Ron Rash

The Shark’s Tooth is a poetic tale of imagination and conservation in which a young girl visiting her grandparents’ beach house finds friendship with the ocean’s creatures. Sharks’ teeth are given to her by her new aquatic friends as gifts, symbolic of her connections to nature and the sea. As the little girl grows up and moves away to the city, she loses her kinship to the natural world. When she returns to the beach house as an adult, she is convinced that her childhood memories were only acts of make-believe - until she receives a sign that her ocean adventures may have been real after all.The Shark’s Tooth is the first children’s book written by New York Times best-selling author Ron Rash. Cecile L. K. Martin’s colorful cut-paper illustrations complement the story, and novelist and children’s author Mary Alice Monroe provides an engaging afterword on the story’s empowering message of creativity and conservation.

A New York Times bestseller and PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist, Serena by award-winning author Ron Rash is "masterfully written...sprawling, engrossing and--from time to time--nightmarish," (San Francisco Chronicle); a remarkable novel that "recalls both John Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy," (The New Yorker). Rash's chilling gothic tale of greed, corruption, and revenge set against the backdrop of the 1930s wilderness and America's burgeoning environmental movement was named a Best Book of the Year by more than a dozen national publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald. Serena is brilliant contemporary fiction that exquisitely balances beauty and violence, passion and rage, cruelty and love.

Jason Isbell describes Will Johnson's songs as a poetic manipulation of language that employs "multi-syllable words used almost as musical instruments [and] detailed images flying at the listener with no time to fully decipher meaning before the next image appears." Similar sentiments are echoed in many engaging essays shared here by John Krajicek in Patience for the Ride: The Art and Life of Will Johnson. Recollections from fellow musicians and artists show unwavering appreciation for Johnson, not only for his considerable artistic abilities, but also for his admirable qualities as a human being. He is consistently described as extraordinary, funny, and "the nicest guy in the world." Born in Kennett, Missouri, but hailing from Texas since the age of eleven, Johnson fronted the prominent indie bands Centro-matic and South San Gabriel and has performed and toured with Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. His music is complimented by esteemed artists including Isbell, Jim James, Bonnie Whitmore, Jon Dee Graham, Craig Finn, and New York Times bestselling novelist Ron Rash. In addition to his music, Johnson—a St. Louis Cardinals fan since childhood—is an avid painter of folk-art style baseball paintings, eagerly sought by collectors nationwide. And in 2021, he published a novel, If or When I Call. The contributions compiled by Krajicek paint the story of someone "both completely sincere and a kind of court jester. Both genius and an unassuming, regular guy." Complete with entertaining and heartfelt stories, Patience for the Ride invites readers to know Johnson the way his closest friends do, paying tribute to a consummate musician, wordsmith, and a singular Texan artist.

Set in a small Appalachian town, The Caretaker by award-winning author Ron Rash is a breathtaking love story and a searing examination of the acts we seek to justify in the name of duty, family, honour and love

From award-winning author Ron Rash ("One of the great American authors at work today" --The New York Times) comes a breathtaking love story and a searing examination of the acts we seek to justify in the name of duty, family, honor, and love. "With each Ron Rash story, you expect flawed people trying desperately to survive against the odds, and a rich sense of place...What you don't always expect is a wicked plot. The Caretaker delivers all of the above in a story that becomes a race to the finish." --John Grisham Blowing Rock, North Carolina, 1951. Blackburn Gant, his life irrevocably altered by a childhood case of polio, seems condemned to spend his life among the dead as the sole caretaker of a hilltop cemetery. It suits his withdrawn personality, and the inexplicable occurrences that happen from time to time rattle him less than interactions with the living. But when his only friend, the kind but impulsive Jacob Hampton, is conscripted to serve overseas, Blackburn is charged with caring for Jacob's wife, Naomi, as well. Jacob and Naomi's elopement has scandalized the community and angered Jacob's parents. Shunned by the townsfolk for their differences and equally fearful that Jacob may never come home from the war, Blackburn and Naomi grow closer, even as a stunning betrayal shatters familial bonds. A profound examination of friendship and rivalry as well as a riveting story of unfolding deceit, The Caretaker brilliantly depicts the human capacity for empathetic compassion and selfish destruction, all justified as acts of love.

