Raney

Raney is a quick read that tends to be humorous in parts, inciting the occasional chuckle but lacking laugh out loud moments. It is a vey innocent depiction of a southern conservative woman from Liston North Carolina marrying a much more liberal/intelligent man from Atlanta Georgia. The novel focuses on the Husband Charles' struggle to accept his new wife, Raney's, family in the hopes that it will preserve his marriage. As their beliefs in religion, politics, and sex tries to tear apart their relationship it becomes obvious to the reader that these two must work to solve their problems because they really are meant for each other. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the novels has to be its likeable humorous characters and their dialogues. Raney's large family is a motley bunch of stereotypical southerners who are constantly blurting out ignorant politically incorrect remarks. One can't help but imagine what Charles is thinking as he hears these things being said. The character development for Raney and Charles is actually very in depth for such a short novel and is the best achievement for Edgerton in this novel. Being from a small southern town however the setting is a little too romanticized.Liston North Carolina makes for a good fictional town but it's hard to imagine it in the real world. Also the time period is pretty difficult to pinpoint. Dialogue between characters hint that it's set in the late 1970s but in many sections of the book it feels like Edgerton is trying too hard to fit the mold of the typical 1950's family dynamic and race issues. Without knowing that Raney was written by a man I would guess that it was written by a woman for women. So I probably wouldn't recommend it for teenage boys but if one is willing to overlook the author's attempt to romanticize, the novel makes for an enjoyable read.

This book was highly recommended by a friend, and I wanted to read it. It is not a new book (copyright 1985), and I was concerned that I would not be able to get a copy to read. Thanks to Amazon I was able to order the book, and it arrived quickly."Raney is a small town Baptist. Charles is a liberal from Atlanta. And RANEY is the story of their marriage. Charming, wise, funny, and truthful, it is a novel for everyone to love."Set in 1975, it is "the story of the first two years, two months, and two days in the life of a Southern marriage." Raney and Charles are living in Raney's home town in North Carolina. The quotes are from the cover of the book, and they describe the story better than anything I could have written.

I have been a big fan of Clyde Edgerton for years. I recently reordered this book because I have given several copies away, and I like to reread it every couple of years. Aside from being disarming (you really want to feel so superior to Raney, but somehow can't do it), this is one of the great examples of the use of point of view and using conversation to reveal characters and advance the story line. This is really a must read for all would-be writers. I think Edgerton has an amazing voice--deceptively uncomplicated and compelling in its insights into human nature in general and the South as it changed in the post-Vietnam War era.

I like the characters and subtle humor of this book.

This happens to be one of my all-time favorite books, picked up on a whim in an airport shop when my plane was delayed. What a find! Read it, and you'll become an instant fan of Clyde Edgerton. It's side-splittingly funny as it chronicles the early days of the marriage of Raney, a small-town Baptist, and Charles, a city Episcopalian. Though both are Southern, they are cut from different cloth, she from calico, and he from tweed. Raney is appalled to find that her husband wants to have his good friend, a black man, be their baby's godfather, and her husband is appalled to find that Raney intends to raise their daughter calling her breasts "dinners."Don't miss this one.

I enjoyed this book. Raney is a delightful character. She is a true southern. I was sorta lost on the last page because I felt like I needed more.

It was interesting reading the other reviews, in that the general focus is on life in the South or Raney's fundamental Christianity. I loved this book (listened to it on audio cassette) but I thought the essence of it was communication in marriage. How marriage takes two people from different backgrounds, both of whom believe to the core that their way of viewing the world is right and how they try to learn to find commonalities and listen to the other. If only every couple would do as Raney and Charles did and see a "psychiatric" when the differences become clear, we would have fewer divorces. I grew very fond of both of the main characters and I think their baby is very lucky.

The author Clyde Edgerton is a phenomenal writer.