The Watermelon King

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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003 - Fiction - 226 pages
An endearing, often outrageous blend of fable, tall tale, and page-turner, The Watermelon King brings readers to Ashland, Alabama -- the fictional town immortalized in Daniel Wallace's Big Fish -- whose reputation is based on the long-ago abundance of watermelons. Thomas Rider knows almost nothing about his parents, only that his mother died the day he was born in Ashland. He travels there in search of his past, learning of the town's bizarre history. Gradually with the help of an offbeat, utterly unforgettable cast of characters, Thomas finds himself immersed in a series of events that turns everything he knows upside down. Comic, poignant, and wholly original, The Watermelon King is a magical novel steeped in the power of identity, myth, and good old-fashioned southern storytelling.
 

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About the author (2003)

Daniel Wallace is the author of Big Fish (which was made into a fearture film), The Watermelon King, Ray in Reverse, Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician, and The Kings and Queens of Roam. Wallaces works have been translated into more than 25 languages. Wallace is the J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor of English at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he teaches and directs the Creative Writing Program.

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