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| | | Fiction | Home » » » One Mississippi: A Novel | | | | | | | Description: | | When Daniel Musgroves family moves to a small Mississippi town at the beginning of his junior year, he faces all the pain and thrills of adolescence, with extra helpings of hormones and humiliation. But then he meets Tim, a fellow outsider, and the two become fast friends. You only need one best friend, Daniel reasons, to make it through high school alive. Together, they negotiate the triumphs and tribulations of junior year: going to the prom in sky blue tuxesit is 1973, after allplaying in an original Baptist musical entitled Christ!, and an unforgettable encounter with their secret heroes, Sonny and Cher. But when the first-ever black prom queen of Minor High School is hit by a car and emerges from her coma believing shes white, Daniel and Tim find themselves caught up in a shocking chain of events that leads to a shattering climax. In the spirit of Richard Russo and Tom Perrotta, Mark Childress is one of our sharpest and most keen-eyed chroniclers of small-town life. ONE MISSISSIPPI is his most ambitious and accomplished novel yet. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Mark Childress | | Hardcover:
| 400 pages | | Publisher:
| Little, Brown and Company | | Publication Date:
| July 03, 2006 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0316012114 | | Package Length:
| 9.2 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.7 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.5 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.35 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 53 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 53 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 27 found the following review helpful:
 Great Summer ReadJun 16, 2006
By Bama Gal
Don't miss this darkly comic book. The hilarity of the first chapter alone is worth the cover price. I was immediately transported back to my teen years in the 1970's. My husband and I were howling in recognition before page 10. Childress, as always, finds ways to help us rethink family, race and religion. We're left wondering whether to laugh or cry. We can't help laughing at his crazy characters and crying as we identify with their full-blown humanity.
19 of 19 found the following review helpful:
Growing Up Is Hard to DoJul 01, 2006
By Wantz Upon A Time Reviews
Daniel Musgrove is a teenager in the early 1970s. His dad is a salesman, and his company moves him around from year to year. Now they're moving to Minor, Mississippi.
Halfway through high school, Daniel is out of place not only as a new student, but as a Yankee who couldn't care less about the integration issue. He and his new best friend, Tim Cousins, spend most of their free time together. They share their obsession for Sonny and Cher, and they go to the prom with a set of twins.
When the boys are involved in a terrible accident that seriously injures Arnita Beecham, the school's first black prom queen, life gets complicated. Daniel ends up helping the Beecham household, then helping Arnita when she gets home. Due to a major head injury, she is going through an identity crisis that devastates her family.
The chronicling of Daniel's time in Mississippi meanders through teen and adult issues, as he faces that crucial moment of leaving childhood behind. His friendship with Tim will explore dimensions he never imagined, even with the hints along the way. Despite his desire to be "cool" instead of a "brain/loser," Daniel enters this book an innocent. He will emerge from his tale something entirely different.
Childress vividly captures a difficult coming-of-age story. Racism, teen love, family, bullies, and other issues are encompassed in a seamless flow. The characters around Daniel, especially Tim, are larger than life. Viewing the 1970s South from a young "Yankee's" perspective is sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart wrenching.
This book is a half step from greatness. While I recommend this for summer reading, there is a sense of something missed. Whether it be a lesson learned--as Daniel seems to learn lessons then immediately discard them--or a larger point, there is a shadow hanging over the end. The disastrous events at the end of the novel seem to promise an epiphany that doesn't quite happen--something hard to define. Then again, maybe that is the purpose, and the reader is to find their own meaning.
Go out and read this novel. Find your truth in Daniel's words.
Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
6/20/2006
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
A lovely book!Jul 06, 2006
By Armchair Interviews
Daniel Musgrove's family has moved six times in 10 years. That's what happens when your dad is a saleman for TriDex, who moves its sales force frequently. Daniel's mother is thrilled to be moving closer to family and a place where her toes will finally be warm, but the children not.
Things quickly go from bad to crazy in characteristic Mark Childress style. On the drive to Mississippi, an accident destroys the van carrying all their belongings. Daniel and his siblings start school on the first day of court-ordered integration. A few months later their Granny dies and crazy Uncle Jacko comes to live with them.
All of these are minor happenings compared to Arnita Beecham, a beautiful black girl, winning prom queen and, later the same night, being run down by another student as she bicycles home. Suddenly the hidden tensions rise to the surface, spiraling ever farther out of control. The match that finally sets it all a-light: Arnita comes out of her coma believing she is white.
One Mississippi carries on in the trademark narrative style of Crazy in Alabama and Tender, a form descended from generations of front-porch storytelling sessions--luminously descriptive, yet full of caustic wit. Childress peoples his novels with exaggerated characters, misguided do-gooders and desperate loners, all in their own way demanding the reader's empathy and understanding.
The South itself is a strong character in Childress' novels, for it is only in these expertly crafted settings that his novels can exist. Time and place demand as much attention as the people.
Childress writes coming-of-age stories particularly well, effortlessly transporting the reader to the awkward days of adolescence.
"In high school it's all about how you walk down the hall--whether you stroll through the flow or dart along the edges, whether you hold the stack of books on your hip with one hand (guys) or press them two-handed to your chest (sissies and girls.) Notes are scribbled and passed, rumors fanned and blown down the hall."
One Mississippi feels like you've stepped into a world where the air is thick enough to chew, the lemonade is tart enough to kill a three-day thirst and the neighbors are friendly enough to invite y'all over for some southern fried chicken.
Armchair Interviews says: This is the perfect read for the long, hot days of summer.
8 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Interesting, but......Mar 20, 2008
By CT Reader
While I enjoyed the references to 70's culture, which brought back lots of memories, I just don't see this as a humorous book at all. (the cover even featured a quote from, of all people, Stephen King, that it was the funniest novel he'd read in ten years--guess I should have considered the source) On the contrary, it was very dark, from beginning to end. Many of the characters were downright disturbing, from Daniel's father to Arnita, to Tim, as well as some of the minor characters. It is difficult to elaborate on these comments without giving away key events, but Daniel's father was a most unsympathetic character, the effects of Arnita's injury are far from humorous, her mother is strange and disturbing, the "Christ" play was too ridiculous to be believed, and Tim was one creepy character from the start. One had to wonder over and over why Daniel would want to be friends with him. The ending was really bizarre, even though there was plenty of foreshadowing, so not that much of a surprise. It just didn't seem to fit. However, I am most puzzled by the depiction of this story as "humorous," "uproarious," "hilarious," or "rollicking." Disturbing, dark, and troubling are more accurate.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
One MississippiNov 29, 2006
By D. Schryver
This is a great coming of age novel that takes place in the 70s. Daniel Musgrove moves around a lot because of his father's job. In this chapter of his life they have moved to Mississippi, where it is the first year that black students will be attending his high school. Add to this the fact that Daniel and his best friend Tim just dont quite fit in. An accident, amnesia, bullies, girlfriends and a prom are all just some of the aspects of this book. As well as Daniel's quirky family. Put this all together and you have a read that keeps you interested, laughing, crying and thinking.
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