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When I first moved here everyone recomended that I read "The Beans of Egypt Maine." I'm still recovering. Has anyone else ghad this experience?

I read it last fall. I actually enjoyed it, though. What did you dislike about it?

Very dark and hopless. I have found mainers on the whole to be cheerful and foward looking. Have you read any of Russos? Straight Man is hilarious.

I read BoEM when I was a kid and it was dark and gritty but I really liked it. She's a great writer but that story is hardly representative of what living in Maine is like or Maine writers! I am a librarian in Maine and a few "Maine" books I like to put in the hands of folks "from away" are:

Anything by Ruth Moore..."A Fair Wind Home" "Speak to the Winds" "Candlemas Bay" She writes about life on Maine islands and is spot on with many of her social observations.

"The Wooden Nickel" by William Carpenter about a middle-aged lobsterman on a downward spiral. Some of this is stereotypes but you get a good glimpse into the workings of a lobsterman.

"Empire Falls" by Richard Russo is a great chronicle of a failed mill town and the social dynamics at play among the residents.

There are also many literary anthologies of both new and classic writing about Maine by Maine authors. A more recent on is "Maine voices : a celebration of the people of Maine and the places they love"


You can also go here:
to find an index of Maine writers and books set in/about Maine.

I know this is more than you asked for but if you are looking for different interpretations of Mainers I thought I could get you on the right track.

Thanks for those recommendations, Lisa.

As for Straight Man, I read some of it. The only thing I remember, though, is a professor sticking his nose with the coil of a notebook. Random, eh?

The experience of being recommended that book? Well, I had to read it in high school.
Were they joking when they recommended Beans of Egypt Maine? I'm asking seriously, really, because I remember when I read it for class we all said "great, this is what people will think Maine is really like" because it was a popular book, and, let's face it, true knowledge of Maine can be limited. So, with Maine humor in mind, I can definitely see someone recommending it as a sort of joke, like: "welcome to Maine, here, read this."
But it's a good book that's well written, that's for sure.

I loved Here If You Need Me, which is by a Maine author (& a relative of mine).

I also really liked "Empire Falls." I felt that it was one of the few times that Mainers aren't depicted as a bunch of dumb hicks.

"Maine voices : a celebration of the people of Maine and the places they love" is a wonderful book. I have yet to finish it but bring it with me every time we go camping in Acadia, it's nice to keep diving into. I have been wondering about the Beans of Egypt Maine, I'm from very away (England) so I'll take it with a pinch of salt when I read it! LOVED Empire Falls, a dear friend is from Millinocket and so it really touched a chord.

Since my ex-wife and her husband have a summer home in Eastport, my adult twin daughters visit the state regularly. They have told me how interesting and beautiful it is there. My sister-in-law was a fabric buyer for L.L. Bean in Freeport for years. She also speaks highly. Additionally, I knew a guy at banking school at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who was from Bar Harbor. His descriptions made the place sound like heaven. You understand why Maine is on my bucket list. The serial killer in my novel left all of the bodies at lighthouses, so I had him leave a pair at the West Quoddy Head Light. Since she knows I like lighthouses, one of my daughters had previously provided to me a picture she took of the East Quoddy Head Light just across the water from Maine. There was a puff of fog in front of the lighthouse that added a touch of mystery, so I used that picture for the cover of my novel.

All of this prompted me to join this group so as to baste myself in Maine and be ready for the bucket moment when it comes. I retire next August, so guess what.

I should mention one more thing. The "From Away" title of this thread caught my eye. One of the places to which we enjoy traveling is Charleston, South Carolina. If you aren't from there, the natives say you are from away. This thread is the first instance of seeing that terminology used about a place other that Charleston.

ayup, they use that phrase up here, too, Dick :)

Books books books, which books were mentioned? :D I love to find new books about Maine

The Beans of Egypt, Maine, by Carolyn Chute
Straight Man, by Richard Russo
Anything by Ruth Moore
The Wooden Nickel: A Novel, by William Carpenter
Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
Maine Voices: A Celebration of the People of Maine and the Places They Love: Stories from the Maine Voices Project, by Maine Voices Project
Here If You Need Me: A True Story, by Kate Braestrup
By the Light: A Novel of Serial Homicide, by Dick Peterson

Sarah wrote: ""Maine voices : a celebration of the people of Maine and the places they love" is a wonderful book. I have yet to finish it but bring it with me every time we go camping in Acadia, it's nice to kee..."

Sarah, we go camping up to Acadia every summer! :) Do you still go? And where do you stay?