Product Description [MP3CD audiobook format in vinyl case.] [Read by Lloyd James] A number-one best-seller when it was first published in 1948, this powerful novel is a compelling vision of nineteenth-century America with timeless resonance today. Throughout a single day in 1892, John Shawnessy recalls the great moments of his life -- from the love affairs of his youth in Indiana, to the battles of the Civil War, to the politics of the Gilded Age, to his homecoming as schoolteacher, husband, and father. Shawnessy is the epitome of the place and period in which he lives, a rural land of springlike women, shady gamblers, wandering vagabonds, and soapbox orators. Yet here on the banks of the Shawmucky River, which weaves its primitive course through Raintree County, Indiana, he also feels and obeys ancient rhythms. Review ''An achievement of art and purpose, a cosmically brooding book full of significance and beauty.'' --New York Times ''[A] candidate for that mythical honor, the Great American Novel, Raintree County displays unflagging industry [and] a...magnificent vitality.'' --Saturday Review''No myth is more imposing than the Great American Novel; but if it is truly unattainable, I believe that Ross Lockridge made closer approach than any other writer has, before or since.'' --Fort Worth Star-Telegram''(Narrator)Lloyd James does a wonderful job reading this book, providing an excellent narrative and a wide range of voices for the various characters. This is an excellent match between a great novel and a narrator who seems to understand the book perfectly. While the book is long, it's well worth listening to.'' --AudioFile About the Author ROSS LOCKRIDGE, JR. (1914-1948) was born and raised in Indiana, graduating from Indiana University. In 1937 he married his high-school sweetheart and they had four children. He is most noted for Raintree County, often considered one of the great American novels. Suffering from profound, and largely unrecognized, depression, he committed suicide two months after the novel's publication. His obituary appeared on the front page of the New York Times.