Dr. Scott Yarbrough, PhD is a professor of English at Charleston Southern University, as well as the host of two literary podcasts, Reading McCarthy & Great American Novel out of Charleston, South Carolina. This episode is dedicated to the hunting novella "The Bear" by America's 20th-century literary master, William Faulkner. After a reading, we begin with Faulkner's biography as Scott describes the major themes within his writing: the southern gothic push back to the over-romanticization of the old south; race & the aftermath of slavery; time & history; and the tension between loving & hating where one comes from. Then we turn to a discussion, synopsis & analysis of "The Bear;" a coming-of-age tale about a boy's hunting camp as they search for a dog powerful enough to bay the mythic bear, Old Ben, that haunts a 100-square miles of Mississippi wilderness that soon will vanish under the logger's ax. Woven throughout are conversations about: the evolution of curse words; writers that hunt; "toxic masculinity;" bear symbolism; the wildness within; Scott's rural upbringing; urbanites appreciating southern literature; and last but not least, William Faulkner's feist dogs!

Reading from Big Woods: The Hunting Stories by William Faulkner. 

Check out Scott's podcasts, Reading McCarthy and Great American Novel Podcast.

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