Ferrol Sams' "Run With the Horsemen" Trilogy (Best Book Recommendations)

Ferrol Sams' "Run With the Horsemen" Trilogy

a list by Peter Steinberg, avid reader

This trilogy is little known but much beloved by anyone who reads it. It was recommended to me by a close friend and I've since recommended it to several friends. Every one of us ends up absolutely loving the books. To be fair, the first book starts out a little slow. But once you get about 50 pages in you won't stop until you're done.

Oh, what's it about? A very smart boy growing up in poor, rural Georgia during the Great Depression. Beyond that, I want you to discover it for yourself. :)

onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/Run_with_the_Horsemen');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140072748'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/Run_with_the_Horsemen');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140072748'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams Amazon says: A boy's account of growing up through the rituals of life on an ancestral farm in middle Georgia between the big wars. It is a rueful, humorous story of the people in one rural county, but the telling cuts so deep it breaks through to the universal. Reminiscent of "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Tom Sawyer," and "The Catcher in the Rye," "Run With the Horsemen" is the powerfully moving and delightfully endearing story of Porter Osborne Jr.'s journey to adulthood. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/Run_with_the_Horsemen');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140072748'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/Run_with_the_Horsemen');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140072748'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 432 page paperback \|$10.20 \|35 reviews This book also appears on: Books About Simpler Times Mary Bentley Houk's Favorite Books Peter Steinberg's Favorite Novels


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/The_Whisper_of_the_River');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140083871'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/The_Whisper_of_the_River');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140083871'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">The Whisper of the River by Ferrol Sams Amazon says: In this sequel to "Run With the Horsemen," the redoubtable Porter Osborne, Jr., a little older and slightly more worldly, leaves the dusty security of his rural Georgia home for college. The year is 1938, but the story is timeless. Porter leaves the dusty security of his rural Georgia home -- armed with the self-assurance of having been "Raised Right" -- and goes off to Willingham University. Neither Porter nor the university will ever be the same again. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/The_Whisper_of_the_River');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140083871'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/The_Whisper_of_the_River');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140083871'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 544 page paperback \|$10.88 \|20 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/When_All_the_World_Was_Young');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140172270'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/When_All_the_World_Was_Young');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140172270'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">When All the World Was Young by Ferrol Sams Amazon readers say: "Pure reading pleasure." "A wonderful, wonderful book." "Unforgettable." "An incredible book that rings with warmth, humor & honesty." onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/When_All_the_World_Was_Young');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140172270'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow">more on Amazon onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/Ferrol_Sams_Run_With_the_Horsemen_Trilogy/When_All_the_World_Was_Young');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0140172270'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;" rel="nofollow"> 624 page paperback \|$10.88 \|22 reviews

If you've read this far, I should let you know that in my opinion, the 3rd book is not quite as... compelling as the first two.

It's not that it's not well written. On it's own, it's a truly excellent book. But when compared to the first two, it falls just a wee bit short. Why? It's not that the quality of the writing declines -- I think it's because the subject matter changes and with it, the tone.