RAYMOND ANDREWS was born in Morgan County, Georgia, in 1934, the fourth of ten children. Leaving Georgia to join the Air Force and then study at Michigan State University, he moved to New York City in 1958 and lived between there and Europe for twenty-seven years before returning to Georgia. Andrews's novels include the Muskhogean County trilogy: Appalachee Red, Rosiebelle Lee Wildcat Tennessee, and Baby Sweet's (all Georgia).

Having settled Momma Rosiebelle (as she is generally known) on her deathbed, Mr. Andrews works his way through the lives of all her offspring—freckled and black, mousy and raffish, proud masters of everything from a mule to a motorcar to a pig that trees possums—as they troop and ramble along diverse routes to her bedside. Mr. Andrews knows just how far to stretch this audience's memory as he spins and weaves his colorful yarns.