Back in early November, John Jeremiah Sullivan stopped by the store to sign and read from his recently published Pulphead: Essays. I had received an email from my mother earlier that day saying please snag her a copy to be signed at the event because she had worked with Mr. Sullivan at the Oxford American when the magazine was still actually based out of Oxford, Mississippi. As I thumbed through the essays before the event, I knew I would be buying two copies of the book – one for my mom and one for myself.
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Mr. Sullivan covers a range of topics, including his time living with an elderly southern author at the University of the South, coverage of a Christian Rock festival and time spent at a shelter on the Gulf Coast immediately following Hurricane Katrina – all of which are thoroughly researched and well-written, making them very much worth reading.
This recent review of Pulphead, which appeared in The New Yorker in December compares Mr. Sullivan to Tom Wolfe or David Foster Wallace, noting that “he is kinder than the former, and less neurotic than the latter.”
So, if you are a fan of the essay, or maybe just want to read some well-researched, insightful writing on various topics, give Pulphead: Essays a try.
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