The Vine That Ate the South Audiobook By J. D. Wilkes cover art

The Vine That Ate the South

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The Vine That Ate the South

By: J. D. Wilkes
Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
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With the energy, wit, and singularity of vision that have earned him a reputation as a celebrated and charismatic musician, The Vine That Ate the South announces J.D. Wilkes as an accomplished storyteller on a surreal, Homeric voyage that strikes at the very heart of American mythology.

In a forgotten corner of western Kentucky lies a haunted forest referred to locally as "The Deadening", where vampire cults roam wild and time is immaterial. Our protagonist and his accomplice - the one and only Carver Canute - set out down the Old Spur Line in search of the legendary Kudzu House, where an old couple is purported to have been swallowed whole by a hungry vine. Their quest leads them face to face with albino panthers, Great Dane-riding girls, protective property owners, and just about every American folk-demon ever, while forcing the protagonist to finally take stock of his relationship with his father and the man's mysterious disappearance. The Vine That Ate the South is a mesmerizing fantasia where Wilkes ambitiously grapples with the contradictions of the contemporary American South while subversively considering how well we know our own family and friends.

©2017 J.D. Wilkes (P)2017 Recorded Books Absurdist Action & Adventure Adventure Classics Fantasy Genre Fiction Magical Realism Science Fiction Southern Folklore
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The book was amazing and the narrator was incredible. I feel bad that I even got to hear this for free with my subscription.

The absolute best solo performance you’ll probably ever hear from an audiobook

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I wished it never ended. Conjured images of my youth growing up in the south.

A beutiful and accurate tale of the South!

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Lighthearted but deep. A clever mosaic of southern charm, wit and grit. Picture Mark Twain if he had a goth phase.

Loved it!

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J.D. Wilkes, Kentucky Colonel and genuine Son of the South, revives the Southern Goth genre with this wide-ranging tale of adventure and fantasy. Drawn from historical events such as Roderick Ferrell, The Kentucky Vampire, snake-handling preachers, and vivid imagination, J.D. weaves a clever, entertaining diversion.

Southern Goth at is finest

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Wilkes spins a story as intricate and unpredictable as the vile vine itself. Bravo for an entertaining delivery, and thanks for the escapade into the mystical foothills and hypnotising flatlands of the south.

Southern Storytelling at its finest

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the author sure can paint pictures with words. creative bizarre backwoods brilliance. great original story. 👏

excellently weird story

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A well written, beautifully executed story whose wordage is unparalleled in description and absurdity! I listened twice,soon to be thrice.

Hot Damn!

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Although the story was a lot of fun, a Southern Gothic hero’s journey of Biblical proportions, the narrator stabbed me deep in my Georgian heart every time he pronounced kudzu…COOD-Zoo. What? Do these narrators not research the names of things before they set to reading a story?

His put-on accents were sometimes great fun but other times frustratingly grating and so fake sounding. I finished the book because I wanted to know how it ended, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t pretty painful to listen to a New Yorker fake a Southern accent for six hours.

COOD-ZOO?!?!

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