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Of What Was, Nothing Is Left
Of What Was, Nothing Is Left: A Suspense-Packed Tale of Arkansas | Fred Starr
1 post | 1 read
The final book Fred Starr published before his death, Of What Was, Nothing Is Left is a story of tragedy, family dysfunction, and denial set in the late nineteenth-century. A fourteen-year-old Frank James and his family move from Ohio to a family farm in Laurel Creek, a small plot in rural southwest Arkansas. Soon after unloading their few worldly possessions, a neighbor, Captain Johnson rides up. A former soldier and a legend in the Laurel Creek community, the Captain enlists Frank to his employ. Frank is set to work delivering livestock to the next town over, Jubilee. In their first few years together, Frank grows to greatly admire the Captain and is immensely proud and happy with his life. Alas, "There is nothing in this life as permanent as change." What comes next is a tale of loneliness, jealousy, heartbreak, and revenge peppered with nostalgia and vivid imagery of the sandy soil and piney woods of the region. A true Americana story, the novel explores human nature and all its flaws.
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LeftyDv
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Mehso-so

This novella is short and sweet - much like an old country song about ghosts, criminals and dusty horizons. That‘s probably why Starr‘s grandson musician wrote and sang a sequel album entitled Beauty and Ruin. That album turned me onto this book about family, love, and death. The book has some really nice prose - you almost have to read it with a southern accent, but like most of those sad country songs, the story becomes predictable in the end.