'One of the great American authors at work today' New York TimesONE OF THE NEW YORKER'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2023It is 1951. The close-knit community of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, does not welcome those who are different.Jacob Hampton's wealthy parents disinherited him when he married Naomi, an uneducated hotel maid from out of town. They had bigger plans for him.Now Jacob has been called up to fight in Korea, leaving a pregnant Naomi behind. The only person he can entrust to take care of her is his lifelong friend, Blackburn Gant. Blackburn, who tends the local cemetery alone, is an outsider too, his appearance irrevocably altered by childhood disease. Slowly the two outcasts grow closer, their friendship blooming under small acts of kindness. Then, as they await news of Jacob's return, a terrible, shattering act of deception derails all their lives. But no secret can stay hidden for ever.Tender and luminous with truth, The Caretaker is a riveting story about the bonds of friendship, the contradictions of family and what it really means to love.

ONE OF THE NEW YORKER'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR - Told against the backdrop of the Korean War as a small Appalachian town sends its sons to battle, The Caretaker by award-winning author Ron Rash ("One of the great American authors at work today" --The New York Times) is a breathtaking love story and a searing examination of the acts we seek to justify in the name of duty, family, honor, and love. It's 1951 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Blackburn Gant, his life irrevocably altered by a childhood case of polio, seems condemned to spend his life among the dead as the sole caretaker of a hilltop cemetery. It suits his withdrawn personality, and the inexplicable occurrences that happen from time to time rattle him less than interaction with the living. But when his best and only friend, the kind but impulsive Jacob Hampton, is conscripted to serve overseas, Blackburn is charged with caring for Jacob's wife, Naomi, as well. Sixteen-year-old Naomi Clarke is an outcast in Blowing Rock, an outsider, poor and uneducated, who works as a seasonal maid in the town's most elegant hotel. When Naomi eloped with Jacob a few months after her arrival, the marriage scandalized the community, most of all his wealthy parents who disinherited him. Shunned by the townsfolk for their differences and equally fearful that Jacob may never come home, Blackburn and Naomi grow closer and closer until a shattering development derails numerous lives. A tender examination of male friendship and rivalry as well as a riveting, page-turning novel of familial devotion, The Caretaker brilliantly depicts the human capacity for delusion and destruction all too often justified as acts of love.

ONE OF THE NEW YORKER'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR - Told against the backdrop of the Korean War as a small Appalachian town sends its sons to battle, The Caretaker by award-winning author Ron Rash ("One of the great American authors at work today" --The New York Times) is a breathtaking love story and a searing examination of the acts we seek to justify in the name of duty, family, honor, and love. It's 1951 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Blackburn Gant, his life irrevocably altered by a childhood case of polio, seems condemned to spend his life among the dead as the sole caretaker of a hilltop cemetery. It suits his withdrawn personality, and the inexplicable occurrences that happen from time to time rattle him less than interaction with the living. But when his best and only friend, the kind but impulsive Jacob Hampton, is conscripted to serve overseas, Blackburn is charged with caring for Jacob's wife, Naomi, as well. Sixteen-year-old Naomi Clarke is an outcast in Blowing Rock, an outsider, poor and uneducated, who works as a seasonal maid in the town's most elegant hotel. When Naomi eloped with Jacob a few months after her arrival, the marriage scandalized the community, most of all his wealthy parents who disinherited him. Shunned by the townsfolk for their differences and equally fearful that Jacob may never come home, Blackburn and Naomi grow closer and closer until a shattering development derails numerous lives. A tender examination of male friendship and rivalry as well as a riveting, page-turning novel of familial devotion, The Caretaker brilliantly depicts the human capacity for delusion and destruction all too often justified as acts of love.

From the New York Times bestselling, award-winning writer of Serena "One of the great American authors at work today" (The New York Times) gives us a short story collection of haunting allegories about the times we live in--from the perils of capitalism to the extraordinary acts of decency and heroism that exist within them--and the return of the villainess who propelled Rash's famed Serena to national acclaim. Ron Rash has long been a revered presence in the landscape of American letters. A virtuosic novelist, poet, and story writer, he evokes the beauty and brutality of the land, the relentless tension between past and present, and the unquenchable human desire to be a little bit better than circumstances would seem to allow. In these ten stories, Rash, "a gorgeous, brutal writer" (Richard Price) working at the height of his powers, has created a mesmerizing look at the imperfect world around us, from the severing of ties to the natural world in the relentless hunt for profit to the destruction of body and soul with pills meant to mute our pain. Rash's stories are unforgettable--"Baptism" was chosen by Roxane Gay for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories 2018, and "Neighbors" was selected by Jonathan Lethem for The Best American Mystery Stories 2019. And in revisiting Serena Pemberton, Rash updates his bestselling parable of greed run amok as his deliciously vindictive heroine returns to the North Carolina wilderness she left scarred and desecrated to make one final effort to kill the child that threatens all she has accomplished.

