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Earl Thompson and A Garden of Sand
Posted by Donald Ray Pollock, March 4th, 2008
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When I was in my teens, I used to spend a lot of time sitting around my aunt's house with my cousins. We'd smoke cigarettes and watch the three channels on the TV and talk about sex and rock and roll and sex and what we were going to do once we left the holler. But it grew boring every so often, all that talk of escape and Blue Cheer and girls we could never have. And during one of those lulls, I noticed a fat yellow paperback that one of my cousins had bought in town lying on the coffee table. Hell, the fact that there was a book in the house was in itself a major event as far as I was concerned. That book was Earl Thompson's A Garden of Sand, and within the next few months I read it at least five or six times. Later, during one of the times I ran away from home, I missed the damn thing so much that I shoplifted it from a drugstore in St. Petersburg, Florida.
A Garden of Sand was the first book that made me want to be a writer, something I vowed I would do once I made my final escape from Knockemstiff.A Garden of Sand was the first book that made me want to be a writer, something I vowed I would do once I made my final escape from Knockemstiff. That was in 1970 or '71, and I was around fifteen years old (yeah, it took me a while!).
I had never read anything like Thompson's novel. True, it was filled with sex and lice and grime and alcoholism and mean poverty, but it was also beautiful in its own sad and sordid way. The characters were real, so real that I loved some of them and hated others with a passion. And I'd never read a book that had people in it who were so much like the ones I'd grown up around in the holler (though Thompson's world was far rougher). Of course, you must realize that I hadn't read much of anything before A Garden of Sand except the books stored in the small library at Huntington School, and there sure as hell wasn't anything even close to Earl Thompson on those shelves. I'd read some of my old man's "dirty" books, though I knew, even then, that the writing was atrocious. But Earl Thompson could write, and I entered into that Depression-era Kansas world like I was walking through the flimsy screen door into my aunt's house.
A Garden of Sand was Thompson's first novel, and he would go on to write three more before he died of a heart attack in 1978 at the age of forty-seven in Sausalito, California (one of those, The Devil to Pay, was published posthumously). Today, few people read him, or have even heard his name, and that's a shame. So here's what I'm getting at with all this: a couple of years ago, I decided that I would write a biography of Earl Thompson. Believe me, I didn't even know how to begin, but I somehow managed to get in touch with his literary executor, Gilmer Waggoner, who had also been Thompson's accountant. However, Waggoner, a good man who loved Thompson and his work, was in failing health, and I mostly corresponded with his wife, a fantastic lady who even managed to find me the addresses of one of Thompson's children and an ex-wife. But I also began to discover that I didn't have the patience (or the money) for the kind of research necessary. I also began to discover that I didn't have the patience (or the money) for the kind of research necessary. Many of the facts about Thompson's life weren't easily available, and he'd moved around a lot. So, in the end, I gave up, emailed Mrs. Waggoner that I was going to have to put the project on the backburner while I concentrated on my own fiction (a poor excuse). And ever since then, I've harbored some guilt about that decision, partly because the Waggoners seemed so excited that someone was finally going to bring their friend some of the attention he deserves, and partly because I feel like I owe Thompson big-time. Who knows? If I'd never read his novel, I might not be writing today.
Last night, when I decided I'd write about Thompson on this blog, I discovered that A Garden of Sand is now out of print (the last paperback edition was published by Carroll & Graf in 2001). Granted, it's still fairly easy to buy a used copy, but, Jesus,
this isn't a book that should ever go out of printthis isn't a book that should ever go out of print. So today, I urge all of you to buy it before you miss your chance (and if you've still got a few coins left, pick up Tattoo, his second one). And I'd also like to propose that you all think about the first book that really knocked your head off, it was so friggin' good. And heck, while we're at it, let's pray that some brave souls finally begin working on those few biographies that truly deserve to be written.
÷ ÷ ÷
Donald Ray Pollock grew up in Knockemstiff, Ohio. His stories have appeared in the Berkeley Fiction Review, the Journal, Third Coast, Chiron Review, Sou'wester, Boulevard, and Folio, and he has contributed essays on politics to the op-ed page of the New York Times.
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A Garden of Sand
Earl Thompson
Dear Mr. Pollack,
I want to thank you for writing this blog. I can't begin to tell you how much I sympathize with your plight to bring this man's story to the light of day. I've never run across such a gifted writer who stayed underground. I can appreciate you wanting to write his biography. I too have tried to research the man behind the work, to no avial.
