Down Town by Ferrol Sams

There are many great American storytellers, but the narrator of Down Town, James Aloysius “Buster” Holcombe, Jr., is one you won’t soon forget. Buster Holcombe begins his tale immediately after the Civil War, as the patriarchs of his small Georgia town sow seeds that will sprout for more than a century. Generation after generation, we are introduced to the men and women of “our town” and all their delightful strengths and weaknesses.

Through the characters of “our town,” I gained new perspectives on the historical events that have shaped our country since 1865—Reconstruction, the first World War, the Depression, World War II, racial integration, land speculation, and economic boom.

Sams’s eye for what is real among the myths, what's humorous among the ruins, and what’s human in us all is pitch-perfect. Sams is a physician, humorist, storyteller, and best-selling novelist. His works are rooted in the oral traditions of Southern humor and folklore.