Wayne Holmes

Retired English professor and Ozarks native Wayne Holmes offers up a treat with his memoir, "Rocky Comfort." Storytelling is both an Ozarks tradition and a skill that Holmes has in spades. Be prepared to lose yourself in the tale. While many of Holmes' stories feature serious, even shocking subjects, they're told with the same naiveté in which they were experienced. Domestic disharmony, poverty, illness somehow become quaint and at times humorous under Holmes' gifted narration.

This memoir is a coming-of-age story and a shedding of overused stereotypes. Born to poverty in the rural Ozarks, Holmes' parents expected him to quit school after 8th grade and buckle down to "real work." He persisted in keeping his own path and we are all to benefit from his stubbornness. A must read for fans of regional tales and Ozarks history.… (altro)