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Farewell: A Memoir of a Texas Childhood | 
 enlarge | Author: Horton Foote
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy New: $3.14
You Save: $9.86 (76%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 233332
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Touchstone Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 068486570X
Dewey Decimal Number: 812.54
EAN: 9780684865706
ASIN: 068486570X
Publication Date: June 5, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: gift quality
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
The marvelous second chapter of Farewell sets the mood for everything to come in the noted playwright's memoir of his childhood in tiny Wharton, Texas. As a young Horton Foote questions his parents about their "elopement"--they had to go five blocks across town to be wed by a Baptist minister because his mother's Methodist parents didn't approve of the match--the intricate web of kinship, friendship, and local geography that shapes small-town life is hilariously yet touchingly revealed in each of their asides and elaborations. Foote's birth in 1916 healed the family rift, and he grew up in a cozy environment where everyone knew everyone else and more or less accepted their eccentricities. He doesn't gloss over the harsh realities of racial prejudice and segregation, but his tone is nonetheless elegiac, glowing with the magic of the characters' storytelling. Southerners have always been famous for their ability to spin yarns, and Foote captures that in extended passages of conversation. Direct quotes are generally cause for suspicion in a memoir, but when the dialogue has the same vigor and subtlety found in the author's screenplays and plays (A Trip to Bountiful and The Young Man from Atlanta among them), you're willing to give Foote the benefit of the doubt. --Wendy Smith
Product Description
For more than five decades, Horton Foote, "the Chekhov of the small town," has chronicled the changes in American life -- both intimate and universal. His adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and his original screenplay Tender Mercies earned him Academy Awards. He received an Indie Award for Best Writer for The Trip to Bountiful and a Pulitzer Prize for The Young Man from Atlanta.In his plays and films, Foote has returned over and over again to Wharton, Texas, where he was born and where he lives, once again, in the house in which he grew up. Now for the first time, in Farewell, Foote turns to prose to tell his own story and the stories of the real people who have inspired his characters. His memoir is both a celebration of the immense importance of community and evidence that even a strong community cannot save a lost soul. Farewell is as deeply moving as the best of Foote's writing for film and theater, and a gorgeous testimony to his own faith in the human spirit.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 A Treasure September 14, 2006
Reading Farewell, it is hard to imagine how Horton Foote ever followed the path in life that he ultimately took. Yet the tiny town of Wharton, Texas, did produce a legendary American writer, and his memoir about growing up in small-town Texas is a charming, well-crafted pleasure to read. The book brought back some similar childhood memories. But Foote's clean writing and vivid descriptions will also delight readers unfamiliar with this forgotten way of life.
A Patina of Memories... January 7, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As someone who grew up in a small town in Texas, I can identify with so much of this book. My late Mother's childhood and her stories of growing up in a rural area with colorful characters are very similar to Mr. Foote's story. If you didn't grow up in this era or in a small town, these stories may not have the charm I feel about them, but Horton Foote could bring a tear to a glass eye with his charming memories, and I will bet that he can tug at your heartstrings as well. There is a place for sentiment and burnished memories in this busy life of ours, and I found myself wanting more after reading this memoir. As I read this book, I found myself envisioning the whole story in a pleasant sepia toned, soft cocoon of a state of mind. You come too.
 It takes a village... May 4, 2001
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Among all the facinating characters of the small town, Mr. Foote must be the town gossip (but not a malicious one). Seems like Mr. Foote knew EVERYONE... and I don't think he left anybody out, either. Fun to read, good storytelling style, but it seemed more like a series of great characters sketches than a "real" memoir. At the end I was frustrated that I didn't find out more about how he got started as an actor/playwrite/etc. But that's nothing a sequel won't solve.
 A Texas Childhood November 4, 2000
Think life in a small town is idyllic? Think again. Horton Foote gives us a portrait of his home town, complete with the details many wish to forget. Pettiness. Alcoholism. Racism. At the same time, Foote describes his childhood in tones that leave a lasting impression of roots and home. Of growing up and new responsibility. Of family. Foote has shared with us his appreciation for small town life in such great works as "To Kill a Mockingbird", "The Trip to Bountiful" and now "Farewell". Enjoy.
Childhood Remembered July 12, 2000
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I just finished re-reading this book, and enjoyed it more this time than previously, probably because I literally devoured the first read. I come from a rather limited circle of family and was enchanted by the seemingly endless supply of relatives and their stories. To be embraced by such an environment as a child and to relate this to the reader is to share a very precious gift. Thank you Mr. Foote,and please give us a sequel.
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