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==Life==
==Life==
Perdue was born in Chile to American parents and brought up in [[Anniston, Alabama|Anniston]], Alabama. He married his wife Judy, a fellow student at [[Antioch College]] when he was 18. He worked as a university library administrator before retiring to the South in 1982 to pursue a career as a full-time writer.<ref name="knipfel">{{Cite web|last=Knipfel|first=Jim|authorlink=Jim Knipfel|date=2001-06-12|url=http://www.nypress.com/tito-perdue-americas-lost-literary-genius/|title=Tito Perdue: America's Lost Literary Genius|work=[[New York Press]]|accessdate=2018-06-23}}</ref><ref>[[Robert Stacy McCain|R. Stacy McCain]], [https://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2009/04/tito-perdue-literary-genius.html "Tito Perdue, Literary Genius," ''The Other McCain'' (17 April 2009)].</ref>
Perdue was born in Chile to American parents and brought up in [[Anniston, Alabama|Anniston]], Alabama. He married his wife Judy, a fellow student at [[Antioch College]] when he was 18. He worked as a university library administrator before retiring to the South in 1982 to pursue a career as a full-time writer.<ref name="knipfel">{{Cite web|last=Knipfel|first=Jim|authorlink=Jim Knipfel|date=2001-06-12|url=http://www.nypress.com/tito-perdue-americas-lost-literary-genius/|title=Tito Perdue: America's Lost Literary Genius|work=[[New York Press]]|accessdate=2018-06-23}}</ref><ref>[[Robert Stacy McCain|R. Stacy McCain]], [https://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2009/04/tito-perdue-literary-genius.html "Tito Perdue, Literary Genius,"]''The Other McCain'' (17 April 2009). Retrieved 9 September 2024.</ref>


==Work==
==Work==
Many of Perdue's novels chronicle the life of Leland "Lee" Pefley, an alter ego who, Perdue explains, "actually carries out actions that his creator would often wish to perform if he but had the courage."<ref>[[Derek Turner (journalist)|Derek Turner]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20090530164952/https:/www.quarterly-review.org/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/perdue.pdf "A Visionary Reactionary,"] ''[[Quarterly Review|The Quarterly Review]]'' (spring 2008), p. 4. Retrieved 9 September 2024.</ref> In order, these are ''The Smut Book'' (Pefley aged 11), ''Morning Crafts'' (aged 13), ''The Sweet-Scented Manuscript'' (at college), ''The New Austerities'' (aged 42), ''Journey to a Location'' (aged 70), ''Materials for All Future Historians'' (aged 71), ''[[Lee (novel)|Lee]]'' (aged 72) and ''Fields of Asphodel'' (in the afterlife).<ref>[[Alex Kurtagić]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20111108033005/https:/www.alternativeright.com/main/blogs/untimely-observations/a-reactionary-snob/ "A Reactionary Snob,"] ''Alternative Right'' (3 November 2011). Retrieved 9 September 2024.</ref> An aged Pefley also features prominently in the first half of ''Reuben''.<ref>Mike C. Tuggle, [https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/starry-eyed-varlet/ "Starry-Eyed Varlet,"] abbevilleinstitute.org (9 May 2014). Retrieved 9 September 2024.</ref> The lives of Lee's forebears are chronicled in ''Opportunities in Alabama Agriculture'' and the four-volume ''William’s House'', for which Perdue drew on records of his own family history.<ref name="knipfel" />
Perdue's ''Sweet-Scented Manuscript'' was completed within a year of his "retirement," but was not published until 2004 when it was issued by Baskerville Press. The novel is a love story that attempts to convey the impressions and yearnings of an 18-year-old boy, Leland Pefley, in his first exploration of the world; the novel is largely autobiographical. Perdue's next novel and his first published, ''[[Lee (novel)|Lee]]'', was about the same Leland Pefley, now an old man, bitter, hostile, angry at a world that no longer recognized the values and culture of the 1950s. He spewed venom at those who, surrounded by beauty, culture and literature, didn't bother to avail themselves of it. Other works include ''The Node'', ''Fields of Asphodel'' and ''The New Austerities'', which depicts Lee Pefley's flight from New York City back to his ancestral home in Alabama. That same year, Baskerville Press published Perdue's ''Opportunities in Alabama Agriculture'', a strange fictional account of an Alabama man, [[school teacher]], [[Rural Letter Carrier|rural route mail carrier]], and farmer.<ref name="knipfel" />


In the pages of ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' it was said Perdue "writes convincingly and iconoclastically… a marvelous black comedy that is sometimes as astringent as John Yount's ''Toots in Solitude''…"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tito-perdue/lee/|title=''Lee'' by Tito Perdue|work=[[Kirkus Reviews]]|date=June 15, 1991|accessdate=October 18, 2016}}</ref>
In the pages of ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' it was said Perdue "writes convincingly and iconoclastically… a marvelous black comedy that is sometimes as astringent as John Yount's ''Toots in Solitude''…"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tito-perdue/lee/|title=''Lee'' by Tito Perdue|work=[[Kirkus Reviews]]|date=June 15, 1991|accessdate=October 18, 2016}}</ref>

Revision as of 10:39, 9 September 2024

Tito Perdue
Born1938 (age 85–86)
Sewell, Chile
OccupationNovelist
NationalityAmerican
Website
titoperdue.com

Tito Perdue (born 1938) is an American novelist. His works include his 1991 debut novel Lee.

