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Back Come Again No More Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover
  3. Title Page
  4. Contents
  5. PART I 
  6. 1.
  7. 2.
  8. 3.
  9. 4.
  10. 5.
  11. 6.
  12. 7.
  13. 8.
  14. 9.
  15. 10.
  16. 11.
  17. 12.
  18. PART II 
  19. 13.
  20. 14.
  21. 15.
  22. 16.
  23. 17.
  24. 18.
  25. 19.
  26. 20.
  27. 21.
  28. 22.
  29. 23.
  30. 24.
  31. 25.
  32. 26.
  33. 27.
  34. 28.
  35. 29.
  36. 30.
  37. PART III 
  38. 31.
  39. 32.
  40. 33.
  41. 34.
  42. 35.
  43. 36.
  44. 37.
  45. 38.
  46. 39.
  47. PART IV 
  48. 40.
  49. 41.
  50. 42.
  51. 43.
  52. 44.
  53. 45.
  54. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  55. Touchstone Reading Group Guide

This is the second novel in the Paint trilogy and as such, it is first and foremost a work of fiction. It is based on my parents’ recollections of their lives during the Great Depression and I have borrowed both incident and anecdote from their stories, but I have also departed from their narratives when it suited my purpose. As with the preceding novel, Sun Going Down, the narrative of my mother’s family provides a loose structure, but I have taken great liberties in order to write a coherent novel which is true to the difficulties of life in America in the 1930s. I want to say in particular that while my father, Jack Carney Todd, was a hot-tempered and feckless ex-boxer much like the fictional Jake McCloskey, he doted on his wife and children and (most remarkably for a man of his time and temperament) he never hit us.

No one can write about the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression without guidance from the North Star, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath—the true Great American Novel, whether it is recognized as such or not. Lois Hudson’s lesser known but almost equally powerful work, The Bones of Plenty, provided a useful counterweight to the recollections of my family. Ed Lemmon’s cowboy classic Boss Cowman was an entertaining and useful guide to the art of capturing wild mustangs. I would also point anyone interested in this period to T. H. Watkins’s epic history The Hungry Years, to Donald Worster’s Dust Bowl and especially to Timothy Egan’s splendid The Worst Hard Time. Finally, the fourth section of this book is, in part, a homage to Annie Proulx, whose work has put a different slant on the state of mind we call “Wyoming.”

For their generous help and advice with this novel, I am indebted to Mick Lowe, Hilary McMahon, Linda Todd Dittmar, Jeanne Dennison, Jesse Todd, Nancy Crabtree, Elaine Pfefferblit, Danny Ladely, Katrina Ramos, May Robinson Propp, Red Fisher, Catherine Wallace, the wrangler Mike Darnell, my friend and mentor Dr. John X. Cooper, my editor Trish Todd—and above all, to my talented wife, Irene Marc, whose buoyant optimism and constant faith, despite numerous trials, never wavers.

Touchstone Reading Group Guide

image TOUCHSTONE READING GROUP GUIDE

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Come Again No More
by Jack Todd

Come Again No More details a decade of the life of the Paint family, who have made their way out to the American West and settled as farmers in Wyoming. Eli Paint, the patriarch of the family, is on the way back from the funeral of his daughter Velma when he gets into a terrible car accident, almost dying from his injuries and subsequent onset of hypothermia. He narrowly escapes death with the help of friends, including Two Spuds, a Choctaw cowboy, and Eli’s housekeeper-turned-lover Juanita Barrios, trained in nursing by her former husband.