Title

Taps

Creator

Willie Morris

Preview

Creation Date

4-1-2001

Description

Fiction by Willie Morris (Houghton Mifflin hardcover, $26.00, ISBN: 0618098593, 4/2001; Mariner Books paperback, $13.00, ISBN: 0618219021, 4/2022) Morris died in 1999, and it's hard to accept that this is his last book. The gritty but poignant writings of the Mississippian who served as editor at Harper's in the 1960s have included a book about his childhood dog and one about his cat, but most famously, North Toward Home (1967), in which he recalled the South of his childhood. Taps is a summary statement of Morris' fondness for the Mississippi where he came of age, and as such, the novel reads like a memoir of childhood and youth. The main character is Swayze Barksdale, who, at age 16, is busy gathering impressions of the adult world at a time when the Korean War is waging. A trumpet player, Swayze has plenty of opportunity to observe those around him when he plays "Taps" at the funerals of deceased hometown GIs. Swayze has a best friend, who teaches him about companionship; he has a girlfriend, who teaches him about early love and sexuality; and he has an adult friend, whose life and death teach Swayze the ultimate lessons in love and loss. Plotlines are kept to a minimum; this is a novel of characters rather than story, and what delicious, real, and beautifully conceived characters they are. Times were simpler in the 1950s, but this is not a simple novel. It's a deep and enriching last act for the delightful Willie Morris. ―Brad Hooper Booklist. Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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