In this otherworldly memoir of extraordinary power, Mark Richard, an award-winning author, tells his story of growing up in the American South with a heady Gothic mix of racial tension and religious fervor.

Called a "special child," Southern social code for mentally -- and physically -- challenged children, Richard was crippled by deformed hips and was told he would spend his adult life in a wheelchair. During his early years in charity hospitals, Richard observed the drama of other broken boys' lives, children from impoverished Appalachia, tobacco country lowlands, and Richmond's poorest neighborhoods. The son of a solitary alcoholic father whose hair-trigger temper terrorized his family, and of a mother who sought inner peace through fasting, prayer, and scripture, Richard spent his bedridden childhood withdrawn into the company of books.

As a young man, Richard, defying both his doctors and parents, set out to experience as much of the world as he could -- as a disc jockey, fishing trawler deckhand, house painter, naval correspondent, aerial photographer, private investigator, foreign journalist, bartender and unsuccessful seminarian -- before his hips failed him. While digging irrigation ditches in east Texas, he discovered that a teacher had sent a story of his to the Atlantic, where it was named a winner in the magazine's national fiction contest launching a career much in the mold of Jack London and Mark Twain.

A superbly written and irresistible blend of history, travelogue, and personal reflection, House of Prayer No. 2 is a remarkable portrait of a writer's struggle with his faith, the evolution of his art, and of recognizing one's singularity in the face of painful disability. Written with humor and a poetic force, this memoir is destined to become a modern classic.

• We started tracking this book on February 9, 2011.
• This book was $9.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 99 times in the past 5,389 days.
• The current price of this book is $10.99 last checked 18 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past year.
• The lowest price to date was $4.99 last reached on October 29, 2017.
• This book has been $4.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $14.99 last reached on May 14, 2024.
• This book has been $14.99 one time since we started tracking it.

• TravelUnited StatesRegionsSouthSouth Atlantic

• Publication Date: February 15, 2011
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 226 Pages
• File Size: 24 KB