You Can Never Go Home Again: The Adage Comes Alive in the Novel "The Guru of Malad"

Nothing is quite as bittersweet as going home again. This is especially true of returning to a small town, where the landscape retains a charm that is firmly ingrained in our memories. Robert Dowland, an esteemed intellectual, gifted musician and world traveler, finds just this, when, in the 1930s, he returns to his hometown of Malad, Georgia. The Guru of Malad (Xlibris Corporation, 2000, $20.99/trade paperback), a novel by Gordon Epperson, chronicles the impact of Dowlands homecoming on the sleepy village of his childhood.

Nothing is quite as bittersweet as going home again. This is especially true of returning to a small town, where the landscape retains a charm that is firmly ingrained in our memories. Robert Dowland, an esteemed intellectual, gifted musician and world traveler, finds just this, when, in the 1930s, he returns to his hometown of Malad, Georgia. The Guru of Malad (Xlibris; $20.99/trade paperback; 0-7388-3892-6), a novel by Gordon Epperson, chronicles the impact of Dowlands homecoming on the sleepy village of his childhood.

A town largely unchanged by time, Malad is home to Cherokee College, a small liberal arts campus, and to a core populace of eccentrics, bigots, and malcontents. It is a village unprepared for the turmoil that will be caused by the return of the cultured, educated, liberal Dowland, who hopes to secure the position of college president. The appointment, which seems certain at first, is ultimately threatened by the social and philosophical clashes between the big-city Dowland and the townspeople of Malad. Issues of race discrimination, religion, and sexuality become catalysts for the chaos that ensues and ultimately tears lives apart.

With keen attention to detail and a quiet satirical style, Gordon Epperson exposes the eccentricities and frailties of the characters in The Guru of Malad, and reveals the horrifying undercurrent of racism, bigotry, and exclusionism in the town. The Guru of Malad is the haunting account of what we all fear -- the inability to reconcile our past with our present.

Gordon Epperson, an internationally known concert cellist, recording artist, and author, is Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Arizona. He is available for print and phone interviews nationwide.