When the matriarch of the Bundren family dies, her family must confront the daunting task of transporting her body across the state of Mississippi for burial in her hometown. As they embark on this journey, with the coffin in tow, they face several trials and tribulations that not only complicate their travel but also highlight the innate dysfunction of the family's complex dynamic. This comprehensive volume explores the themes of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying through the lens of family dysfunction, offering readers a critical look at the intersection between literature and sociology. The book examines Faulkner's life and influences and explores concepts such as the role of maternal influence and sibling rivalry within the novel and within the broader context of society. Chapters also offer a contemporary perspective on family dysfunction through discussion of topics such as the effects of emotional neglect and the role of maternal instincts.

As I Lay Dying is Faulkner's harrowing account of the Bundren family's odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. As they carry Addie in a homemade coffin, pulled along by a team of mules, the Bundrens are haunted by greed and fear—their journey both mocks and confirms our humanity. Their story is told in turn by each of the family members—including Addie herself—as well as those they encounter on their way. This fractured viewpoint epitomizes Faulkner's visceral modernist style, as the varied voices reveal secrets, expose desires, and bring back the dead. A benchmark achievement and one of the most influential novels in American fiction, As I Lay Dying not only endures but prevails. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Provides a collection of critical essays on Faulkner's As I lay dying.

"These stories will last," said Raymond Carver of Shiloh and Other Stories when it was first published, and almost two decades later this stunning fiction debut and winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award has become a modern American classic. In Shiloh, Bobbie Ann Mason introduces us to her western Kentucky people and the lives they forge for themselves amid the ups and downs of contemporary American life, and she poignantly captures the growing pains of the New South in the lives of her characters as they come to terms with feminism, R-rated movies, and video games. "Bobbie Ann Mason is one of those rare writers who, by concentrating their attention on a few square miles of native turf, are able to open up new and surprisingly wide worlds for the delighted reader," said Robert Towers in The New York Review of Books.

The book is narrated by 15 different characters over 59 chapters. It is the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her poor, rural family's quest and motivations--noble or selfish--to honor her wish to be buried in her hometown of Jefferson, Mississippi. In the novel's first chapters, Addie is alive, though in ill health. Addie and others expect her to die soon, and she sits at a window watching as her firstborn child, Cash, builds her coffin. Anse, Addie's husband, waits on the porch, while their daughter, Dewey Dell, fans her mother in the July heat. The night after Addie dies a heavy rainstorm sets in; rivers rise and wash out bridges that the family will need to cross to get to Jefferson. The family's trek by wagon begins, with Addie's non-embalmed body in the coffin. Along the way, Anse and the five children encounter various difficulties. Stubborn Anse frequently rejects any offers of assistance, including meals or lodging, so at times the family goes hungry and sleeps in barns. At other times he refuses to accept loans from people, claiming he wishes to "be beholden to no man," thus manipulating the would-be lender into giving him charity as a gift not to be repaid. Jewel, Addie's middle child, tries to leave his dysfunctional family after Anse sells Jewel's most prized possession, his horse, yet Jewel cannot turn his back on them through the tribulations of the journey to Jefferson. Cash breaks a leg and winds up riding atop the coffin. He stoically refuses to admit to any discomfort, but the family eventually puts a makeshift cast of concrete on his leg. Twice, the family almost loses Addie's coffin--first, while crossing a river on a washed-out bridge (two mules are lost), and second, when a fire of suspicious origin starts in the barn where the coffin is being stored for a night.

This book is a powerful discussion of the novels, short stories, and poems of William Faulkner. Intended for both the general reader as well as those already fully acquainted with his work, My Mother is a Fish illustrates the wisdom and genius of this great modernist of classical twentieth century American Literature. Janet C. Nosek provides a personal commentary on quotations and short passages that show the wide range of style, language, themes, and connections found in Faulkner's fiction. Both instructive and entertaining, this book will be of great interest to literary scholars and a helpful ancillary text as well.