A Death in the Family

By: James Agee

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Classic, 2013

Decades after its original publication, James Agee’s last novel seems, more than ever, an American classic. For in his lyrical, sorrowful account of a man’s death and its impact on his family, Agee painstakingly created a small world of domestic happiness and then showed how quickly and casually it could be destroyed.

On a sultry summer night in 1915, Jay Follet leaves his house in Knoxville, Tennessee, to tend to his father, whom he believes is dying. The summons turns out to be a false alarm, but on his way back to his family, Jay has a car accident and is killed instantly. Dancing back and forth in time and braiding the viewpoints of Jay’s wife, brother, and young son, Rufus, Agee creates an overwhelmingly powerful novel of innocence, tenderness, and loss that should be read aloud for the sheer music of its prose.

©1938 1956, 1957 by the James Agee Trust. 1957 by the New Yorker Magazine, Inc. 1985 by Mia Agee (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"People I know who read A Death in the Family forty years ago still talk about it. So do I. It is a great book." (Andre Dubus, author of Dancing after Hours)

A rural family struggles with death

Written back in the first half of the 20th century, this slow moving but powerful story tells of a rural family facing a death of one of its members. It starts out very slowly but soon it completely hooked me and I found it hard to put down. Not a whole lot happens but it is nevertheless completely absorbing and true to life. I highly recommend it.

spare, simple, best analysis of grief I've read

I am continuing my personal goal of reading all of the Pulitzer winners, and this gem makes me so glad that I started. This book is brutally, devastatingly sad. But is is also the best exploration of death that I have ever read. (And, this may be one of my favorite themes in literature as it exposes so much about humanity and the emotions we all feel at some time in our lives.)

There is no spoiler here as the title of A Death in the Family tells us exactly what we are going to experience. However it was a surprise that we were a third of the way into the book before that death happened. And I am so glad that was the case, because that allowed me to care about and connect with all of those who would be left behind to mourn the loss.

The entire narrative occurs over a few days, which allowed Agee to delve deeply into all the little moments. When the spouse is considering the "what ifs" before she knows the outcome of the accident, she moves from denial, to hope, to fear, to acceptance. (1. Perhaps he has the wrong person. 2. Well, if it is my husband he may need to be in bed for a while so I will make up the room downstairs. 3. I hope it isn't so bad that he is mentally deficient in the future. 4. He must be gone or I would know by now, wouldn''t I?) It is brilliant, true, and so very real. It is exactly the way we all experience an unexpected loss.

This is a spare, simple, quiet book without a traditional plot. This one is all about character and emotion. The events are mundane and uncomplicated. The describtions are about the tiniest details. But the emotional impact is profound.

The children in the story are written with authenticity. Rufus believes that he must be the caretaker of his sister. And while the other children at school are cruel towards him he takes a sliver of pleasure from his new prestige and status. He is getting attention that he never had before. And Catherine is unable to comprehend that her father is not going to come home. They argue with one another in the ways that two siblings trapped at home do. Their confusion, sadness and irritation is palpable. But they are never portrayed as too mature or too immature. Agee created children that act like children.

I will recommend this one often, but perhaps only to those who have put some space between them and the events that caused them similar pain.

Description

Listening to the delicate way Agee describes the deepest feeling and emotions of human kind through simple and preside descriptions for different points of view is eye opening.
I throughly enjoyed it

A rereading of Death In The Family Sixty years later

Agee’s ability to describe the complex thinking and feelings of his characters is most impressively nuanced. The tragic accidental death in the family seem through the reactions of the members of the the family, oldest to youngest is complex and effectively conceived though Agee’s precise use of language. As an octogenarian, it brought back many of the deaths in my own family. The universality of death is subject of this exceptional novel.

Modern classic

I read this book as a teen, now listening 50 years later. Excellent and highly recommend the audiobook experience. The narrator does an excellent job with dialogue. Many voices, using various inflections—especially for women and children—make for a masterful performance.

Is it really worth the costs of reading/listening?

In the 2d half of my 40s, I've been on a kick to read as many prized literary novels as I can. I've been particularly interested in reading such novels set in the South. This novel, set in Tennessee, won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. It has caused me to question whether I should do a cost-benefit analysis before reading certain prized novels.

In my literary endeavor, many times I've enjoyed what I've read and some novels have required hard work and a second reading to appreciate (e.g., The Sound and the Fury). And, then there have been a couple like A DEATH IN THE FAMILY, that made me wonder why I should force myself to experience a story of an event and aftermath so painful to endure in reality, a story that nearly all of us suffer through at least a few times in our life if we are lucky enough to make it to middle age. This novel, as you can tell from the title, is a story of a rural family dealing with the death of the father and husband and brother and son to the respective surviving family members.

I have had a hard enough time surviving the painful ordeal of the death of an immediate family member. While I can appreciate the literary quality of this novel, I've come to the conclusion that life is just too short and my reading time too limited to spend hours and hours of my time vicariously living through such intimate agony and sadness at and as the story's very center.

Stunning in truth and words

Agee possessed an astonishing ability to evoke so much. The semi autobiographical story is heart rending and poignant. The ability to capture people in different life stages and understanding is a gift.
Further, I applaud Lloyd James for his incredible narration. Without making caricatures of the voices, he captures each character’s voice. I’ve rarely heard a male narrator so effectively convey the voices of children and women. As a southerner, I can say that his Southern accent was not overdone, false, or cloying. Bravo to Mr. James!

Outstanding!

I had never heard of this author or this book- so glad I stumbled upon it! Moving, thoughtful- a great story told by a fantastic narrator

Outstanding audiobook.

Excellent story, excellent performance. Narrator nailed the East Tennessean accent without condescension. Very highly recommended.

Beautiful imagery

My favorite book. How Agee describes the inter family relationships, the boy’s experience, the differences in beliefs, I’ve never related to a story more.