William Bradford Huie's first novel, Mud on the Stars, is largely autobiographical and is set in the years 1929-1942. As in many of his later books, the theme here is of the education of the inexperienced youth, which is, after all, the quintessential American story. Drawing on his own boyhood, Huie gives the reader a detailed account of rural life and race relations in the TennesseeValley in the early years of this century, including a vivid picture of college life at The University of Alabama during the Great Depression. Through a careful weaving of characters and events, fact and fiction,