A search for meaning and redemption in a time of cultural angst

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	• The Cock's Spur Charles F. Price John F. Blair Publisher, 2000 - 290 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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This is a marvelous and vibrant book.

Charles F. Price's "The Cock's Spur" is a fine read. It is so fine, in fact, that I wonder what publishers were thinking when they handed over $8+Million dollars to Charles Frazier (for "Thirteen Moons") who isn't half the writer that Price is. If historical fiction is in fact enjoying a small renaissance, then Charles F. Taylor should be at, or at least near, the top of the list.

The characterizations are vivid, as are the location descriptions, that beautifully rendered sense of place. Price can describe the western North Carolina landscape & terrain in such fine detail that one can smell it as well as see and hear it. The tactile qualities of this book are remarkable. Some of the colorful characters like Hamby McFee or Web Darling, the Moonshine King, are so vivid that you will find yourself thinking about them long after the last page is read. And Hamby, that robustly interesting and prickly person, continues on in Price's next book "Where the Water Dogs Laugh-The Story of the Great Bear", another remarkable story of the late 1800's in the NC mountains.

And having mentioned this last book about the Great Bear, I have to say that the ending of "Where the Water Dogs Laugh" is one of the most luminous & poignant endings I've ever read. It reminded me of Nuala O'Faolain's cerebral in-the-forest ending of her 2002 novel "My Dream of You". Price is such a fine writer that I am constantly amazed at his dexterous use of vocabulary and character dialog. As a writer myself, I can't think of anyone better as a model for carefully crafted stroytelling, right up there with William Styron, et al.

Give "The Cock's Spur" a try; you won't be disappointed. It does have an odd title but don't let that hinder you. It refers to cock fighting, a testosterone-laced sport enjoyed by mountain men who want to play tough...with their birds. Hamby McFee has a special way of communicating with animals, any animal, especially fighting roosters. Very interesting indeed.

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Earthy and engrossing

Mr. Price makes this history flow with fleshed out characters and inviting narritive. A thoughtful and well written book that you won't put down till it's finished.

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A search for meaning and redemption in a time of cultural angst

Price's multigenerational saga that began with Hiwassee and Freedom's Altar continues in The Cock's Spur as war heroes, thugs, farmers, craftsmen, former slaves, cock fighters, fallen men and women, and moonshine kings interact with a clash of will, purpose, action, and destiny. These books are so rich, so finely textured with all the elements of good historical fiction, and Price engages the reader so completely that he causes you to examine your own need for finding meaning and seeking redemption. Hamby McFee, born into slavery and searching for his place in a post-war life of freedom, is one of the most memorable characters you will ever meet; and his personal journey, his pilgrim's progress toward understanding the meaning of loyalty, friendship, family, home, and love, is remarkably portrayed by Price with emotional depth and sensitivity seldom seen from such a perspective. I recommend you treat yourself to a real feast by reading all four novels in the order they were written: Hiwassee, Freedom's Altar, The Cock's Spur, and Where the Water-Dogs Laughed.

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