William gay author biography

After two novels and a handful of short stories, William Gay has emerged as one of the most important new Southern voices in American literature. However, the word "new" must be taken in context.

Although The Long Home and Provinces of Night appeared recently in rapid succession, they are the mature works of a mature man who has spent a lifetime honing his craft.

Set in and around the small rural Tennessee town of Ackerman's Field during the early 1940s, The Long Home weaves in and out of a large cast of characters but centers on the relationships among four main figures: Nathan Weiner, a young carpenter still marked by the disappearance of his father; Dallas Hardin, the bootlegger who, unknown to Nathan, murdered Nathan's father; William Tell Oliver, an older man who befriends and mentors Nathan; and Amber Rose, the daughter of Hardin's mistress who is pursued by both Hardin and Weiner.

Provinces of Night returns to Ackerman's Field in 1952 to tell t