"The Risen is an important novel -- and an intriguing one -- from one of our master storytellers. In its pages, the past rises up, haunting and chiding, demanding answers of us all." --The News & Observer New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash demonstrates his superb narrative skills in this suspenseful and evocative tale of two brothers whose lives are altered irrevocably by the events of one long-ago summer, one bewitching young woman--and the secrets that could destroy their lives.While swimming in a secluded creek on a hot Sunday in 1969, sixteen-year-old Eugene and his older brother, Bill, meet the entrancing Ligeia. A sexy, free-spirited redhead from Daytona Beach banished to their small North Carolina town, Ligeia entrances the brothers, especially Eugene, who is drawn to her raw sensuality and rebellious attitude. Eugene begins to move farther and farther away from his brother, the cautious and dutiful Bill, and when Ligeia vanishes as suddenly as she appeared, the growing rift between the two brothers becomes immutable.Decades later, the once close brothers now lead completely different lives. Bill is a gifted and successful surgeon, and a paragon of the community, while Eugene, the town reprobate, is a failed writer and determined alcoholic. When a shocking reminder of the past unexpectedly surfaces, Eugene is plunged back into that fateful summer, and the girl he cannot forget.The deeper Eugene delves into his memories, the closer he comes to finding the truth. But can Eugene's recollections be trusted? And will the truth set him free and offer salvation . . . or destroy his damaged life and everyone he loves?

20th Anniversary Edition of this classic poetry collection, with a foreword by New York TImes Bestselling author, Robert Morgan and a new preface by the author. First published in 1998, Eureka Mill is Ron Rash’s seminal collection of poetry. It introduced the world to an often overlooked Appalachian region and cemented Rash’s name as synonymous with Southern writing. Eureka Mill presents a lyrical portrait of the migration of poor North Carolina farmers to Chester, South Carolina to work in the Eureka Cotton Mill in the years before the Great Depression. Drawing on his family history in the region that stretches back three hundred years, Rash assembles a nuanced tapestry of mill village life, from the foremen in their offices to the men and women at the looms toiling in the often inhumane conditions of the mills. Rash’s poetry elevates the people and landscapes of rural Appalachia to incandescent heights, garnering comparisons to the work of Seamus Heaney and Robert Frost. Still one of Rash’s finest works to date, Eureka Mill is a vital record of one of the South’s most important historic shifts, offering readers at once intimacy and perspective, heart and understanding.

Nothing else comes so I set the notebook beside me. What else is here? I ask myself and listen. This section of stream purls and riffles amid small stones. What word might be made for what I hear . . .Les Clary's final case has broken the still surface of his backwater town.Becky, a park ranger with her own mysterious past, shares Les's consolation in the natural world that lies just beyond their hopelessly broken town. As Les and Becky explore of the county's lyrically beautiful landscape, they finds themselves led deeper into the heart of the town's corruption, and into the darkness of their own ruptured histories. This haunting novel is a poetic journey into the wilderness of the heart.

Summer in Madison County. Seventeen-year-old Travis Shelton cannot see a way out of his small town - until he discovers a grove of marijuana in the woods that could make him some serious money. But Travis has stumbled across more than drugs. His discovery is the first unwitting step in a journey back to the savage violence and betrayal festering in the community's past, and to the corruption in its present. Vivid and unsettling, The World Made Straight is a powerful exploration of the secrets that bind us together and drive us apart.

A collection of haunting lyricism that evokes the beauty and hardship of the rural South, by a revered American master of letters--the award-winning, bestselling author of the novels Serena, Something Rich and Strange, and Above the Waterfall.In this incandescent, profound, and accessible collection, beloved and award-winning poet, novelist, and short-story writer Ron Rash vividly channels the rhythms of life in Appalachia, deftly capturing the panoply of individuals who are its heart and soul--men and women inured to misfortune and hard times yet defined by tremendous fortitude, resilience, and a fierce sense of community.In precise, supple language that swerves from the stark to the luminous, Rash richly describes the splendor of the natural landscape and poignantly renders the lives of those dependent on its bounty--in cotton mills and tobacco fields, farmlands and forests. The haunting memories and shared histories of these people--their rituals and traditions--animate this land, and are celebrated in Rash's crystalline, intensely imagined verse.With an eye for the surprising and vivid detail, Ron Rash powerfully captures the sorrows and exaltations of this wondrous world he knows intimately. Illuminating and indelible, Poems demonstrates his rich talents and confirms his legacy as a standard-bearer for the literature of the American South.

