"A Gathering of Evidence pulls together the best criticism available about a novel that illuminates significant dimensions of Faulkner's short stories and novels. Whatever their approach, the authors in this volume of essays seem to agree on one point: Although this novel is about the education of a young white boy, Chick Mallison, in a racially charged small Southern community, it is Lucas Beauchamp, a black man accused of murdering a white man, who emerges in many seemingly contradictory ways as an important literary figure. Since no one essay can completely exhaust a discussion of the significance of Lucas Beauchamp, these essays, taken together, offer multiple viewpoints that renders the discussion comprehensible and rewarding."--Jacket.