The Heart is a Lonely Hunter [B1865]

2000 PB reprint of the 1940 southern gothic classic, in nice clean condition. The beloved Southern Gothic classic that turned Carson McCullers into an overnight literary sensation and one of the Modern Library's top 20 novels of the 20th century. "A remarkable book . . From the opening page, brilliant in its establishment of mood, character, and suspense, the book takes hold of the reader."-The New York Times.

In a Depression-era Georgia Mill town, an enigmatic deaf mute man, John Singer, draws out the haunted confessions of an itinerant worker, a doctor, a widowed café owner, and a young girl. Each yearns for escape from small town life, but the young girl, Mick Kelly, the book's heroine (loosely based on McCullers), finds solace in her music. Wonderfully attuned to the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition, and with a deft sense for the racial tensions in the South, McCullers spins a haunting, unforgettable story of American loneliness that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated-and, through Mick, gives voice to the quiet, intensely personal search for beauty.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "One of the best books I've ever had the privilege of reading. So thematically dense, and so poignant in today's current climate. Just a beautiful book filled with characters that feel truly alive"; "I really dug this book. It's not the most cheerful book, but it really speaks volumes about the human condition. It has a lot of powerful moments in it. A+."; "What an impressive novel. it exemplifies the Southern Gothic subgenre, detailing the violence, cruelty, poverty, prejudice, desolation, and loneliness faced by a group of misfits in an unnamed southern town. There is so much in this book, including discussions of politics and religion that still feel as relevant today as they were when this book was written in the 1930s. It's extremely impressive to me that the author was only 23 at the time of writing. She had such a keen eye for all the little details that make up a person inside and out, and a deep empathy that makes all her characters feel real and compelling, flawed the way any human is flawed, with their own needs and desires and personal ways of understanding or misunderstanding the world around them. I really enjoyed this."; "I think that this story is a true picture of life in the South in the late 30s. True, but so sad. I would recommend it to anyone who cared to truly think about this town and these people, and also think good and hard about the truth of life at that time and place. History is a great teacher and we need to learn because life is hard and people need to be able to talk to each other!"