Look Back All the Green Valley (1999) by Fred Chappell. 

This is the fourth novel in a semi-autobiographical series, which also includes four volumes of poetry: River (1975); Bloodfire (1978); Wind Mountain (1979); and Earthsleep (1980); all of which are available as a collection entitled Midquest (1981).  The previous novels are: I Am One of You Forever (1985); Brighten the Corner Where You Are (1989); and Farewell, I’m Bound to Leave You (1996).  The first and third are, hands down, two of the best books I’ve ever read.  The novels track the life of Jess Kirkman, who grows from a beloved teacher’s child into a writer and professor.  There’s been a fair amount of discussion in the Appalachian Lit community over the years about just how close to Chappell’s life these books cleave.  Chappell gets a well-placed jab in this time around:  In Look Back, our hero Jess Kirkman has a heated discussion with his ailing mother, who is offended both that he has a pen-name at all, and that he chose one as obnoxious as "Fred Chappell." 

This novel follows Kirkman as he plans for his mother’s death and copes with finding a new burial plot for his father, long dead.  Kirkman also frets over his translation of Dante’s Inferno, and over his family’s supposed lack of understanding for his poetic spirit.  I think Look Back is the weakest novel in the series, though that’s one of the limpest attacks I could make about a book, considering Chappell’s skill.  It falters when Jess broods over his mother’s disdain for his writing or his assumptions that his father never read his work.  We writers stew over such things constantly, but they don’t generally trump our need to learn more about our loved ones who have passed or make the heart-wrenching plans for our parents’ deaths.  Jess has always struck me as a loving man–this peek into his narcissism sours him a bit for me.  Chappell may have been running out of steam with this one, or he may have been so absorbed into working a bit of sci-fi into the novel (I won’t give away more than that) that he lost the thread on Jess a bit.  Or he may have been self-flagellating. 

Whatever the reason for that glimpse at Jess’s narcissism, it certainly isn’t enough to wreck this sweet little book.  We get more of Joe Robert, Jess’s wonderful, enigmatic father.  We get some lovely glimpses into mountain culture.  We get a few more words than we need, here and there.  Personally, I see the luxury of finding fault with a writer as fine as Fred Chappell proof of an embarrassment of riches.

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