Southern Cross the Dog, Bill Cheng
Southern Cross the Dog, Bill Cheng
1 Rating(s)
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Southern Cross the Dog
A Novel

Author: Bill Cheng

Narrator: Prentice Onayemi

Unabridged: 10 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 05/07/2013


Synopsis

An epic odyssey in which a young man must choose between the lure of the future and the claims of the pastWith clouds looming ominously on the horizon, a group of children play among the roots of the gnarled Bone Tree. Their games will be interrupted by a merciless storm–bringing with it the Great Flood of 1927–but not before Robert Chatham shares his first kiss with the beautiful young Dora. The flood destroys their homes, disperses their families, and wrecks their innocence. But for Robert, a boy whose family has already survived unspeakable pain, that single kiss will sustain him for years to come.Losing virtually everything in the storm's aftermath, Robert embarks on a journey through the Mississippi hinterland–from a desperate refugee camp to the fiery brothel Hotel Beau-Miel and into the state's fearsome swamp, meeting piano-playing hustlers, well-intentioned whores, and a family of fierce and wild fur trappers along the way. But trouble follows close on his heels, fueling Robert's conviction that he's marked by the devil and nearly destroying his will to survive. And just when he seems to shake off his demons, he's forced to make an impossible choice that will test him as never before.Teeming with language that voices both the savage beauty and the complex humanity of the American South, Southern Cross the Dog is a tour de force of literary imagination that heralds the arrival of a major new voice in fiction.

About Bill Cheng

Bill Cheng received a BA in creative writing from Baruch College and is a graduate of Hunter College's MFA program. Born and raised in Queens, New York, he currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife. Southern Cross the Dog is his first novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeanne on January 28, 2013

This book is by a friend of mine. This friend of mine, Bill Cheng, is "the shit." So is his book. I had the distinct privilege to be around while this was being written, got to hear it come out chapter by chapter every two to four weeks or so. When you are being held captive on a rowboat in the midd......more

Goodreads review by Ms.pegasus on July 16, 2014

Cheng's book opens in the Mississippi delta. It's the spring of 1927 and a group of children are playing, teasing, flirting at the boundaries of adolescent exploration. Yes, they are black, but playing among themselves, this is of little consequence at the moment. What is of consequence is that in a......more

Goodreads review by Rod on June 25, 2013

I was totally taken aback by this book. It was a debut novel and although the early reviews were good, I wasn't prepared for how good it was. It was very good. The thing that blew me away was how well Bill Cheng was able to capture the feel of the times and place the novel was set. Why, because the......more

Goodreads review by Mac on June 01, 2013

Southern Cross the Dog effectively creates a sense of place, the Mississippi Delta in the early 20th century, a world of danger, racial hatred, disappointment, and occasional hope. The descriptions of the land are vivid and often fresh (though sometimes confusing and amateurish). Overall, the creati......more

Goodreads review by Tuck on July 09, 2013

a debut novel about the 1927 miss. flood and aftermath for one family and the young boy robert is given away by his parents as they are stuck on a high spot with no hope of surviving. so robert grows up an orphan. then rambles around and gets kidnapped in the pearl river swamp by cajuns, then escape......more