AUSTIN, TX: Cheers to John Pipkin for taking home this year's First Novel Prize for his book "Woodsburner!"

The book is about the time Henry David Thoreau burned down 300 acres of forest with a careless cooking fire, and how his environmentalist philosophy was derived out of the ashes.



"Set against the background of a forest fire started by Henry David Thoreau, Woodsburner chronicles the lives of Oddmund Hus, a lovesick Norwegian immigrant farm hand, Eliot Calvert, a struggling bookseller and aspiring playwright, and Caleb Dowdy, a fire and brimstone preacher, whose stories intersect over the course of a single day: April 30, 1844. As the characters confront their lives of quiet desperation, they also offer a glimpse into the historical and cultural forces that shaped the young American nation in the years leading up to the Civil War."

--from "redroom.com"

Nobody famous was born or died on April 30th, 1844. I already checked.

Pipkin lives in Austin and used to be the Executive Director of the Writer's League of Texas. If I see him on the street around here, I'll shake his hand for you.

Posted by miracle on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:21:06 -0500 -- permanent link