In search of old values and eternal truths, a suburban family of four experiments with the simple life on a farm and encounters unexpected responsibilities and problems

A Buzzard Is My Best Friend

Literature & Fiction

Barnes, Margaret Anne

Essays & Correspondence

Macmillan Pub. Co.

The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama

History

Americas

Mercer Univ Pr

"The roads that stretch out from Washington DC reach into a gently rolling countryside of fertile fields, rushing streams, and majestic trees. The pastoral setting tugs at long-buried instincts and beckons the suburban dweller to abandon car pools, garden parties, and school committees for the country life. "In A Buzzard is My Best Friend, Mrs. Barnes artfully captures the essence of this retreat to the good and simple life, and recounts it well. "The suburban recluse answering the call of the wild is a thing to behold, an optimist run amuck, just a plain god-awful sight. There was humor. There was despair. There were times good and bad. But above all else there was an unending succession of challenges. There is another, deeper, level to A Buzzard is My Best Friend that goes beyond the simple telling of stories. Mrs. Barnes reaches out and grasps the essence of the human spirit. She explores the drives that push people beyond their own expectations and enable them to deal with adversity."—Gary Shultz, Dallas Times Herald "Margaret Anne Barnes' A Buzzard is My Best Friend is quite simply one of the warmest, most delightful books I have ever read. A remarkable writer gives us no only the gift of her language, but also the gift of her humor, insight, and spirit as she leads her family into the adventures—and misadventures—of the American farm. Read it and rejoice."—Terry Kay, author of To Dance with the White Dog "This is a marvelous account of how a working farm tried to destroy Margaret Anne Barnes and her nice suburban family. As valorous as the Swiss Family Robinson, our heroine and her gang withstand the rude, rural assaults and survive—with the help of a buzzard."—William A. Emerson, Jr., former editor of The Saturday Evening Post "From Washington suburbia to a 112 acre farm in Virginia is a considerable leap in time and space. The Barnes family made the transition with flags flying. Barnes tells about crises small and large, triumphs and tragedies, country people and visitors from the city. Readers of any age who love animals will enjoy her story."—Publishers' Weekly "This warm and funny novel was a great pleasure to read. It has all the makings not only for a popular book but also for a TV pilot and long-running TV series... a combination of the warmth of The Waltons and the sharp, humorous edge of M*A*S*H."—Joe Beck, attorney, Adjunct Professor of Copyright Law, Emory University Law School "This is a well-written tale of a family whose lives were changed and enriched by the farm experience. Recommended for public libraries."—Library Journal

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

This best-seller is now available for the first time in paper. In the first chronological and gripping narrative of the events that crippled Phenix City, Alabama, Margaret Anne Barnes tells the true story of how economic hard times in the Depression led a mayor to barter immunity from prosecution to gamblers and gangsters in exchange for money to save the town from going into receivership. By mid-century, the criminal element managed to buy or infiltrate every office of government in the city. When their control was absolute, no crime was beyond their commission, no citizen safe, and no constitutional right could be relied upon.

The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City Alabama

Mercer University Press

Murder in Coweta County received the coveted Edgar Allan Poe Special Award as an outstanding fact-crime study by the Mystery Writers of America and has been used in sociology and criminal law courses at schools and universities throughout the United States. Filmed as a CBS television movie starring Johnny Cash and Andy Griffith in 1983, the story gained even more acclaim and is still available on video and DVD.

Murder in Coweta County

True Crime

Reader's Digest Press : distributed by T. Y. Crowell

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Books by Barnes, Margaret Anne