Oral History

The best novel so far by a writer whose growth has been steady and sure . . . . [Oral History] tells the story of the Cantrell family and the odd curse that its members believe to have hung over them. It is a tale that begins in the late 19th century with Granny Younger the midwife and continues well into the 20th century through several generations of Cantrells; it is also a tale deeply rooted in the folk culture of the Appalachians a tale that in the best tradition of folklore contains ''story upon story.'' -- The Washington Post Book World. A novel as dark winding complicated as the hill country itself. . . You could make comparisons to Faulkner and Carson McCullers to The Sound and the Fury As I Lay Dying and Wuthering Heights. You could employ all those familiar ringing terms of praise: ''rare'' ''brilliant'' ''unforgettable.'' But Lee Smith and Oral History make you wish all those phrases were fresh and new that all those comparisons had never before been made. For this is a novel deserving of unique praise. -- The Village Voice. Deft and assured . . . She is clearly drunk on the language of Appalachia on its stories and its people . . . . She is nothing less than masterly. -- The New York Times Book Review