will go unfilled for a little while longer. Not for me.

Arnold, Edward T. "Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre". New Georgia Encyclopedia . Retrieved January 13, 2023. Caldwell’s characterization of America’s lowest class may have been published in 1932, but its legacy (and their progeny) still abounds. U.S. pop culture is rife with representatives: Ernest T. Bass, Jethro Bodine, Junior Samples, Larry the Cable Guy… This article is about the novel. For the play, see Tobacco Road (play). For the film, see Tobacco Road (film). First edition ( Scribners) The audiobook narration by John MacDonald is good. The intonation matches the language of these uneducated, poor, depraved souls. Of course the dialog is filled with grammatical errors.