The Beans of Egypt, Maine introduced the world to the notorious, unforgettable Bean clan of small town Egypt, Mainefrom wild man Reuben, an alcoholic who can t seem to keep himself out of jail; to his cousins, the perpetually pregnant Roberta, and Beal, a man gentle by temperament but violent in defeat who marries his pious neighbor, Earlene Pomerleau before poverty kills him. Through her story of the Beans s struggle with their inner demons to survive against hardship and societal ignorance, Chute emerged as a writer of immense humanity and unparalleled insight into a world most of us...

Carolyn Chute s newest paperback returns to her beloved town of Egypt, Maine and delivers a rousing, politically charged portrait of those living on the margins of our society.
"The School on Heart s Content Road" begins with Mickey Gammon, a fifteen-year-old dropout who has been evicted from home and seeks shelter in the Settlement—a rural cooperative in alternative energy, farm produce, and local goods, founded by the Prophet. Falsely demonized by the media as a compound of sin, the Settlement s true nature remains foreign to outsiders. There, Mickey meets another deserted child,...