Against the Country

Against the Country is a gift for fans of Southern Gothic and metafiction alike. Set in the Virginia pines, and overrun with failed parents, racist sex offenders, cast-off priests, and suicidal chickens, this novel challenges literary convention even as it attacks our national myth--that the rural naturally engenders good, while the urban breeds an inevitable sin. In a voice that evokes the old-timer's winding yarn, Metcalf's narrator leads the reader through Goochland County--a land of stubborn soil, voracious insects, and lackluster farms and forests--until it becomes clear that Goochland is not the setting. It is the living, breathing menace that warps each and every character's existence. Equal parts fiery criticism and icy farce, Against the Country is the most hilarious sermon one is likely to hear on the subject of our native soil, and the starkest celebration of the language our land produced. The result is a literary tour de force that...