Lookaway, Lookaway!, a novel by English professor Wilton Barnhardt, hit book stores nationwide Tuesday, offering readers an irreverent look at the history and culture of the South.
Set in Charlotte, the book tells the story of aristocrats Jerene Jarvis Johnston and her husband Duke. As Jerene supervises her family’s col lection of paintings at the Mint Museum, Duke, whose political career appeared so promising in his college years, settles instead into a life as a Civil War re-enactor.
Coinciding with a subplot involving Jerene’s brother Gaston, a historical novel ist, and their withdrawn sis ter, Dillard, The New York Times bestselling Alice Se bold called Lookaway, Loo kaway! “a wild romp through the South, and therefore the history of our nation, written by an absolute ringmaster of fiction.”
Barnhardt’s career as a critically acclaimed novelist began in 1989 with the publi cation of his first book, Emma Who Saved My Life. His other two were Gospel, published in 1993, and Show World, published in 1999.
Barnhardt said that his experience in the classroom was particularly influential when beginning Lookaway, Lookaway!
“I got interested in the last few years with some of my students with their piercings and pink hair and tattoos,” Barnhardt said. “Then there were others going to be debu tantes, in secret societies, rich people in country clubs. It in trigued me to see how the old South still exists within the new South.”
When creating these char acters, Barnhardt said that it was a learning experience for him, as his background was nothing like that of the novel’s protagonists.
“I’m not from that class,” he said. “I’m middle class. My father’s a State alumnus, and I grew up in the area. Studying this particular so ciety was fascinating to me. I went to the debutante ball as a tourist, outside looking in the window as a means of observing the people there.”
Barnhardt’s novels are very different from one another– which isn’t always a formula for commercial success.
“It’s very depressing for my publisher,” he said. “I did a coming-of-age story for my first book, and now this one’s a Southern family saga. I never use the same equation twice, partly because I’m try ing to entertain myself.”
Barnhardt’s colleague John Kessel, also an N.C. State English professor and pub lished novelist, was enthusi astic about the work.
“Wilton’s been working on Lookaway, Lookaway! for a long time, but it’s been worth the wait,” Kessel said. “It’s a wonderful mix of comedy, satire and serious literary fiction, a sly, affectionate dissection of North Carolina and the modern South. And it’s a page turner. Readers from NCSU will enjoy the first chapter’s demolition of sorority rush at UNC-Chapel Hill.”
Barnhardt said that the book should appeal to both N.C. State students and North Carolinians in general.
“Given its premise and source of inspiration, I think people from all over North Carolina will find it enjoy able,” Barnhardt said. “People who don’t care for Chapel Hill very much will also like it, as my first chapter is my love letter to UNC. I’ve also talked to people who are Northern ers who are fascinated by it. The contemporary South is a really intriguing subject, as it is still very different from the rest of the country.”
Lookaway, Lookaway! is available at local bookstores and online. More informa tion about the novel and other works by Barnhardt that are available for purchase can be found at his website, www.wiltonbarnhardt.com.
