Chinqua Where? The Spirit of Rural America, 1947-1955 FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this book, McKinley portrays the numerous humorous exploits,
misadventures and shenanigans of a youth while growing up in the East Texas
backwoods community of Chinquapin during 1947-1955. While it is mainly intended
as humor for the general reader of any age, CHINQUA WHERE? also includes the
seriousness and realism associated with bittersweet memories and the
disappointments of rural family life. It is a must read for anyone interested in
rural nostalgia and agricultural Americana.
FROM THE CRITICS
TexasEscapes.com
These essays of Fred Barry's life, times, trials,
tribulations and close calls, at least for the years 1947-1955, were collected
and written by Mr. Fred B. McKinley, who has known Fred Barry from birth. Their
close relationship and ability to work together has produced this book which
proves that there is no generation gap when both interviewer and interviewee
inhabit the same body. If you find this inner-child-inner-adult thing confusing,
just remember Fred Barry is the young man on the cover with the starched flour
sack shirt worn under overalls. Mr. McKinley is the bearded man in the back
flyleaf.
Chinquapin, Texas used to sit in the shadow of San
Augustine, the county seat of San Augustine County. It is now a town so quiet
that even the clock on the town square is a sundial. Chinquapin, halfway between
San Augustine and Bronson (now do you know where it is?) was even quieter.
Although Chinquapin has now disappeared from state maps, it lives again with the
publication of this book.
The guardian spirit of the town seems to have deemed
young, observant, and curious Fred Barry to be the town resident most likely to
become a writer and save the town from becoming a mere footnote in the Handbook
of Texas. And so it came to pass that Fred Barry was sent forth into childhood
to participate in or witness a smorgasbord of incidents and events so dramatic
or comic that he would be compelled to share them with the world. These are
those stories.
Who needs Harry Potter?
One story takes place on the San Augustine square
where a daring daylight theft of young Fred's back-to-school clothes (including
some red-trimmed cowboy boots) forces his father to buy a second wardrobe. How
could a crime like this go unsolved in East Texas? Well, because it went
unreported, that's one reason. Weeks later the "stolen" clothes and boots were
delivered to the very doorstep of the McKinley residence by a man in a
mysterious black sedan. How's that for magic?
Snakes in apple trees, slow rabbits and even slower
drivers, hypochondriac school mates, and the youngest "sugar daddy" in Texas are
all found within these pages. There's even "Zen
in the art of storekeeping" when Fred's grandfather explains that accounts
receivable have a small place in the big scheme of things.
These stories might be considered children's bedtime
tales since there are all sorts of lessons to be learned and most children could
easily identify with the hero. The story of the worst way to start the first day
of school could benefit first-graders all over the world.
Fred claims to have survived an East Texas childhood
without requiring a single stitch or breaking one bone - although a water
fountain run-in at school came very close to providing both. There's the
redundantly named bully Carlo de Carlo, the supremely patient dog, Ol' Lep and
the story of long hours and cold biscuits which is a classic tale of man-child
compromise.
The entertainment value of the book is its most
obvious point, but we'd also like to say that it serves as an excellent example
for anyone considering writing a book about childhood, small towns or both. If
you have half the love of place and family that Mr. McKinley has, you should do
all right.
Home
