Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories

Fiction. Like Sherwood Anderson’s ‘Winesburg, Ohio’ or Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories, both of which it resembles in form and style, ‘Kinfolks’ is a short-story cycle dramatizing the growth of a young boy to early manhood, particularly as his development is reflected in changing relationships within a large Appalachian family. Like that of his mentors, Norman’s work is novelistic in scope while preserving in the individual episodes the essential qualities of the short story. This new work can only enhance his reputation by suggesting that Norman may be the outstanding Appalachian storyteller of his generation -The Courier-Journal.