>I wracked my brain to think of the novel and, sho'nuf, all it took
>was thinking about something else, thanks to your post. Voila! The
>book was by Carolyn Chute, _The Beans of Egypt, Maine: The Finished
>Version_. My mother introduced me to the book, but I never got past
>the first pages, too busy with grad school, etc. What I read was
>good reading, though.
It's been 15 years since I've read it, but I agree--a very fine novel. Uninhibited, but lacking the bourgeois gaze that permeates most attempts at "white trash" fiction. And certainly not trying to express any sort of compassion or solidarity.