County Highway Reading Tour: Lee Clay Johnson, David Gates, Gary Fisketjon

• This event will take place at street level.
• If possible, events are livestreamed. Check out our store YouTube channel for livestream updates.
• ASL interpretation may be provided (based on the availability of interpreters) but must be requested at least 2 weeks in advance of the event.
• Please email us at [email protected] as soon as possible if you require ASL interpretation, guaranteed seating, or other accommodations. Seats are limited.
  We will do our best to serve your needs!

Freshly unemployed in Kentucky, Winston Alcorn hauls his wife and two young sons deep into Tennessee, not in pursuit of a job, but of his rightful historic destiny.

Thus begins a generational saga of mendacious transformations: Winston fi rst becomes the owner of the mill where he intentionally cut off his own hand; then “Wins-a-ton,” a showboat auctioneer enshrouded by Confederate myth, endless bluster, and greedy megalomania that soon turns his bloodline into a noose. One son follows in his footsteps and the other battles his shambolic legacy in hopes of a decent life as their father continues to rampage—and their long-suff ering mother lies in wait.

Meanwhile, Miss Becka, the aging mill owner deposed by Winston, buries her father and fi nds herself the last in her bloodline. She now works at the post offi ce and tends bar, disgusted by the ongoing spectacle of her brutish antagonist—who’s gradually parlayed his carnival-barker persona into that of a Dixie-fi rst politician promising to make this tattered corner of the South great again. Miss Becka basks in the remains of her countryside’s riverine beauty and plots for an altogether diff erent future while counseling a young woman who becomes entangled with both of the Alcorn sons. And at long last, the women defi led by Winston begin clawing back what he stole away.

Mesmerizing and darkly comic, Bloodline is an exploration of masculinity run amuck, of femininity’s strength and resolve, of the burdens of heritage and history. This novel is Lee Clay Johnson working at the height of his lyrical powers—a bravura performance.

Lee Clay Johnson was born and raised around Nashville, Tennessee, in a family of bluegrass musicians. He was kicked out of high school on the first day of class, and soon thereafter began touring the country as a bass player in various bands. He attended Tennessee State University, then transferred up north to Bennington College, where he studied with free jazz pioneer Milford Graves and became the first person in his family to earn a college degree. He received an MFA from the University of Virginia, under the guidance of Deborah Eisenberg and others, and went on to publish his first novel, Nitro Mountain (Knopf ’16) which won the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in County Highway, The Southampton Review, Ploughshares, Lit Hub, Oxford American, The Common, Appalachian Heritage, Salamander, Mississippi Review, and more. He served as a fellow at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Right now, he lives in Providence, Rhode Island, with his wife, the writer Sasha Wiseman, and teaches at St. Joseph’s University, New York, where he directs the Brooklyn Writers Foundry Low-Residency MFA program. Bloodline is his second novel.

David Gates is the author of two novels Jernigan and Preston Falls, and two collections of stories, The Wonders of the Invisible World and A Hand Reached Down to Guide Me. He teaches at St. Joseph’s University and lives in Vermont.

Gary Fisketjon is the literary editor for County Highway and its publishing imprint Panamerica Books. Previously, he worked at Random House, Vintage Books, and the Atlantic Monthly Press until 1990 when he joined Alfred A. Knopf, where he became Vice President and Editor at Large until 2019. He was the creator of the Vintage Contemporaries line of books at Random House. He’s edited a long list of literary greats including Cormac McCarthy, Haruki Murakami, Denis Johnson, Raymond Carver, and dozens more.

County Highway is a bi-monthly periodical featuring reports about America from its hollers to its cities in the vein of Didion and Wolfe, orbiting such topics as agriculture, civil liberties, animals, herbal medicine, and living off-the-grid (mentally and physically); essays about literature and art, and an entire section devoted to music. describes it as “reinventing the art of reading slowly.” In the , the features were recognized as “jam-packed and splayed across 20 large, inky pages [that] traverse the geography, political ideologies and history of America.” And according to, its stockist list “reads like the itinerary of a whistle-stop tour from when presidents had mustaches.”

Brookline Booksmith, thriving in the heart of Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Massachusetts, since 1961, is one of New England’s premier independent bookstores. We offer a vast selection of books, ranging from current bestsellers to the most eclectic titles. We are also known for our beautiful and inspired gifts. Customers buy and sell gently used books in our treasured Used Book Cellar and enjoy our bountiful bargain book selection. We host award-winning events series (including our groundbreaking Transnational Literature Series), offering more than 300 author talks, community conversations, and book clubs annually. Find more at brooklinebooksmith.com!

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