Preston Lauterbach is author of The Chitlin’ Circuit (Norton, 2011) and a forthcoming book about the music, underworld, and political chicanery on Beale Street in Memphis between the end of the Civil War and the onset of World War II.
Is there such a thing as an easy situation with William Faulkner? His name is synonymous with complexity. It pervades his style, his storylines, and the format of his novels. Interacting with the public, the man obfuscated, exaggerated, and...