Synopsis "Nightmare: A Po White Trash Novel"
Jake lives with his wife, Sally, and three small kids in East Texas during the Great Depression. They are poor white trash, but Jake does whatever it takes to provide for his family. They eat squirrels, rabbits, and lots of cornbread. The kids walk three miles to school where they must contend with the stuck-up kids who are better off than they are. Sally sits around reading detective and romance magazines. The two boys, Clarence and Jimmy, are typical boys--getting into fights, shooting out windows, and other mischief. Jake's 10 year-old daughter, Mildred, is a very intelligent girl who suffers from nightmares--nightmares about large purple cats, cows, and snakes crawling on the wall. Nightmare is an interesting look at what was probably a more-or-less typical share-cropper poor white trash family in 1937 East Texas. Muriel Miller Anderson was 10 years old herself in 1937--she grew up in a family of itinerant workers who traveled to Texas and California, following the crops. Nightmare is written from the perspective of someone who actually grew up during the Depression and personally experienced the people, mores, and desperation of the characters in this interesting novel. The last chapter is subtle and should be read several times to ensure the reader catches all of the nuances Muriel so subtly encloses.
