Frankland

Written by James Whorton

Narrated by Nick Landrum

With droll humor and biting wit, critically acclaimed author James Whorton, Jr. pens enjoyable novels in the tradition of John Kennedy Toole and Walker Percy. In Frankland, a socially challenged young man named John H. Tolley aspires to be a prestigious historian despite his lack of a college degree. To that end, he embarks on a journey to east Tennessee to track down 17th President Andrew Johnson's secret papers, which may or may not actually exist. When he arrives, he meets a quirky group of people who inadvertently serve to obstruct him from his more scholarly pursuits.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 8, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456122560

James Whorton

James Whorton Jr. is the author of two other novels, Approximately Heaven and Frankland.  A former Mississippian and former Tennessean, he lives in Rochester, New York with his wife and their daughter.  He is an Associate Professor of writing and literature at SUNY Brockport.

Reviews for Frankland

[bjkelley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Here's a book that I enjoyed for no observable reason. I started it once, then quit. When I picked it back up and got into the rhythm of the writing, I continued to read and enjoy. Some very subtle humor. Lots of info on President Andrew Johnson, and a single minded main character that I can only compare to Portis's Norwood or very lightly to Toole's Ignatius.

[mbergman_15 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A disappointing book. I think it was trying to be funny, but hardly ever was. A hapless amateur historian follows the trail of a long-missing scrapbook about President Andrew Johnson to Johnson's home area in rural eastern Tennessee, where the historian has a series of encounters with the usual set of rural Southern characters. It doesn't amount to much more than that.