Across the Creek

Across the Creek, a collection of affectionate reminiscences, adds to the common lore about William Faulkner and his community. Jim Faulkner recounts stories abounding in folklore, humor, family history, and fictionalized history, and these offer an insider’s view of the Faulkner family’s life in the small southern town of Oxford, Mississippi.

A sense of adventure and misadventure colors these personal accounts. “Aunt Tee and Her Two Monuments” explains the mystery of why the town has two Confederate statues. “Roasting Black Buster” tells how Faulkner’s hired man mistakenly killed the prize bull for a family barbecue. “The Picture of John and Brother Will” recounts how Phil Mullen happened to take his well-known snapshot of the famous Faulkner brother novelists—John and William—one of the few pictures ever taken of them together.

Here in this entertaining book are more family stories about a major American author whose life, family, and writing have generated continuing appeal and ever-renewed appreciation.