in particular goes after the Lutheran movement of Vilhelm Beck, called the Inner Mission. Here he postulates the danger involved in it, partly for the fact that it was becoming rural in nature and appearing in the areas that he loved. Brandes was impressed with his work and promoted him to contributor (journalist). After some time he switched to the newspaper København, where he spent a few uneventful years. In 1899, after switching again, this time to Provinspresse, a social democratic publication, he became a parliamentary correspondent and started to make more of a name for himself. He remained with this paper until 1903. Later in life, Jeppe would not look back fondly on his time as a newspaper man, as he felt they robbed him of his productivity. He did however keep a lasting relationship with Brandes, who continued to give good reviews to his books. In 1899, he wrote his first major literary piece, Bondens Søn (The Peasant's Son), in which in an autobiographical manner relates the story of a poor Jutlander, Jens. Jens moves to Copenhagen and battles with the conservative Christianity that was instilled in him by his grandfather. In time Jens returns home with a girlfriend in tow, but rather than a glorious homecoming, he receives instead the feelings of provincialism and negativity towards the freedoms of the big city. In time he inherits his fathers farm, marries his hometown sweetheart, but never gives into the traditional peasant culture. Some critics regarded the piece as naive, it is Jeppe's first attempt at melding cultural and political issues into one. Literary Success Aakjær tried to get the publishing firm of Gyldendal to partner with him, but was initially rebuffed, even though he was sought after by one of its editors, Peter Nansen. Instead he found a local bookstore owner, V. Oscar Søtofte, who published his first novel. Soon thereafter, he released a collection of earlier writing, Derude fra Kjærne (Out There from the Watering Holes, 1899). In time a rift formed between the two over a couple of issues. First, Aakjær did not like the choice of covers that Oscar had chosen. Second, he felt that the marketing ability of Oscar was severely limited, and finally, when Jeppe wanted to release a collection of shorts stories as a single book, Oscar objected and instead broke it into two. The collection, Vadmelsfolk: Hedefortællinger (Homespunfolk: Heath Stories, 1900)