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nikkipierce's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant writing as it brings you back to the struggles of the early 20th century farmers.
brandonadaniels's review against another edition
4.0
Caldwell certainly needs to be acknowledged as a pioneer of the Southern Gothic genre in the same way Faulkner and O’Conner are. This book is short, grim, and sometimes as funny as it is tragic. The audiobook by Mark Hammer was amazing. The book feels like it was written to be read aloud, which explains why it became such a successful play.
catcervone's review against another edition
3.0
Most of the time while I was reading this book, I was either feeling sorry for the characters, laughing at the characters, or being annoyed at how ridiculous and unrealistic the characters were being. Still, it told the story of a family riddled with problems.
kevin_shepherd's review against another edition
5.0
“Look at them two big holes running down into her face - how does she keep it from raining down in there, you reckon?” “I’ll be damned if I know. Maybe she puts cork stoppers in them to keep the water out.”
Welcome to Hillbilly Hell.
The Lester’s are poor, ignorant, and sexually degenerate to the nth degree. They live in abject poverty brought about by the perfect storm trifecta of wretched judgment, blind faith and unchecked procreation.
Caldwell’s characterization of America’s lowest class may have been published in 1932, but its legacy (and their progeny) still abounds. U.S. pop culture is rife with representatives: Ernest T. Bass, Jethro Bodine, Junior Samples, Larry the Cable Guy…
The paradox of Tobacco Road is that it is both darkly comedic and sadly realistic. Anyone who resides in the American Midwest or South can attest, these people are still with us. They populate trailer parks, drive broken down jalopies and congregate at Walmart, Kmart and Trump rallies. They are our neighbors, our coworkers, and MY relatives. I laugh because Caldwell’s depiction seems grossly exaggerated and then cry because I know it’s not.
Welcome to Hillbilly Hell.
The Lester’s are poor, ignorant, and sexually degenerate to the nth degree. They live in abject poverty brought about by the perfect storm trifecta of wretched judgment, blind faith and unchecked procreation.
Caldwell’s characterization of America’s lowest class may have been published in 1932, but its legacy (and their progeny) still abounds. U.S. pop culture is rife with representatives: Ernest T. Bass, Jethro Bodine, Junior Samples, Larry the Cable Guy…
The paradox of Tobacco Road is that it is both darkly comedic and sadly realistic. Anyone who resides in the American Midwest or South can attest, these people are still with us. They populate trailer parks, drive broken down jalopies and congregate at Walmart, Kmart and Trump rallies. They are our neighbors, our coworkers, and MY relatives. I laugh because Caldwell’s depiction seems grossly exaggerated and then cry because I know it’s not.
jetia13's review against another edition
3.0
The story was super weird, but I enjoyed the rhythm of it.
soniapage's review against another edition
1.0
Some reviewers thought this was funny but I failed to find any humor in poverty, starvation, physical deformities, elder abuse....and the list goes on. It was like the author was looking at these miserable wretches through the bars at a zoo and writing about them like they were not human.
Maybe I missed the point but, after years working for social service agencies, I have met people like the characters in this book and they are too real to me to laugh at.
Maybe I missed the point but, after years working for social service agencies, I have met people like the characters in this book and they are too real to me to laugh at.
ecleirs23's review against another edition
5.0
Penned in 1932! Brutal read (yet it can be classified as tragicomedy too). Depicts the lives of the absolutely poor people in Great Depression era. A critical social study of the basic necessities like food, shelter and human charecristics like morality. No wonder it was banned and used to be publically burned as then too we as a society were pretentious and hypocrite. Must read if you are fan of Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men or the Grapes of Wrath.
jehibdon82's review against another edition
4.0
You start reading and you get this sense that the book is very depressing. However Caldwell just has a way of telling this harsh story in a very soft light. At the end of the book I only felt sorry for the new car, not one of the characters really had a redeeming quality, except maybe Dude.
katzreads's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely descriptive with a harsh realism, but hard to imagine why it's on any list of top 100 books in American literature. The repetitiveness gets old quickly, and you have difficulty believing the behavior of some of the characters, especially their treatment of the new car!