Friday from the Archives: “Radio Writers: a review of two NPR collections” by James O. Chatham in NCLR 2002
NCLR added the online open access issues in order to more generously cover the ever-increasing amount of books traditionally published every year by North Carolina authors. Back in the beginning, though, we published just a few reviews or reviews that contained several books in one piece.
Hard to believe we only have a handful of reviews or scholarly writings about such a prolific writer as Reynolds Price. In this one of two reviews, Chatham wrote in 2002, “Price is a superb writer, and the
cohesiveness of his writing makes the book worthwhile. But, beyond that, Feasting the Heart is an invitation into the world of Reynolds Price, to see the innerworkings of his mind and what he finds significant.”
Price was born in Macon, NC, and well-known throughout all literary circles, from his hefty novels to his award-winning poetry to his later religious writings, as well as several memoirs and other various pieces. In this collection of his essays written for NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Chatham points out what helped make Price so prolific: “We see Price’s profound awe at the creative power of the unconscious:
I was well into my thirties before I began to understand that my unconscious mind would – to an amazing
extent – compose and deliver my novels, poems, plays, and essays if l bothered to give it sane amounts of good food and sleep, sane chemical and emotional nourishment, and then made myself available… at a quiet desk with the phone turned off and all distractions, short of falling meteors, canceled for the hours it took me to transcribe my mind’s ongoing work. (28)
Wise words from one of our literary superstars. This Pride month, we encourage readers and scholars to pick up Price’s work and think about any of a number of past features you could submit a piece about him for our Flashbacks sections.
Read the rest of the review on Gale Literature. Add the 2002 issue to your collection today!
