''Lee'' is a 1991 novel by the American writer

Tito Perdue Tito Perdue (born 1938) is an American writer. His works include his 1991 debut novel '' Lee''. Life Perdue was born in Chile to American parents. He was brought up in Anniston, Alabama. He married his wife Judy when he was 18. He has degre ...

. It tells the story of an angry and well-read septuagenarian, Leland "Lee" Pefley, who returns to his hometown in Alabama after many years in the North.

Publication

The book was published on August 15, 1991 by

Four Walls Eight Windows Four Walls Eight Windows was an American independent book publisher in New York City. Known as 4W8W or Four Walls, the company was notable for its dual commitment to progressive politics and adventurous, edgy literary fiction. History Four W ...

. It was reissued in paperback in 2007, to coincide with the publication of ''Fields of Asphodel''.

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' wrote: "Steeped in

Greek classics Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are ...

, spouting cultured allusions to such subjects as Persian painting and

Dostoyevski Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

, Lee fancies himself a chastiser of humanity, satirist of the

New South New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a slogan in the history of the American South first used after the American Civil War. Reformers used it to call for a modernization of society and attitudes, to integrate more fully with the ...

, a self-ordained

Nietzschean Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) developed his philosophy during the late 19th century. He owed the awakening of his philosophical interest to reading Arthur Schopenhauer's ''Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung'' (''The World as Will and Repres ...

prophet of the crumbling of the West. ... A solipsistic little parable of spiritual self-delusion, the novel starts out interestingly but sinks under the weight of its own pretensions." ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' found that Perdue "writes convincingly and iconoclastically about a misanthrope who is frightening in his complete contempt for anyone who has not 'held on to their soul.'" The citic continued: "While Lee's critique of modernity seems to be deadly serious, Perdue offers a marvelous black comedy that is sometimes as astringent as John Yount's ''Toots in Solitude''. A promising debut."

Jim Knipfel Jim Knipfel (pronounced Kah-nipfel; born June 2, 1965) is an American novelist, autobiographer, and journalist. A native of Wisconsin, Knipfel, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, is the author of three memoirs, ''Slackjaw'', ''Quitting the ...

wrote in ''

New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hento ...

'' in 2001 that reading ''Lee'' when it came out "hooked imfor good" on Perdue and made Perdue one of his favorite authors.

Series

The main character and his relatives appear in a number of the author's other books. These include ''The New Austerities'' (1994), which depicts Lee in his middle age working for an insurance company, ''Opportunities in Alabama Agriculture'' (1994), which is about his grandfather, ''The Sweet-Scented Manuscript'' (2004), about Lee's college days, and ''Fields of Asphodel'' (2007), which is about Lee in the afterlife.

References

{{Reflist 1991 American novels Novels set in Alabama 1991 debut novels