Summary and Review of Works
By: Josh Mason, Freshman Student at Eastern Illinois University
e-mail: faceinthemud@hotmail.com

In-Country.

   In this book by Bobbie Ann Mason, a young girl named Sam Hughes struggles in life to find out about her father, and the history of the Vietnam War.  Through the book the reader finds out that Sam is not an ordinary teen.  She is faced with the responsibility of taking care of her uncle who suffers from Flashbacks, and dealing with a boyfriend she doesn't really care for anymore.  She's faced with the everyday choices that a teen has to make, like what to do with her life.  In the end she has to make some extremely tough choices. The end was stunning.  I think that this was one of Bobbie Ann Mason's best works.
 

   Shiloh, and Other Stories.

    This famous collection of short stories launched Bobbie Ann Mason's career.  It won her the "Pen/Hemingway Award" for fiction, and was a finalist for the "National Book Critics Circle Award", the " American Book Award", and the "Pen/Faulkner Award.
    Her characters for this collection of stories are for the most part backwoods Kentukians.  They are so vividly portrayed that we feel as readers that we know everything about them.  Every story offered is rich with details.  This literature gives the reader a glimpse into the little pleasure and pains of everyday life for every character presented.  This book truly shows that Bobbie Ann Mason is a great writer.  She's able to concentrate our attention on a few miles of back country, while capturing our imagination and hearts.  This book is a must own for any literature fan.
 

Spence + Lila

    This book is one of Bobbie Ann Mason's lesser known works.  With that in mind, it still carries the compassionate imagination that falls with her lesser known titles.  Spence + Lila tells the unexpected love story of a couple that has been married for over forty years, and the trials they face when the woman is diagnosed with cancer.  This story outlines the culture shock of a farm couple in a hi-tech medical world.  During the story, Lila's two-week stay in the hospital provides the focus for the ways this couple has loved and cherished each other for over forty years.
    This wasn't Bobbie Ann Mason's best work by any means.  However, anyone doing and in-depth study on this author or anyone who is becoming a hard core Mason fan, should definitely read this book.