The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks

by Donald Harington

Book Overview

Jacob and Noah Ingledew trudge 600 miles from their native Tennessee to found Stay More, a small town nestled in a narrow valley that winds among the Arkansas Ozarks and into the reader's imagination.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156078805
• ISBN13: 9780156078801
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Classic Work of Regional Fiction

When I first read this book in the early seventies, I was in my late teens. I have since re-read it a number of times, and each time it reveals more of the nuance of character inherent to the individual hill-williams Mr. Harrington profiles in this classic novel. Having lived in Arkansas since the age of 11 I felt as if I'd grown up with many of the characters he portrays. If you enjoy ludicrous situations and quirky characters read this book NOW! It should be listed on the Norman Cousins health plan...

One of the best Unknown Books

The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks is a sprawling epic. It spans at least five generations and it all takes place in the Arkansas Ozarks in a town called Stay More (the residents of which are called "Stay Morons.") It begins when Jacob Ingledew and his brother Noah arrive and are greeted by the only remaining Native American: Fanshaw (who lives with his wife in a bigeminal hut that resemble large and pointy breasts). This is where the story begins and it doesn't stop...never losing momentum...the plot always moving forward...and as the plot moves forward so does the setting, and this book is as much a history lesson as it is a character study. We experience, through these marvelous characters, The Civil War, World War I, the Depression, World War II and all the PROG RESS that comes in between. It is also important here to point out the book's greatest virtue: it's humor. This book is absolutely hysterical. I found myself laughing out loud all throughout. There isn't a page where you won't smile either externally or internally. The humor is the best sort of humor you can find in a novel---the type of humor where it won't be funny unless it's in the context of the book. Harington creates a world and the humor he finds in it are all "inside" jokes that you, the intrigued reader, get to be a part of. And the narrator himself is a fascinating presence--omniscient, but a real part of the story. The last few chapters will absolutely blow your mind.

An architect who can write!

I was drawn to this book because I am an architectural historian and avid reader of historical novels. I was unprepared for the book's incredible creativity and humor. The author's genuine love and compassion for the simplest of his characters is heartwarming. And best of all, this is a shaggy-dog story to end all shaggy-dog stories. PS I learned a lot about architecture along the way!

One of the best books I've ever "discovered"...

The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks is a sprawling epic. It spans at least five generations and it all takes place in the Arkansas Ozarks in a town called Stay More (the residents of which are called "Stay Morons.") It begins when Jacob Ingledew and his brother Noah arrive and are greeted by the only remaining Native American: Fanshaw (who lives with his wife in a bigeminal hut that resemble large and pointy breasts). This is where the story begins and it doesn't stop...never losing momentum...the plot always moving forward...and as the plot moves forward so does the setting, and this book is as much a history lesson as it is a character study. We experience, through these marvelous characters, The Civil War, World War I, the Depression, World War II and all the PROG RESS that comes in between. It is also important here to point out the book's greatest virtue: it's humor. This book is absolutely hysterical. I found myself laughing out loud all throughout. There isn't a page where you won't smile either externally or internally. The humor is the best sort of humor you can find in a novel---the type of humor where it won't be funny unless it's in the context of the book. Harington creates a world and the humor he finds in it are all "inside" jokes that you, the intrigued reader, get to be a part of. And the narrator himself is a fascinating presence--omniscient, but a real part of the story. The last few chapters will absolutely blow your mind.

You'll laugh til you get the fraiks!

There is no family like the Ingledews and no place like Stay More. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially the time that Noah spends living in a tree and how he gets recruited into the Civil War. I wrote to Don Harington and he readily admiteed he got his idea from 100 years of Solitude- but his book is definitely funnier. No one write about Arkansas better than Harington- he knows his subject initmately and loves it.