Letts, Billie 1938–

PERSONAL: Born May 30, 1938, in Tulsa, OK; daughter of Bill and Virginia (a secretary; maiden name, Barnes) Gipson; married Dennis Letts (a professor of English); children: Shawn, Tracy (son). Education: Attended Northeastern State College (now Northeastern Oklahoma State University), 1956–58; Southeast Missouri State College (now University), B.A., 1969; Southeastern Oklahoma State University, M.A., 1974.

ADDRESSES: Home—Durant, OK. Agent—Elaine Markson, Elaine Markson Literary Agency, Inc., 44 Greenwich Ave., New York, NY 10011.

CAREER: Has worked variously as a waitress, window washer, dance instructor, dishwasher roller-skating car hop, secretary to a private detective, an English teacher in Cairo and Paxton, IL, a journalism teacher at Southeastern Oklahoma State, an elementary school teacher in Durant and Fillmore, OK, and as a teacher of English as a second language.

MEMBER: Writers Guild of America, Authors Guild, Oklahoma Federation of Writers.

AWARDS, HONORS: Walker Percy Award, 1994, for Where the Heart Is; Oklahoma Book Award, 1995, for Where the Heart Is, and 1998, for The Honk and Holler Opening Soon.

WRITINGS:

Where the Heart Is (novel), Warner Books (New York, NY), 1995.

The Honk and Holler Opening Soon (novel), Warner Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Shoot the Moon, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor of stories to magazines, including Good Housekeeping and North American Review.

ADAPTATIONS: Where the Heart Is was adapted as a feature film.

SIDELIGHTS: Novelist Billie Letts is an Oklahoma native who learned early the power that words can have. The first in her class to learn how to read, she was capable of tackling more advanced books even at an early age, she related in an autobiography on the Time Warner Bookmark Web site. Her parents did not have a great deal of money for extras, and there were only two books in the house: the Holy Bible and a copy of Erskine Caldwell's God's Little Acre. She used the latter as the subject for a fourth-grade book report, "which caused such a stir that I knew I was on to something," she related in the online autobiography. "If I had the power to agitate a language-arts teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by simply writing about someone else's writing, how much power might I have in telling my own stories? I suspect it was then, at age nine, that the idea of becoming a writer took hold."

Letts's first novel originated in a screenplay she showed to agent Elaine Markson at a writers conference in New Orleans. This prompted Markson to ask to see some short fiction Letts had written, which included a short story about an abandoned seventeen-year-old girl living at a Wal-Mart. Markson suggested that the story seemed like the beginning of a novel, and it evolved into Where the Heart Is. "The first time I walked into a bookstore and saw my book with my name on the cover, I was finally ready to deliver the line I'd been saying in my head since I was a kid: 'Now, at last, I'm a real writer,'" Letts remarked in her autobiography. "But I didn't say it because I suddenly knew that I'd been a real writer for almost fifty years." Letts was propelled into higher levels of success when the book was chosen for inclusion in Oprah Winfrey's Book Club, a Midas touch for a book that practically guarantees bestseller status. The novel has also been adapted as a feature film, starring popular actresses Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd.

In Where the Heart Is Novalee Nation, who is seventeen years old and seven months pregnant, looks forward to a better life with her boyfriend, Willy Jack Pickens. Instead of taking care of her and buying her a house, however, Willy Jack abandons her in front of a Wal-Mart Store in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. For the next two months, Novalee carefully hides out in the Wal-Mart, until the birth of her "Wal-Mart Baby" makes her a local star. The community, touched by her plight, reaches out to help. Sister Husband, an eccentric local, gives them a place to stay; photographer Moses White-cotton sees raw talent in Novalee, and teaches her all the photographic skills he knows; Lexie Coop becomes her best friend. Even billionaire Sam Walton appears to offer her a job. The novel follows five years in the eventful, even charmed life of Novalee and her daughter. Booklist reviewer Kathleen Hughes observed that the novel's "emotional manipulation may be distasteful to some, others may find its soap-opera plot and Forrest Gump-ish optimism appealing." A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that "Letts's wacky characters are depicted with humor and hope, as well as an earnestness that rises above the story's uneven conceits."

