This collection of stories and poems is one of the best I've ever read. I don't usually read books like this, but because Robert Ashcom was my college English teacher when he published this book, I felt I should. I was very pleased with his charming and sometimes quirky perspectives of the quiet Fauquier County country life that he portrayed so well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to remember a good time in life.

Robert Ashcom is a master of sewing magic and emotion into the English language.
His newest novel, WINTER RUN, invites readers to walk through rural Virginia in the 1940s. The story is set around Charlie, a curious, adventuresome boy (think Huck Finn) and his family, friends, animals and farm. It is with these aspects of life - family, friends and duty - that the proud young boy becomes a strong but sensitive man.
Now, most critics may associate 'rural' with boring, but not so in WINTER RUN. What audiences must pay attention to, in my opinion, is Ashcom's verbal sorcery.
He snaps photographs with words and tells fireside stories with narrative; his work commands the attention of anyone with serious interest in American literature.