Product Description

With this wonderfully irreverent comic novel, Harington leaves off chronicling the human inhabitants of the Arkansas Ozark town of Stay More and turns his attention to its insect world. In depicting the cockroach community, who perambulate on gitalongs, apprehend their environment through sniff whips and commit unwitting malapropisms about the mysterious world of Man (and Woman), Harington unleashes a sprightly, antic imagination.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #452284 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
With this wonderfully irreverent comic novel, Harington leaves off chronicling the human inhabitants of the Arkansas Ozark town of Stay More ( Lightning Bug , etc.) and turns his attention to its insect world. In depicting the cockroach community, who perambulate on gitalongs, apprehend their environment through sniffwhips and commit unwitting malapropisms about the mysterious world of Man (and Woman), Harington unleashes a sprightly, antic imagination. Among the anthropomorphic cast of characters are a lover's triangle consisting of the hero, aristocratic, hearing-impaired Squire Sam Ingledew; his loved one, lowborn, resourceful Tish Dingletoon; and his rival for her love, Archy, son of the sinning, conniving fundamentalist preacher Chid Tichborne. Speaking in colorfully juicy dialect, full of country expressions and cadences, the insects substitute two vital words for their otherwise human vocabulary: to die is to west (giving rise to such expressions as west to the world or west drunk); to be alive is to east (fertile females lay easter eggs). Their existence is influenced by the downfall of Man (in delicious irony, he is a writer who boozes too much), whom they worship as a descendant of Joshua Crust. The story contains suspense, romance, heroism, skulduggery and religious philosophizing, in a highly risible mix. Only at the end does Harington become too arch, causing the narrative to faltera small flaw in a thoroughly entertaining novel.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
A truly captivating and appealing book. -- The New York Times

Surprising and funny and frequently brilliant. -- The Washington Post

About the Author
Acclaimed by critics as "an undiscovered continent" and "America’s greatest un- known novelist" Donald Harington is a brilliant creator of fictional worlds, rooted in his native Arkansas. His imagination is no less expansive than Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his language is rich in a uniquely American, southern idiom. Winner of the Robert Penn Warren Award, the Porter Prize, and the Heasley Prize, we’re delighted to be publishing With, his thirteenth novel, as well as three new editions of other novels in the Stay More cycle.

Customer Reviews

stylistically and entomologically wonderful
As a refugee from roach-infested Houston, I never thought I'd have a reason to admire the little buggers. Donald Harington has almost given me a reason to like 'em--and, better, a reason to look up more books written by Donald Harington. His view of an Arkansas town infested with Bible-busting bugs managed to be both biting and touching (and nastily familiar to those of us assaulted by similar humans). And, I now know there's more to cockroach physiology than that ugly crunching sound under your shoe.

Tish of the Ingledews
Anyone who has read "Tess of the d'Urbevilles" will instantly recognize the plotline of this fable about a roosterroach (never "cockroach") maiden who is ... well, read it for yourself. I was enthralled by the title, then enthralled by the book. Author Donald Harington lost his hearing at age twelve, but his agile, retentive mind has accurately retained the inflections and pronunciations of his native Arkansas mountains. The book is witty, scary, insightful, and great fun as well as being a deeply philosophical book on relationships; both Man and Roosterroach. It is, as another reviewer stated, impossible to adequately review this book as it fits into many categories, or into a category of its own. Buy it.

Still Great after 20 Years
I read this book during a rainy weekend in 1989 when I was still in High School and I really enjoyed the book. I re-read it this year and still thought it was a great tale that mixes social satire quite well. I have recommended it to a few people over the years.