Carolyn Chute

“Ms. Chute, who grew up in Cape Elizabeth, Me., dropped out of school at 16 and supported herself and a young daughter by working as a charwoman, driving a school bus and plucking chickens.”

In my fiction writing class last year my professor always stressed the mantra “write what you know.” I think that Carolyn Chute took this saying to heart when she wrote The Beans of Egypt, Maine and that is why the characters come to life with interesting accents, gruff language, and immoral behavior.

This NY Times article “A Writer in a Living Novel” gives some context to Chute’s story (the article is written in November of 2008 right before her book The School on Heart’s Content Road is to be published). Chute’s role as founder and, as she says, “secretary of offense, or offensiveness” of the 2^nd Maine Militia is extremely fitting. Basically, this group meets behind Chute’s home to shoot at cans and discuss what is wrong in the world – it is a nonpartisan economic populist group. The group is very diverse, but each member shares the experience of the government trying to take something away form him.

Look at this interview I found with Chute. I love seeing her in her home. The description of the youtube video is very telling – “ She just doesn’t trust the system – nor want any part of it.”  Her novel definitely makes it clear that her characters have been failed by the system in a way that maybe she has too?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/books/04chut.html?pagewanted=2