I Will Not Leave You Comfortless - Paperback

by Jeremy Jackson (Author)

I Will Not Leave You Comfortless is the intimate memoir of a boy's growing up in small-town Missouri, from a writer "known for beautifully expressive and strikingly lucid prose" (Thisbe Nissen)

In 1984, the eleventh year of his life, Jeremy Jackson experiences his first love, the loss of his grandmother, and his sister's departure for college--seemingly ordinary events that erode his innocence in a way that will never be fully repaired. Through tenderhearted, steadfast prose--redolent of the glories of outdoor life on the family farm--Jackson recalls the deeply sensual wonders of his rural Midwestern childhood: thunderstorms roaring off the prairie, fresh milk in bottles, bicycle rides in September sunlight, and the horizon vanishing behind tall grasses. At once elegiac and startlingly direct, these fluid and powerful missives evoke the pain and beauty that mingle within even a happy childhood.

With storytelling informed by a profound sense of place and an emotional memory startlingly vivid, readers young and old will be transported and transformed by this coming-of-age tale.

Front Jacket

"One of the most daring and affecting memoirs I've read." --Kevin Brockmeier

"Like walking through the pastures of your childhood and discovering they were bigger, not smaller, than you recall." --Leif Enger

"Jackson writes about Missouri as the young Hemingway wrote about Michigan: with a clear eye, with hard-edged nostalgia, and (here's the thing) with brilliance." --Darin Strauss

THE ELEVENTH YEAR OF LIFE brings Jeremy Jackson his first love, the loss of his grandmother, and his sister's departure for college--seemingly ordinary events that erode his innocence in a way that will never be fully repaired.

In tenderhearted, steadfast prose, he recalls the pastoral wonders of his rural childhood: thunderstorms roaring of the prairie, fresh milk in bottles, bicycle rides in September sunlight, and the horizon vanishing behind tall grasses. At once elegiac and startlingly direct, these fluid and powerful missives evoke the pain and beauty of childhood.

With storytelling informed by a profound sense of place and an emotional memory startlingly vivid, readers young and old will be transported and transformed by this coming-of-age tale.

JEREMY JACKSON is the author of the novels Life at These Speeds and In Summer, as well as three cookbooks, including The Cornbread Book, which was nominated for a James Beard Award. He has also written novels for teenagers under the name Alex Bradley. He lives in Iowa.

Reading Group Guide included
Cover design by Christian Fuenfhausen
Cover photos (c) Shutterstock

Author Biography

Jeremy Jackson is the author of two novels, "Life at These Speeds," a B&N Discover pick, and "In Summer," a Booksense Recommends selection. A graduate of Vassar College and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he lives in Iowa City. Jackson is also the author of young adult novels under the name of Alex Bradley, and cookbooks including, "The Cornbread Book," which was nominated for a James Beard Award. He writes about food for the "Chicago Tribune" and the "Washington Post."