{"product_id":"a-childhood-the-biography-of-a-place-harry-crews-9780143135333","title":"A Childhood: The Biography of a Place | Harry Crews","description":"\u003ch2\u003eAbout A Childhood: The Biography of a Place by Harry Crews\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStep into the brutal, beautiful reality of the American South with \u003cem\u003eA Childhood: The Biography of a Place\u003c\/em\u003e by Harry Crews. Published as a prestigious Penguin Classic, this highly acclaimed work stands as one of the most original and powerful autobiographies in American literature—hailed by \u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e as “one of the finest memoirs ever written.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003ePlot Summary \u0026amp; Key Themes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHarry Crews grew up the son of a dirt-poor sharecropper in Bacon County, Georgia—a place where the economic devastation of the Great Depression had already been a way of life for years before the rest of the nation felt the crash. In this moving, raw account of his first six years of life, Crews weaves an elegiac sense of community, deep rural roots, and Southern heritage that had rarely been represented with such fierce honesty.\u003c\/p\u003e \n\u003cp\u003eInterweaving his personal memories—including a terrifying childhood bout with polio and a young boy's profound fascination with the Sears, Roebuck catalog—with the vivid folklore and oral histories passed down by relatives and neighbors, Crews brilliantly re-creates an environment defined by extreme contrasts. It is a masterpiece that balances tenderness with violence, and comedy with deep tragedy, showcasing a Dickensian document of survival and blight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eBook Details \u0026amp; Specifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTitle:\u003c\/strong\u003e A Childhood: The Biography of a Place\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Harry Crews\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9780143135333\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Paperback (Penguin Classics Edition)\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGenre:\u003c\/strong\u003e Memoir \/ Autobiography \/ Southern Literature \/ American History\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThemes:\u003c\/strong\u003e The Great Depression, Sharecropping, Survival, Southern Folklore, Childhood Trauma\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy Read This Book?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eA Masterpiece of American Memoir:\u003c\/strong\u003e Widely recognized alongside classic literature as a definitive, starkly accurate document of Depression-era survival in the deep South.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eUnmatched Literary Voice:\u003c\/strong\u003e Written by Harry Crews, celebrated as one of the most raw, gritty, and fiercely original storytellers of rural grit and Southern gothic realities.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCritically Acclaimed Pedigree:\u003c\/strong\u003e Universally praised by elite literary publications, including \u003cem\u003eHarper’s\u003c\/em\u003e, which calls it a \"masterpiece, a Dickensian document of survival and blight.\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Bust-Down Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51512817811771,"sku":"0143135333","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0855\/2077\/7531\/files\/9780143135333.jpg?v=1785349104","url":"https:\/\/bustdownbooks.com\/products\/a-childhood-the-biography-of-a-place-harry-crews-9780143135333","provider":"Bust-Down Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}