|
|
| |
T A P S
F O R P R I V A T E T U S S I E
E. P. Dutton & Co., New York City,
New York, 1943. 303 pp.
With illustration by Thomas Benton
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Taps for Private Tussie remains
Jesse Stuart’s most well-known novel.
Soldier Kim Tussie’s death brings his
widow, Vittie, $10,000 in insurance
money. Innocent young Sid Tussie
describes what happens when a poor
mountain clan comes into sudden wealth
and their antics become a tale of high comedy, as
forty-six Tussies pack themselves into
their new “mansion” and proceed to live
the good life—until something
unexpected ended it
all.
The novel was selected as the Book of Month
Club choice for Christmas in 1943. It sold one million copies by 1944 and
eventually over 2 million copies were
sold . The novel also received critical
claim and won the Thomas Jefferson
Southern Award for the best Southern
Book of the Year for 1943. In February 1944 MGM bought the movie
rights for $500,000. Hollywood was a
buzz with the names of stars, such as
Robert Walker, Walter Brennen, Frank
Sinatra, Clark Gable, and Barbara
Stanwyck, all seeking roles in what could be
a block-buster comedy, but the
production eventually collapsed after
the U.S. Army criticized its portrayal
in the book! The book was issued in
Great Britain in 1946 under the title,
He'll Be Coming Down the Mountain.
John Wilson Townsend, a Kentucky writer
and dear friend of Jesse, was was born
1885 and died in 1968.
|
|
RETURN
|
|
