A Thousand Acres
by Jane Smiley takes place in rural Iowa, but it has the depravity of a story that might take place much further south. Though Smiley doesn’t really compare to writers like Tennessee Williams or William Faulkner or Flannery O’Connor, she can be praised for her honest portrayal of alcholism, incest, abuse and denial, like some of the best southern writers have done before her.
Douglas A. Greenberg’s review on Amazon.com states, “There is so much depravity here, in fact, that after a while I found myself (figuratively) rolling my eyes at each new twist in the plot.” Personally, having come from a family with the same kind of depravity and drama, I didn’t think it was over the top. I thought it was pretty realistic.
On the other hand, I related more to Rebecca Wells’s Little Altars Everywhere, which also dealt with alcholism, incest, abuse and denial. Not only did it take place in Louisiana instead of Iowa, but the denial was tempered with humor instead of hard work. These people in Smiley’s Iowa may be depraved, but they take themselves way too seriously.
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