Fathers, Sons, & Brothers: The Men in My Family [Paperback ed.] 0671041762, 9780671041762

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Sons,

Lott observes and beautifully renders those small moments that can change a life.

— The New York Times Book Review

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York Times Bestselling Author of Jewel

BRET LOTT

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The Men in

MyFamily

"Lott is one of the most important and imaginative writers in America today.

—Los Angeles Times Also by

BRET LOTT JEWEL The New York Times bestseller and beloved Oprah's Book Club™ selection

A DREAM OF OLD LEAVES A STRANGER'S HOUSE THE MAN WHO OWNED VERMONT REED'S BEACH Available from Washington Square Press

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::

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR BRET LOTT'S POWERFUL MEMOIR

OF LOVE AND FAMILY

"What an astonishing book. Bret Lott understands why photographs fade faster than memories, why lost innocence is sweeter than innocence itself, and why every man needs his own garage. FATHERS, SONS, AND BROTHERS is a brilliant evocation of that weight that is

no weight,

love."

—Robert Olen Butler, author of A

Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

men

growing up,

through his honesty, lyricism and eye for the

telling detail.

"Captures the rough-and-tumble of

Some

powerful

moments

in these essays are also the

emotionally charged, as Lott

tries to

make

most

sense of an

uncontrollable world."

— The New York Times Book Revietv "A book curiosity tions

full of love and tenderness, and disappointment, innocence and guilt, ques-

of small epiphanies,

and answers."

—Charles Sermon, The State (Columbia, SC)

"I suspect that

what Lott has written is paradigmatic, a way fathers, who are always

parable of the changes in the

caught between generations, understand their roles."

— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "In turn son, grandson, brother, husband, uncle, nephew,

and

father, Lott uses his vivid, elegant prose to shine the

twin bright lights of truth and love on the evolving relationships

among male

family members."

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "When Bret Lott wears his heart on his derful sight to behold.

.

.

.

sleeve,

it is

FATHERS, SONS, AND BROTHERS map to what most men keep buried or at

satisfying,

treasure

a

won-

Tender, funny, bittersweet, and

—

is

a

least

a visa to those shores."

—Elinor Lipman, author of The Ladies' Man "Bret Lott has a special sixth sense for the ordinary.

Every one of these essays rides on strong emotion without ever spilling into sentimentality. Compulsory but also compulsive reading."

—

—Sven

—

Birkerts, author of The Gutenberg Elegies

"In this engrossing

humorous

memoir

.

.

.

how

Lott sees

the

and father tell about their adolescent adventures are reflected in what he and his brothers remember of their youthful days, and he wonders what stories his sons will pass on." stories that his uncles

—Publishers Weekly

Bret Lott has been impressing and readers alike with his fine works of fiction. With FATHERS, SONS, AND BROTHERS, however, Lott proves he's just as much at home and just

"For the

last

ten years

.

.

.

literary critics .

.

.

as effective

— The

"Lott

is

—

—with nonfiction."

good

at

Post

and Courier (Charleston, SC)

evoking the mysterious fraternal

dynamic, the intensity of a father's love, the ambivalence of being a son, and needing at once to accept parental guidance and to find one's own course."

—Kirkus Reviews "Honest and

affecting."

—Booklist

Other Books by Bret Lott NOVELS Reed's Beach* Jewel*

A Stranger's House* The Man Who Owned Vermont* STORIES

How to Get Home A Dream of Old Leaves* *Available from

POCKET BOOKS

For orders other than by individual consumers, Pocket Books grants a discount on the purchase of 10 or more copies of single titles for special markets or premium use. For further details, please write to the Vice President of Special Markets, Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10020-1586. For information on orders,

how

individual

consumers can place

please write to Mail Order Department,

Schuster

Inc.,

100 Front

Street, Riverside,

NJ 08075.

Simon

&

FATHERS, SONS,

AND BROTHERS O^e tf

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BRET LOTT

n WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS PUBLISHED BY POCKET BOOKS New York

London

Toronto

Sydney

Singapore

The

sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to Neither the author nor the the publisher as "unsold and destroyed." publisher has received payment for the sale of this "stripped book." this

WSP

n

A Washington Square Press Publication of POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & 1230 Avenue of the Americas,

Copyright

©

Schuster Inc.

New York, NY

1

0020

1997 by Bret Lott

Published by arrangement with Harcourt Brace

& Company

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce

book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Harcourt Brace & Company, 15 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10010 this

ISBN: 0-671-04176-2 First Washington

10

Square Press trade paperback printing

987654321

WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS and colophon are registered trademarks of

Simon

&

Cover design and construction by photos courtesy of the author Printed in the U.S.A.

Schuster Inc.

Rod Hernandez,

May 2000

—

This book

— who

is

for

else?

the mothers, daughters,

and

sisters involved:

Barbara, Leslie, and Melanie

The

author would

like to

thank the editors of the following

magazines, in which these essays

sound

first

appeared:

in Puerto del Sol

brothers

in

The Antioch Review

royal crown: and royal crown: ii (originally as royal crown) in Creative i

zebulun

in

New

Nonfiction

Letters

atonement and mornings in The Chicago first names in The Seattle Times LEARNING SEX in The Notre Dame Review JACOB

in

The Gettysburg Review

HUGO

in

The Bellingham Review

ALLEGIANCE

in

The Iowa Review

wadmalaw

in

The

Seattle

Review

Tribune

.

All the rivers flow into the sea,

Yet the sea

To

is

the place

not

full.

where the

There they flow

rivers flow,

again.

Ecclesiastes 1:7

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