Toots in Solitude: A Novel

by John Yount and Jayne Yount

Book Overview

Forty-nine-year-old Toots Henslee's near-idyllic solitude--he lives in a treehouse overlooking a river near Nashville--is invaded by Sally Ann Shaw, a wannabe country-western singer on the lam from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312809042
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Length: 186 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An Undiscovered Gem

I was a student of Yount back in 1972. I only recently read this book, which the local library removed from the shelves and I rescued it from the "give away" bin. The main character is so carefully drawn, the imagery is so sharp and detailed, that the story pulls you in to the point where you may feel that you are there. In some ways the style reminds me of Faulkner. Yount gives his all to the reader; painstaking, polished prose, where every word counts. The first chapter presents a picture as vivid as anything I have ever encountered in literature, and is a lesson in the art of fiction writing. The rest of the book lives up to the promise of the first chapter. It's pretty good just as an action adventure story, but the themes the author explores, such as the the conflicting needs of solitude and love, are what make this a great book.

A wonderful book!

I am a fan of John Yount's work and love his characters and their worlds. This book has a great sense of two worlds colliding and how that all works out.

a charming story

I sometimes think when I look at reviews on this website if any one has read some of the obscure books I have read and voila! someone else has read Toots in Solitude. It is an overlooked book. I found it extremely enjoyable. It is well written, well organized and moves right along. And it comes to an inevitable conclusion. Very fine, indeed.

Wonderful book. Completely overlooked.

I picked up this book while working in a bookstore. I sat engrossed by wonderfully quirky characters and their lives. (I ignored customers all day so I could finish it.) So far everyone I've recommended it to has enjoyed it. Basically, the books is about Toots, a one eyed man who has given up on the "real" world - his unbearable wife, his job, and moves into a tree house on the banks of a river. And one day a young woman show up on the banks of his river, and his life is changed... or is it. Younts writing style is rich yet simple. He takes his time building his character but never lets the plot lag behind.