While swimming in a secluded creek on a hot Sunday in 1969, sixteen-year-old Eugene and his older brother, Bill, meet the entrancing Ligeia. A sexy, free-spirited redhead from Daytona Beach banished to their small North Carolina town, Ligeia entrances the brothers, especially Eugene, who is drawn to her raw sensuality and rebellious attitude. Eugene begins to move farther and farther away from his brother, the cautious and dutiful Bill, and when Ligeia vanishes as suddenly as she appeared, the growing rift between the two brothers becomes immutable.Decades later, the once close brothers now lead completely different lives. Bill is a gifted and successful surgeon, and a paragon of the community, while Eugene, the town reprobate, is a failed writer and determined alcoholic. When a shocking reminder of the past unexpectedly surfaces, Eugene is plunged back into that fateful summer, and the girl he cannot forget.The deeper Eugene delves into his memories, the closer he comes to finding the truth. But can Eugene's recollections be trusted? And will the truth set him free and offer salvation . . . or destroy his damaged life and everyone he loves?

"The Risen is an important novel -- and an intriguing one -- from one of our master storytellers. In its pages, the past rises up, haunting and chiding, demanding answers of us all." --The News & Observer New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash demonstrates his superb narrative skills in this suspenseful and evocative tale of two brothers whose lives are altered irrevocably by the events of one long-ago summer, one bewitching young woman--and the secrets that could destroy their lives.While swimming in a secluded creek on a hot Sunday in 1969, sixteen-year-old Eugene and his older brother, Bill, meet the entrancing Ligeia. A sexy, free-spirited redhead from Daytona Beach banished to their small North Carolina town, Ligeia entrances the brothers, especially Eugene, who is drawn to her raw sensuality and rebellious attitude. Eugene begins to move farther and farther away from his brother, the cautious and dutiful Bill, and when Ligeia vanishes as suddenly as she appeared, the growing rift between the two brothers becomes immutable.Decades later, the once close brothers now lead completely different lives. Bill is a gifted and successful surgeon, and a paragon of the community, while Eugene, the town reprobate, is a failed writer and determined alcoholic. When a shocking reminder of the past unexpectedly surfaces, Eugene is plunged back into that fateful summer, and the girl he cannot forget.The deeper Eugene delves into his memories, the closer he comes to finding the truth. But can Eugene's recollections be trusted? And will the truth set him free and offer salvation . . . or destroy his damaged life and everyone he loves?

"Rash captures the gritty realities of modern Appalachia with mournful precision...the novel contemplates timeless questions about human frailty, the divinity of nature and the legacies of our native landscapes." -Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionA poetic and haunting tale set in contemporary Appalachia, New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash illuminates lives shaped by violence and a powerful connection to the land.Les, a long-time sheriff just three-weeks from retirement, contends with the ravages of crystal meth and his own duplicity in his small Appalachian town.Becky, a park ranger with a harrowing past, finds solace amid the lyrical beauty of this patch of North Carolina.Enduring the mistakes and tragedies that have indelibly marked them, they are drawn together by a reverence for the natural world. When an irascible elderly local is accused of poisoning a trout stream, Les and Becky are plunged into deep and dangerous waters, forced to navigate currents of disillusionment and betrayal that will force them to question themselves and test their tentative bond--and threaten to carry them over the edge.Echoing the heartbreaking beauty of William Faulkner and the spiritual isolation of Carson McCullers, Above the Waterfall demonstrates once again the prodigious talent of "a gorgeous, brutal writer" (Richard Price) hailed as "one of the great American authors at work today" (Janet Maslin, New York Times).

A collection of haunting lyricism that evokes the beauty and hardship of the rural South, by a revered American master of letters--the award-winning, bestselling author of the novels Serena, Something Rich and Strange, and Above the Waterfall.In this incandescent, profound, and accessible collection, beloved and award-winning poet, novelist, and short-story writer Ron Rash vividly channels the rhythms of life in Appalachia, deftly capturing the panoply of individuals who are its heart and soul--men and women inured to misfortune and hard times yet defined by tremendous fortitude, resilience, and a fierce sense of community.In precise, supple language that swerves from the stark to the luminous, Rash richly describes the splendor of the natural landscape and poignantly renders the lives of those dependent on its bounty--in cotton mills and tobacco fields, farmlands and forests. The haunting memories and shared histories of these people--their rituals and traditions--animate this land, and are celebrated in Rash's crystalline, intensely imagined verse.With an eye for the surprising and vivid detail, Ron Rash powerfully captures the sorrows and exaltations of this wondrous world he knows intimately. Illuminating and indelible, Poems demonstrates his rich talents and confirms his legacy as a standard-bearer for the literature of the American South.