Before I became a college instructor, I wanted to be a writer. I preferred poetry, but struck out occasionally into other genres. After showing some of my attempts to my uncle--he was an English professor at Stetson Univerisity in Florida--he suggested that the best way to become a writer was to study other writers, a notion still supported by creative writing instructors to this day. He suggested William Faulkner. I began right away to read Faulkner and became so enamored with him that I eventually read his entire canon.

The one book of Faulkner that impressed me the most was Light in August. It had everything to me--love, violence, history, to name a few characteristics. Byron Bunch and Lena Grove, Joe Christmas, and sadly, the most horrendous crime perpetrated by whites against a black man. It did not surprise me when Oprah Winfrey chose Light in August as one of the three books by Faulkner for her book club.

It is not an easy read. Those unfamiliar with Faulkner, his mythical Yoknapatawpha County, or stream of consciousness writing may find the book hard to get into. But for anyone willing to pursue it, Light in August is a magnificent book, and I heartily recommend it.