I found Tattoo in an old dusty bookstore about 27 years ago and it blew me away- his style, the subject and the background of the people just amazed me and deeply moved me. Perhaps it his his ability to describe raw emotion and humanity that appeals to those of unconventional upbringings. I was born in Kansas, and the Norwegians are my people too. This is one of the greatest American writers I have ever read, and I am a very avid reader. I have tried to contact publishers in the past and never recieved an awnser. It wasn't until I found your blog that I found anything about him. I knew he died young but hadn't a clue as to how.I would love to know more of what you found on him in your travels. Every little town I go thru I hit the used bookstore just to see if I could find something of his. Of course I have my copies, but I just want to know if other people know. It is like a conspiracy was put against him to keep his books out of print.
Over the years I have turned a few people onto his work. And have lost all the copies I've loaned out. Which is fine, spread the word, right.. This past October I sent a copy of Tattoo to my daughters friend, an F-18 fighter pilot deployed in Iraq. You might of heard of him, his name is Major Brian Dennis, he recently made headlines for saving an Iraqi dog. He read it, and had strong feelings about it.
Don't feel guilty about not completing his bio- if it is any consolation, his novels seem to speak volumes for him. I hope his family finds consolation in that as well and in the fact that he was way before his time as so many great artists are. His subject matter is not for the meek and closed minded and with any justice in the world his books will once again hit the shelves and get his name out there where it should be.
Patti
I've read " A Garden Of Sand" about a dozen times, and "Tattoo" about fifteen.
They are easily, easily the best books I've ever read. I would like to know anything about Earl Thompson. Hell, I'd love to see a photo of the guy. In doing some research about him, I found that he gave an interview to Esquire Magazine in 1970. Have you read the article, and if so, was it accompanied by any photographs?
Thanks for bringing a little much needed attention to the world's greatest unknown author. ~ Neil
I was very glad to see this. Tattoo made me want to
write, too. I found it a bit easier to swallow than Garden of Sand, so I usually gave copies of loaned them to friends in that order. I also read both books several times, and felt I was doing my part to spread the word.
Several years ago, i read that Caldo Largo, was going to be made into a movie starring (a then young) Harrison Ford. Considering all of the sex in that one (even more than the others) and the downbeat ending, I didn't see how that could happen. I guess a producer or studio head decided the same thing.
When I read Devil To Pay, I wondered why Thompson gave the hero a different name. Sure sounded like the same boy, grown up. After reading on a book jacket cover that Thompson was no longer living, I wondered how far from fiction those stories were. Hell of a writer. Would really appreciate any more info you want to share from your research. From the looks of these comments, I am guessing there are plenty of people out there who feel the same way I do. Thanks for posting this online!
-Hank
I have read all of Earl Thompson's books but never knew anything about the man until reading these blogs. I am devestated to find out that there was no third book written after A Garden of Sand & The Devil to Pay as I anticipated. I can't remember why I expected there to be a third, possibly because I wanted there to be one.
I am also saddened to hear of the demise of such a talented & superbly gifted writer.
I too was inspired by his writing. It instilled in me the desire to write, but found myself setting the bar too high, in as much as I compared my abilities to his. Of all the writers I have read, his books were truly amazing.
To imagine the depths of feeling he could have continued to evoke in his readers if he survived to continue writing is truly amazing. The world is a sadder place for not having Earl Thompson's abilities as a writer to inspire & entertain others.
Gary
If you like, enmail me at vivaguerrero@hotmail.com and I can send you a photo of the guy that is on the sleeve of Tattoo.. his Second novel, so yeah, no worries man, he did make a trilogy :)
OMG we would LOVE to see Harrison Ford in Caldo Largo........
Seriously though, any more information about Mr. Thompson would be great.. Mr. Pollock, can you give us any more insights from your research?
I read "Garden and "Tattoo" as a teenager, shortly after they came out. The brawling I found a bit unreal, maybe because I'd already been involved in numerous episodes where my older sister's ex had turned our house into something that rivalled Thompson's imagination by then, but otherwise the books made a big impression for their sympathetic treatment of people who were just trying to get by the best way they knew how. One thing that often comes back to me was Jack's respectful treatment of winos and other down and outers, "just in case". With that one image, Thompson probably helped me distill religion into the golden rule.
Why doesn't someone who is web savvy make a website devoted to Thompson with pictures and bio and all that jazz and then report back here.
I just finished reading,Caldo Largo. I Found the book at a chuch rummage sale.
Definetly a keeper...I will be keeping a weather eye out for Mr Thompson's work.
It is interesting to note that the book was published in 1978 long after the Cuban crises had passed. Maybe the anti-estabishment sentiment is the real reason Mr Thompson's work was ignored by the critics.
