Description

Ranging from his experiences as a writer to topics of faith and racial intolerance, Reynolds Price's stories from National Public Radio's All Things Considered showcase the author's consistent talent for lyrical prose and insightful observations--and all those stories are now compiled here in The Feasting Heart.

In the fall of 1993, Alice Winkler of National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" asked Reynolds Price to write a short story for a Christmas morning broadcast. This assignment would result in NPR's inviting Price to join its varied group of commentators on "All Things Considered." The laws of radio require a concision that became a welcome new discipline for Price; these are all the personal essays which he has broadcast since July 25, 1995.

Whether recounting events from his past, examining the details of his current experience as a writer, teacher, traveler, and general witness of the world, Price demonstrates in his direct prose that a writer can instantly connect with his audience. He discusses a few predictable topics--family, the poisonous mysteries of racial intolerance, and faith--but he also deals with new matters: capital punishment, Gone With the Wind, his adventures while navigating an immensely inaccessible America in a wheelchair; and he provides a memorable piece on childlessness.

Throughout, Price never loses sight of the origin of either the word or the spirit of the essay--the French word connotes a try, an attempt --and each piece here is a well-formed, revealing, often amusing, and refreshing foray into a moment unlike any we've encountered in other forms from him. We're unlikely to read more thought-provoking work from a commentator for a great time to come.