Death in the Family, A

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | 677 words | Copyright

Death in the Family, A, quasi‐autobiographical novel by James Agee, left incomplete at his death, pieced together by others and published in 1957. It received a Pulitzer Prize. A play by Tad Mosel, All The Way Home, was based on the novel. Produced in 1960, published in 1961, it also won a Pulitzer Prize.

The intimacies of the life of Jay Follet in Knoxville, Tenn., are interrupted when he has to visit his ailing father and they come to an end when he is killed in an auto accident. His wife Mary, his four‐year‐old daughter Catherine, and especially his six‐year‐old son Rufus grapple with the meaning of death, of faith, and of maturity.

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Death in the Family, A." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Death in the Family, A." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-DeathintheFamilyA.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Death in the Family, A." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-DeathintheFamilyA.html

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