{"product_id":"the-untidy-pilgrim-eugene-walter-9780817311438","title":"The Untidy Pilgrim","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"A zanier bunch of characters has seldom been collected between the covers of a novel. And yet, eccentric though they may be, it is impossible not to love them.\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e Eugene Walter's first novel, and winner of the 1954 Lippincott Fiction Prize for Young Novelists, is about a young man from a small central Alabama town who goes south of the \"salt line\" to Mobile to work in a bank and study law. As soon as this unnamed pilgrim arrives, he realizes that--although he is still in Alabama--he has entered a separate physical kingdom of banana trees and palm fronds, subtropical heat and humidity, and old houses and lacy wrought-iron balconies. In Mobile, Alabama, the town that can claim the oldest Mardi Gras in America, there is no Puritan work ethic; the only ruling forces are those of chaos, craziness, and caprice. Such forces overtake the pilgrim, seduce him away from the beaten career path, and set him on a zigzag course through life. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Untidy Pilgrim\u003c\/i\u003e celebrates the insularity as well as the eccentricity of southerners--and Mobilians, in particular--in the mid-twentieth century. Cut off from the national mainstream, they are portrayed as devoid of that particularly American angst over what to \"do\" and accomplish with one's life, and indulge instead in art, music, cooking, nature, and love. In this novel Walter dispels the gloomy southern literary tradition established by Faulkner, Capote, and McCullers to illuminate the joyous quirkiness of human existence. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Eugene Walter\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0817311432\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780817311438\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Alabama Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/09\/2001\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 264\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.83lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.74w x 0.68d","brand":"Eugene Walter","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44890909507839,"sku":"9780817311438","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_8cdbe2e9-108a-434e-abec-cc165a177425.jpg?v=1709740377","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-untidy-pilgrim-eugene-walter-9780817311438","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}