Life

Perdue was born in Chile to American parents and brought up in Anniston, Alabama. He married his wife Judy, a fellow student at Antioch College when he was 18. He worked as a university library administrator before retiring to the South in 1982 to pursue a career as a full-time writer.[1][2]

Work

Many of Perdue's novels chronicle the life of Leland "Lee" Pefley, an alter ego who, Perdue explains, "actually carries out actions that his creator would often wish to perform if he but had the courage."[3] In order, these are The Smut Book (Pefley aged 11), Morning Crafts (aged 13), The Sweet-Scented Manuscript (at college), The New Austerities (aged 42), Journey to a Location (aged 70), Materials for All Future Historians (aged 71), Lee (aged 72) and Fields of Asphodel (in the afterlife).[4] An aged Pefley also features prominently in the first half of Reuben.[5] The lives of Lee's forebears are chronicled in Opportunities in Alabama Agriculture and the four-volume William’s House, for which Perdue drew on records of his own family history.[1]

In the pages of Kirkus Reviews it was said Perdue "writes convincingly and iconoclastically… a marvelous black comedy that is sometimes as astringent as John Yount's Toots in Solitude…"[6]

Lee is discussed in Bill Kauffman's Bye Bye, Miss American Empire (2010).[7]

Political opinions

Perdue is a member of the League of the South.[1]

Publications

  • Lee, Four Walls Eight Windows, 1991; repr. Overlook Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-58567-872-3.
  • The New Austerities, Peachtree Press, 1994. ISBN 978-1-56145-086-2.
  • Opportunities in Alabama Agriculture, Baskerville Press, 1994. ISBN 978-1-880909-24-9.
  • The Sweet-Scented Manuscript, Baskerville Press, 2004. ISBN 978-1-880909-68-3.
  • Fields of Asphodel, Overlook Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-58567-871-6.
  • The Node, Nine-Banded Books, 2011. ISBN 978-1-61658-351-4.
  • Morning Crafts, Arktos, 2013. ISBN 978-1-907166-57-0.
  • Reuben, Washington Summit, 2014; Standard American, 2022. ISBN 9781593680237
  • The Builder: William's House I, Arktos, 2015. ISBN 9781910524343
  • The Churl: William's House II, Arktos, 2015. ISBN 9781910524336
  • The Engineer: William's House III, Arktos, 2016. ISBN 9781910524954
  • The Bachelor: William's House IV, Arktos, 2016. ISBN 9781910524381
  • Cynosura, Counter-Currents, 2016. ISBN 9781940933863
  • The Philatelist, Counter-Currents, 2017. ISBN 9781940933986
  • Philip, Arktos, 2017. ISBN 9781912079889
  • The Bent Pyramid, Arktos, 2018. ISBN 9781912079858
  • Though We Be Dead, Yet Our Day Shall Come, Counter-Currents, 2018. ISBN 9781940933894
  • The Gizmo, Counter-Currents, 2019. ISBN 9781642641202
  • The Smut Book, Counter-Currents, 2020. ISBN 9781642641424
  • Love Song of the Australopiths, Standard American, 2020. ISBN 9781642641462
  • Materials for All Future Historians, Standard American, 2020. ISBN 9781642641639
  • Journey to a Location, Arktos, 2021. ISBN 9781914208263
  • Vade Mecum, Standard American, 2021. ISBN 9781642641837


References

  1. ^ a b c Knipfel, Jim (June 12, 2001). "Tito Perdue: America's Lost Literary Genius". New York Press. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  2. ^ R. Stacy McCain, "Tito Perdue, Literary Genius,"The Other McCain (17 April 2009). Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  3. ^ Derek Turner, "A Visionary Reactionary," The Quarterly Review (spring 2008), p. 4. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  4. ^ Alex Kurtagić, "A Reactionary Snob," Alternative Right (3 November 2011). Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  5. ^ Mike C. Tuggle, "Starry-Eyed Varlet," abbevilleinstitute.org (9 May 2014). Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Lee by Tito Perdue". Kirkus Reviews. June 15, 1991. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  7. ^ Kauffman, Bill. Bye Bye, Miss American Empire: Neighborhood Patriots, Backcountry Rebels, and Their Underdog Crusades to Redraw America's Political Map (White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green), p. 188.
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