Cornbread Chronicles

By: Jerry Barksdale

Narrated by: Troy W. Hudson

Cornbread is a power food. Every southerner knows that the reason our women are beautiful, our boys good football players and our people highly intelligent is because we eat cornbread, not to mention it keeps our hounds fat. If you don't believe it, just look around.

Come on a road trip and share the adventures and misadventures of skillful storyteller Jerry Barksdale. Cornbread Chronicles is more than just extolling the virtues of that revered delicacy. Cornbread becomes a metaphor for a Southern way of life. It is the warm, welcoming arms of a loved one reminding the weary traveler that he need not leave the South to find everything that makes life worth living.

Rich southern dialogue is a natural part of these character-building tales with wry conclusions and life affirming lessons.

©2008 Jerry R. Barksdale (P)2017 Jerry R. Barksdale

What it means to be Southern.

What made the experience of listening to Cornbread Chronicles the most enjoyable?

The stories themselves! Imagine trying to explain to a friend what it means to be Southern. You'll find your answer here in a witty, clever, indeed wise collection of Athens News Courier articles written by Athens, Alabama, lawyer, raconteur, and close observer Jerry Barksdale. His essays are crisp, deliciously biting or home grown, as in old fashioned and thoughtful.
Oh, and you'll also get a grainy sort of truth, too! I figure anyone who admits his "Mama" called him Punk'n as a little boy is all right by me! Did you know mules have ear signals? Never launch into free enterprise with them without knowing what to look for, lest you find yourself slammed by two hoofs! And a mule kicking back "like a grasshopper in flight" is one of those expressions that remain with you. I used to follow my grandma around and marvel at her twists of phrase. You have that in abundance in Jerry Barksdale's tales. His Mama kept a loaded 25-caliber revolver in the nightstand. One night she had to fend off a real attacker! Of course, before she armed herself, being awakened from a dead sleep, she'd hurled said attacker against the fan, causing chaos and turmoil aplenty with a granddaughter and a thoroughly disaffected cat! Things tend to fly in Jerry's stories, including him! His family "scattered like a covey of quails on the rise" when his new horse Silver didn't quite make the jump over the barbed wire. He arced to the other side, however, without Silver.
You'll find family adventures you can identify with, such as the too small Datsun for the too pregnant wife. Or the airport security official who knows better than to confiscate the specially packed Beano! Jerry can be self deprecating, as in the storyteller who came to Athens and met the four eyed shyster lawyer and his partner, onion head. You'll find yourself perhaps too happy reading about the Jack Daniel’s powered weaving car. Or maybe you, too, will want to put up a highway sign heralding, Welcome to Athens, Rat Killing Capital of the World! I know you would after you discover the sheer joy of blasting the rodents with .22s and heavy sticks. Collagen, Gypsy Princes, inflation and yes, a metaphorical cornbread all figure in this eclectic, charming, and truly funny storytelling romp through life in town and countryside.
You'll learn how to smoke flush critters from the ground, how to avoid getting butt-bit by a spider, in fact a host of life saving and threatening advice from a life well lived in Athens and environs.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Cornbread Chronicles?

One of my favorites is Mama telling wandering Jerry not to breathe a word about the whiskey still he stumbled upon in the woods. It took almost 50 years before Mama "pled the 5th Amendment" as to who really owned the still. In the meantime, in the rush of youthful discovery, Jerry feared for his life from "hunting moonshiners".

Have you listened to any of Troy W. Hudson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I have not listened to this narrator before, but his performance ranks near the top of all I have listened to. He allows his Southern roots to reveal themselves in Mama's admonition, "And let that be a lesson to you, young'un. Always practice the Golden Rule and don't ever Lord over folks." His narration is spot on when Punk'n asks his Daddy about going with him to the cotton gin. "Can I go?" Daddy asks "Go where?" "To the gin." "Aww, I dunno, you'll hav'ta ask ya Mama."

