Shade of the Raintree

<p><i>Raintree County</i> the first novel by Ross Lockridge Jr. was the publishing event of 1948. Excerpted in <i>Life</i> magazine it was a Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection won MGM's Novel Award and a movie deal and stood at the top of the nation's bestseller lists. Unfortunately Lockridge's first novel was also his last. Two months after its publication the 33-year-old author from Bloomington Indiana took his own life. His son Larry was five years old at the time. <i>Shade of the Raintree</i> is Larry's search for an understanding of his father's baffling act. In this powerfully narrated biography Larry Lockridge uncovers a man of great vitality humor love and visionary ambition but also of deep vulnerability. The author manages to combine a son's emotional investments with a sleuth's dispassionate inquiry. The result is an exhilarating revelatory narrative of an American writer's life. With a new preface by the author this 2014 paperback edition marks 100 years since the birth of Ross Lockridge Jr.</p>