The Jackson Tippett McCrae Page

By Sam Friedman

Our group just finished reading Jackson McCrae’s latest book and we felt the guy deserved a lengthy commentary.

First, my review of

Barring Some Unforeseen Accident:

Barring Some Unforeseen Accident, the latest novel by McCrae, is as good if not better than his last book, Katzenjammer. I love each of this author’s works and the favorite of ours was The Bark of the Dogwood, but Barring hit a special nerve for me and some others.

I now know of three other book clubs in the area who have taken it on. The writing is much tighter than his previous books, and again he (McCrae) uses an unusual form for the book, though one which smacks of Dogwood: a book within a book. This time it’s a cookbook that several Junior League ladies are slopping together and he’s been asked to oversee the endeavor since he’s a famous Southern author. The women have presumably read his Bark of the Dogwood: A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens, though in reality none of them has.

McCrae puts himself in the novel and the story is told from first person. On his way down South he’s met at a pig farm-turned-air-strip by a sheriff right out of “In the Heat of the Night.” Big cigar, questionable hygiene habits, attitude—you get the picture. While I would love to fill you in on more, I’d give away key parts of the plot and some really funny moments and puns.

At any rate, McCrae meets up with the town’s outcast—a woman with exquisite taste in everything but men as she’s betrothed to the Sheriff. She wants to get into this two-bit Junior League and needs McCrae’s help. He’s met most of the women in the League and can’t stand them. They’re quite an assortment of ladies and one can only hope they’re not based on actual people. If they are, a lot of the world is in trouble.

There are so many examples of misdirection in this novel that you can’t possibly guess where the story is going. In our opinion this is a good thing given the current state of sorry books that pass for literature. I was reminded of Vonnegut at times as McCrae uses absurdism where needed, though he’s more frugal with it than Vonnegut.

The humor is like Woody Allen, only Southern, and the plot is tight. No holes in this story. As with all of the author’s books everything ties together in the end. If for some reason you find yourself asking “Where the heck is this going?” while reading this book, just wait. You’ll get more information than you ever dreamed as it comes crashing down to its final happy-sad conclusion.

Barring Some Unforeseen Accident is a fantastic book, full of humor and razor-sharp insight into how we work as humans. It’s scary how dead-on McCrae’s take is on society, social climbing, racism, discrimination, and the world in general. Themes that the author incorporates include hypocrisy in religion, conflict within the self, and a glaring spotlight on personal foibles.

One can only hope McCrae has more books up his sleeve. Next to Ken Follet, David Sedaris, Truman Capote, Thomas Pynchon, and John Updike, he’s probably our favorite. If you took Woody Allen, William Faulkner, Agatha Christie, Kurt Vonnegut, and Mark Twain, and rolled them all together in a modern-day author, this is the guy you’d have. And you’d have one great funny book—which this is.

Here’s the synopsis, which I’ve copied from the back of the book, along with other information I got off the Internet:

Asked to travel back to the South in order to help out a small-town Junior League with the compilation of their cookbook, author Jackson Tippett McCrae finds that he's bitten off more than he can chew in this tale of odd recipes, social climbing, Southern customs, blackmail, murder, and mayhem. This tasty morsel, from the author of The Bark of the Dogwood--A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens, will keep you flipping the pages in order to find out what each of the ladies of the Junior League are really up to when it comes to the cookbook they're planning. And the way the town's sheriff and his outcast lady-friend figure into the equation only serves to enhance this feast, as they become more than the side dishes they appear to be, spicing up the plot with more than the expected amount of gusto. With the usual twists and turns found in McCrae's books, Barring Some Unforeseen Accident is sure to please even those with the most discriminating taste.

From the Publisher:

The Recipe for a great book?

1 New York writer, originally from the South

5 Junior League women who want to put together a cookbook

1 Cigar-smoking sheriff with a secret

1 Ostracized newcomer with revenge in mind


Mix with a town of three hundred or so, add one annual chili cook-off, and stir well. The result is a deliciously funny, scrumptiously thought-provoking, and disturbingly tasty journey into small-town Southern America. While there won't be any recipes in this collection that you'll actually want to try (we hope), the antics of one small town should keep you turning the pages in this latest novel by Jackson Tippett McCrae.

When author Jackson Tippett McCrae receives a note requesting his help with a Junior League cookbook, he is hesitant to accept the assignment--that is, until he finds out money is involved. What starts out as an innocent back-to-the-South journey quickly turns into fodder for the new novel his publisher is expecting, complete with the usual quirky and sometimes touching characters that McCrae so often creates. In the same vein as his The Bark of the Dogwood: A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens, Jackson McCrae's fourth book is full of murder, blackmail, small-town antics, and insight into the workings (or not) of the human heart and mind. Barring Some Unforeseen Accident is one concoction of spicy fare that you'll definitely want to devour, any time of the year.

About the AuthorJackson Tippett McCrae has worked for various magazines and publishing companies in New York. His other books include The Bark of the Dogwood--A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens, the short story collection The Children's Corner, and his novel Katzenjammer--Soon to be a Major Motion Picture.

Sadly, we no little to nothing about Mr. McCrae as he seems to shy away from the limelight and has stopped giving interviews. Attempts to contact him were futile and we can only hope he’s doing well. If he reads this and would like to contact us, we’d love to have him come visit our way out West.



A list of the author's books:

The Bark of the Dogwood

The Children’s Corner

Katzenjammer: Soon to be a Major Motion Picture

Barring Some Unforeseen Accident


If anyone knows how to contact the author, please let us know! Emails to his publisher have not yielded anything.