Loving Mountains, Loving Men (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Loving Mountains, Loving Men Christopher B. Stewart Loving Mountains, Loving Men. By Jeff Mann. (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2005. Pp. 248.) Jeff Mann has created a rich, multi-genre autobiography in Loving Mountains, Loving Men. Primarily about his deepening sense of self over the first half of his life, the narrative locus is the intersection of Mann's sexual and regional identities. It is a needed and welcome addition to a small but growing body of regional queer literature, but it would be a mistake to corral Mann's text in the hollow between "Appalachian" and "gay man." This narrative is much more: it is an intellectual, literary, cultural, and spiritual memoir that covers an important period of transition affecting most of the communities in which Mann participates. Through autobiography, poetry, and the prose poem, Mann deftly explores both the abiding and the mercurial aspects of selfhood with an honest, keen, and insightful personal voice. The multiple genres seem to reflect the author's effort to bring together the disparate aspects of his identity into one coherent expression. The text speaks from the integrity that motivates authentic self-examination, from the deepening that comes from learning to love self and others, and from the spiritual power of place. A persistent theme is the familiar Appalachian love of the land and of traditional folkways. Through Mann's eyes, we see those features, and Appalachian masculinity, anew—he writes, for example, of the ambience of 1970s forestry school at West Virginia University (28-29), and of the Appalachian penchant for summer shirtlessness and how it caught his adolescent attention (25). Another persistent theme is out-migration and the longing to return, but in Mann's case out-migration is motivated by the desire for greater acceptance of sexual difference in a more cosmopolitan environment, and for intellectual opportunity. This is reflected in his undergraduate dual majors of forestry and English. Like many of his peers, he ultimately finds a healthy synthesis by living in regional college towns and pursing a professorial career. Twenty years separates this reviewer's experience from Mann's, but much remains the same. Growing up in southern West Virginia twenty years [End Page 127] after Mann, I recognize much, but I also see a significant amount of change from what I regard as a homespun libertarianism—an Appalachian "mind your own business" culture that values both liberty and eccentricity. Like Mann, I experienced teen angst and was fearful of authentic self-expression. But, truth be told, I have experienced very little overt discrimination in Appalachia and find no higher incidence here than in more cosmopolitan areas. While I appreciate Mann's work very much, I also have reservations about the text's emphasis on intolerance as a feature of Appalachian culture. As a whole, the book does an excellent job of representing the variety and complexity of Appalachian responses to homosexuality. At no point in the narrative is Mann truly without supportive friends or growing family members or blessed mentors. At the same time, the narrative seems to rely strongly on a tone of struggle that may no longer be typical of the post-high school Appalachian queer experience, especially for those of us whose families are not or are only nominally Christian. As an example of reader-response criticism, my thoughts about intolerance in Appalachia may suggest the broader national changes the region has participated in since the 1980s. This would underscore the value of the book as a window on the cultural history of an under-documented place and period. I am grateful for any addition to the literature of non-urban queer experience because it is rare. Mann acknowledges a similar trajectory in his experiences and says, "Eventually, instead of feeling like a queer oppressed by redneck Appalachians, I began to see the oppression that Appalachians and homosexuals have in common. Clear enough, when you start to count all the queer jokes and hillbilly/West Virginia jokes you've heard" (44). As the first of its kind, Mann's text is invaluable for any survey of sexuality or gender issues. This would be true in general, but especially under Appalachian, southern, or rural...