I AM FROM WICHITA, KANSAS. EARL ATTENDED EAST HIGH SCHOOL
IN 1952 AFTER HE GOT OUT OF THE ARMY. I WAS A SENIOR IN
HIGH SCHOOL AT THAT TIME. EARL RAN AROUND WITH A BOY NAMED
DAVE OCKER. EARL AND I WENT TO A FEW BARS TOGETHER AND HAD
SOME GOOD TIMES. EARL LIKED THE GIRLS AND WAS POPULAR.
HE WAS A FEW YEARS OLDER THAN US BUT SEEMED TO FIT RIGHT IN.
I JOINED THE NAVY A FEW MONTHS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL AND DID NOT
SEE OR CORRESPOND WITH HIM ANY FURTHER. DAVID OCKER KEPT UP
WITH HIM BUT DAVID DIED ABOUT 1980. DAVID WAS THE ONE THAT
TOLD ME HE WAS IN CALIFORNIA AND WAS WRITING.
I am also from Wichita, and lived two doors down from where Earl Thompson apparently once lived, with his grandparents, as a child. The area is the backdrop for the Wichita neighborhood, in Thompson's second book, "Tattoo". The "no name niggertown alley" [Thompson's words], where he mentions living, with his grandparents, was either Santa Fe Avenue, along the railroad tracks, or the alley out behind. I noticed little errors, perhaps intentional, in Thompson's placement of things, in "Tattoo". For example, Kress' dime store, where he checks his reflection in the plate glass window, in the opening of "Tattoo", was at Broadway and Douglas, not Market and Douglas. The Miller Theater, where he had just seen a picture, was behind Kress'. Also, he mentions a Balls Grocery, which was really called Bells.
Thompson has inspired me to write, as well. The world Thompson describes was either exaggerated, or had disappeared by the time I was born. Perhaps I was merely sheltered from it. At any rate, I knew the elderly daughter of the woman whose property Thompson's grandparents apparently once had a trailer on. Before she died, I found Thompson's books, and read them. My elderly neighbor lady said that everyone in the neighborhood read "Tattoo". She said that characters, such as the hunchback who worked at Bell's Grocery, were real.
The real neighborhood from "Tattoo" is a shadow of its former self now. For one thing, many of the homes have been torn down. There had been a homemade house trailer, built from an old streetcar, in lot, next to the neighbor lady I mentioned. I later wondered if it had been the one Thompson, and/or his grandparents had once inhabited. When I was a boy, the trailer was hauled away, and my mother told me that it was going to be turned back into a streetcar, and put in a museum somewhere.
I picked up the British edition of Tattoo at a used bookseller when I was on liberty in Perth Australia in 1983 (the cover jumped out at me---a tattooed hand giving the bird). It was a revelation. I subsequently have picked up and read his other books, and agree with the above posters that this guy is one of the best writers I have ever come across. Too bad he died so young. I regret you weren't able to track down enough info for a substantial biography of this guy, that's something I would definitely be interested in.
A Garden of Sand and Tattoo are my two favourite novels. I've read them and re-read them several times. I start on one and then have to read the other and find them just as enjoyable and fresh as the first time. I discovered Tattoo when I was sixteen (1993). I found a copy in the family bookshelf when I was bored and wanted something to read. I guess I was intrigued (as a rebellious teenager) by the big "up yours" on the cover. Though at first thinking it was quite thick, I started reading and was hooked within pages and subsequently flew through the book. As soon as I finished it I was down to the local used book store where I was relieved to find a copy of A Garden of Sand. Though I love Tattoo immensely, Garden is my fave. The rough and unforgiving world, seen through the eyes of an innocent child who is very quickly losing that innocence, is compelling. The narrative is quite breathtaking. The characters too real that you feel they are there with you, perhaps living next door. As for Thompsons' style, unbelievably brutal and honest, and not to mention brave. An honesty such as his just sucks you completely into his world as if you are there living it with him.
I really liked Caldo Largo but must admit, after Garden and Tattoo, The Devil to Pay left me cold. I dont know if that was because it was unfinished or what. I enjoyed it but after the brilliance of the first two, my expectations were high and I found it a dissapointment.
It's a great shame that all we have is four books from such a great writer, but i will always cherish them and enjoy them.
I certainly know what to say if questioned about who my favourite author is.
I am so glad Earl is being remembered through this blog.I met him in 1973, when I lived in a fishing village in Greece for six months. Earl had rented a house for the summer and was hard at work on his second book. He was very handsome, so it wasn't hard to fall for him, though I was much, much younger.
I saw him once more in Switzerland, where I spent a night reading the final draft of Tattoo. We correponded until a week before his death. Too bad Mr. Pollock abandoned the idea for a biography. I had considered writng a book about my experience with him but felt it was too personal.