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laughing till I cried was the primary reaction but the nostalgia Jerry's writing evokes for gentler, kinder times with family albeit incredibly hard times was a wonderful feeling. And throughout the book, the references to cornbread reminded me of the importance of family and friends eating and sharing together.

Any additional comments?

You'll be energized by Jerry Barksdale's consistently clever and memorable anecdotes and phraseology. He truly captures funny, memorable adventures. They will surely elicit a nostalgic thought of your own life now and then. Your friends will enjoy this, wherever they come from. Like the great novels, you see what life is really like when woven in the hands of a gifted storyteller.

What it means to be Southern.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely! Imagine trying to explain to a friend what it means to be Southern. You'll find your answer here in a witty, clever, indeed wise collection of Athens News Courier articles written by Athens, Alabama, lawyer, raconteur, and close observer Jerry Barksdale. His essays are crisp, deliciously biting or home grown, as in old fashioned and thoughtful. Oh, and you'll also get a grainy sort of truth, too! I figure anyone who admits his "Mama" called him Punk'n as a little boy is all right by me! Did you know mules have ear signals? Never launch into free enterprise with them without knowing what to look for, lest you find yourself slammed by two hoofs! And a mule kicking back "like a grasshopper in flight" is one of those expressions that remain with you. I used to follow my grandma around and marvel at her twists of phrase. You have that in abundance in Jerry Barksdale's tales. His Mama kept a loaded 25-caliber revolver in the nightstand. One night she had to fend off a real attacker! Of course, before she armed herself, being awakened from a dead sleep, she'd hurled said attacker against the fan, causing chaos and turmoil aplenty with a granddaughter and a thoroughly disaffected cat! Things tend to fly in Jerry's stories, including him! His family "scattered like a covey of quails on the rise" when his new horse Silver didn't quite make the jump over the barbed wire. He arced to the other side, however, without Silver. You'll find family adventures you can identify with, such as the too small Datsun for the too pregnant wife. Or the airport security official who knows better than to confiscate the specially packed Beano! Jerry can be self deprecating, as in the storyteller who came to Athens and met the four eyed shyster lawyer and his partner, onion head. You'll find yourself perhaps too happy reading about the Jack Daniel’s powered weaving car. Or maybe you, too, will want to put up a highway sign heralding, Welcome to Athens, Rat Killing Capital of the World! I know you would after you discover the sheer joy of blasting the rodents with .22s and heavy sticks. Collagen, Gypsy Princes, inflation and yes, a metaphorical cornbread all figure in this eclectic, charming, and truly funny storytelling romp through life in town and countryside. You'll learn how to smoke flush critters from the ground, how to avoid getting butt-bit by a spider, in fact a host of life saving and threatening advice from a life well lived in Athens and environs.

What did you like best about this story?

One of my favorites is Mama telling wandering Jerry not to breathe a word about the whiskey still he stumbled upon in the woods.. It took almost 50 years before Mama "pled the 5th Amendment" as to who really owned the still. In the meantime, in the rush of youthful discovery, Jerry feared for his life from "hunting moonshiners".

What about Troy W. Hudson’s performance did you like?

I appreciated the fact that the narrator tapped into his Southern roots as he read Mama's admonition to Punk'n after a youthful learning experience. "And let that be a lesson to you, young'un. Always practice the Golden Rule and don't ever Lord over folks." And in Jerry's story, "A Buck Don't Buy Near the Sin It Used To," he is spot on in his delivery of Punk'n and Daddy's exchange. "Can I go?" "Go where?" "To the gin. "Aww, I dunno, you'll hav'ta ask ya Mama."

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I think Jerry's story titled, "A Buck Don't Buy Near the Sin It Used To" would be a perfect tag line.

Any additional comments?

You'll be energized by Jerry Barksdale's consistently clever and memorable anecdotes and phraseology. He truly captures funny, memorable adventures. They will surely elicit a nostalgic thought of your own life now and then. Your friends will enjoy this, wherever they come from. Like the great novels, you see what life is really like when woven in the hands of a gifted storyteller.