''The World Made Straight'' is a 2006 novel by

Ron Rash Ron Rash (born September 25, 1953) is an American poet, short story writer and novelist and the Parris Distinguished Professor in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University. Early life Rash was born on September 25, 1953, in Ch ...

Plot

In 1970s western

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, a young man stumbles across a grove of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

, sees an opportunity to make some easy money, and steps into the jaws of a bear trap. He is discovered by the ruthless farmer who set the trap to protect his plants, and begins his struggle with the evils of his community's present as well as those of its history. Before long, he has moved out of his parents' home to live with a onetime schoolteacher who now lives in a trailer outside town, deals a few drugs, and studies journals from the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Their fates become entwined as the community's terrible past and corrupt present lead to a violent reckoning with the marijuana farmer and with a Civil War massacre that continues to divide an

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

n community.

Characters

*Travis Shelton, 17 years old, high school dropout discouraged from bettering himself by his tobacco farmer father. *Leonard Shuler, a former schoolteacher, now small-time drug dealer, whose career was ended by a vindictive student. *Carlton Toomey, a ruthless and wily farmer and drug dealer. *Dena, once a pretty young woman, who has become a heavy drug user.

Release details

*2006, USA, Henry Holt , Pub date April 2006, Hardcover

Film adaptation

The novel was adapted into a feature film, with a screenplay by Shane Danielsen.

Jeremy Irvine Jeremy William Fredric Smith (born 18 June 1990), known professionally as Jeremy Irvine, is an English actor. He made his film debut when Steven Spielberg chose him to star in the epic war film '' War Horse'' (2011) and has since starred in fil ...

starred as Travis, and

Noah Wyle Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor, writer, producer and director. He rose to fame as John Carter in the NBC medical drama '' ER'' (1994–2009), receiving five Emmy Award nominations, three Golden Globe Award ...

played his mentor Leonard.

Adelaide Clemens Adelaide Clemens is an Australian actress. On television, she has played Harper on the W series ''Love My Way'' (2007), Valentine on the BBC/HBO series ''Parade's End'' (2012), Tawney on the Sundance TV series '' Rectify'' (2013–2016), a ...

Minka Kelly Minka Kelly (born June 24, 1980) is an American actress. She rose to fame for her role as Lyla Garrity on the NBC drama series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2009). In 2011, Kelly starred in the films ''The Roommate'' and ''Searching for Son ...

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

, and

Haley Joel Osment Haley Joel Osment (born April 10, 1988) is an American actor. Beginning his career as a child actor, Osment's role in the comedy-drama film ''Forrest Gump'' (1994) won him a Young Artist Award. His breakthrough came with the psychological thr ...

were also among the cast. Michael Wrenn and Todd J. Labarowski produced, and producer

David Burris David Burris (also credited as Dave Burris or David Allen Burris) is an American filmmaker, television producer, writer, and musician. He directed the feature film ''The World Made Straight'' and wrote and directed the short film ''The Side of ...

made his directorial debut. The film was shot in

and was released in January 2015. It received mixed reviews.

References

External links

Book information on the publisher's website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:World Made Straight, The 2006 American novels American novels adapted into films Novels set in North Carolina Henry Holt and Company books English-language novels Southern noir novels