The Honk and Holler Opening Soon is Letts's "gently humorous second novel" that "confirms the promise of her debut," commented a reviewer in Publishers Weekly. Caney Paxton, a Vietnam veteran confined to a wheelchair, has never left his restaurant in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. The café, known by a signmaker's error as the Honk and Holler Opening Soon, has been stable enough to make Caney a living. Molly O, a waitress with four ex-husbands and a daughter looking to make it big in country music, serves the food without much noticing the romantic interest of a café regular. Meanwhile, Caney still regrets his part in the war, and the loss of the use of his legs, which happened not from combat but from a fall from a helicopter. During the Christmas season of 1985, things look bleak at the Honk and Holler. Bills are piling up, business is down, and the roof has a leak. Then, two remarkable new employees arrive. Crow Indian Vena Takes Horse becomes a carhop, while Vietnamese refugee Bui Khanh takes on cooking chores and handyman duties. Both Vena and Bui are hiding some secrets of their own, but they find a welcome at the Honk and Holler. Business picks up, and Vena and Caney discover a mutual attraction. The group grows even closer when an act of violence threatens Bui.

Together, the characters "create a sense of warmth and community in which reconciliation and love can flourish," noted Library Journal contributor Kimberly G. Allen. "This is a warm-hearted, humorous, and sometimes tear-inducing look at friendships and tolerance," commented another Library Journal reviewer. "Vena and Bui are sparkling creations, fresh and involving, and Letts tells the story of their impact on the town with a wonderfully light touch," noted Donna Seaman in Booklist. A Publishers Weekly contributor commented: "Even a few unresolved loose ends can't diminish the cumulative effect of this warm, sentimental tale, abundant with quirky detail and homespun wisdom," romance, and community togetherness.

In Shoot the Moon, the author's third novel, California veterinarian Mark Albright, born Nicky Jack Harjo, learns that he is adopted and returns to his Oklahoma home town to find out about his early life and his mother. To his sadness, he discovers that his mother, a lovely Cherokee woman named Gaylene Harjo, was murdered when he was ten years old. However, the local authorities do not seem very interested in helping him with his inquiries or giving him details about his mother's life or death. The murder was blamed on local preacher Joe Dawson, but very few in town believe that Dawson was capable of such an act. With his own investigation causing conflict with belligerent deputy Oliver Daniels, Nicky Jack becomes more and more determined to find out what happened during the tragic days of his infancy. "A great cast of small-town Oklahoma characters peppers this story with human interest, intrigue, suspense, murder, a cover-up, and a love interest," stated Kliatt contributor Sue Rosenzweig. Booklist reviewer Allison Block called the novel a "memorable tale of love, loss, humanity, and hope."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Griffis, Molly Levite, You've Got Mail, Billie Letts, Eakin Publications (Austin, TX), 1999.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 1995, Kathleen Hughes, review of Where the Heart Is, p. 41. May 1, 1998, Donna Seaman, review of The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, p. 1478; August, 1999, review of Where the Heart Is, p. 2025; June 1, 2001, Neal Wyatt, review of The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, p. 1841; June 1, 2004, Allison Block, review of Shoot the Moon, p. 1701; November 15, 2004, Whitney Scott, review of Shoot the Moon, p. 606.

Chicago Tribune, August 12, 1998, review of The Honk and Holler Opening Soon.

Daily Times (Maryville, TN), August 11, 2005, Melanie Tucker, "Where Her 'Heart Is'—Author Billie Letts Keeps Success in Perspective."

Entertainment Weekly, July 16, 2004, Allyssa Lee, review of Shoot the Moon, p. 82.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 1998, review of The Honk and Holler Opening Soon; May 15, 2004, review of Shoot the Moon, p. 462.

Kliatt, November, 2004, Sue Rosenzweig, review of Shoot the Moon, p. 50.

Library Journal, July, 1995, Barbara E. Kemp, review of Where the Heart Is, p. 121; June 1, 1998, Kimberly G. Allen, review of The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, p. 154; November 15, 1998, review of The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, p. 124.

New York Times Book Review, August 6, 1995, Dwight Garner, review of Where the Heart Is, p. 20.

People Weekly, February 22, 1999, Peter Ames Carlin and Carlton Stowers, "Never Too Late: At 60, Small-Town Novelist Billie Letts Knows Success Was Worth Waiting For," p. 101.

Publishers Weekly, May 15, 1995, review of Where the Heart Is, p. 55; May 11, 1998, review of The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, p. 50.

School Library Journal, April, 1996, Pamela B. Rearden, review of Where the Heart Is, p. 168; January, 1999, Carol Clark, review of The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, p. 160.

Southern Living, August, 1998, Carly L. Price, review of The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, p. 48.

ONLINE

Time Warner Bookmark Web site, http://www.twbookmark.com/ (October 8, 2005), Billie Letts, "On Billie Letts."