New Appalachian Books

Abstract

New Appalachian Books by George Brosi* Caudill, Harry. The Mountain, the Miner, and the Lord. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, an unstated first paperback edition, 1989, of a 1980 release. 177 pages. Trade paperback. $10.00. Caudill has established himself as one of the leading commentators on the mountain scene with gutsy, often incisive, and usually controversial views. A lawyer, former state legislator, and Professor Emeritus in History from the University of Kentucky, Caudill has written both fiction and nonfiction, but is best known for his Night Comes to the Cumberlands. The impact of the work as a whole is to delve deeply into the character of the region itself. These are among the very best human-interest stories written about Appalachian people. Chase, Jim. Backpacker Magazine's Guide to the Appalachian Trail. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1989. 253 pages with map, index, and photographs . Trade paperback. $14.95. This is a nifty book. It is very well laid out, and the material covered is broken down into short sections which hold the reader's interest. I was surprised that there was so much about the history-even politics-of the trail building processdished out in such succinct portions that it was always tasteful, and so little about the mechanics of backpacking, given the title. Other books describe the flora and fauna and the subjective impact of the trail much better, but this book is valuable for its background on how the trail was built and who decided where it would be, for its nice geological essays, and just as an overall overview. *George Brosi is the proprietor of a business called Appalachian Mountain Books which publishes a periodical by that same name twelve times a year. He sells books, both new and out-of-print through the mail and brings a display of books for sale to regional events. He has recently moved from Berea, Kentucky, to a new place in the Great Smoky Mountains. His new address is Appalachian Mountain Books, Route 2, Box 238, Whittier, North Carolina 28789. His phone number is 704-586-5319. 74 Crockett at Two Hundred: New Perspectives on the Man and the Myth. Michael A. Lofaro and Joe Cummings, editors. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1989. 252 pages with illustrations, index, and bibliography. Hardback in dust jacket. $24.95. The bibliography is fabulous but I do wish they had gotten their computer to spit it out chronologically as well as alphabetically by author. Had that been done, it would have been even more clear how great an impact David Crockett-both as a man and as legend-has had upon Appalachian literature. The essay on Crockett's legacy in modern politics and Lofaro's own essay on the "shemales" in the Crockett almanacs are among the most interesting and significant in this uneven collection. EhIe, John. Winter People. New York: Perennial Library, the first photoplay edition of a 1982 release, 1989. 322 pages. Mass market paperback. $4.95. "The Winter People is drenched in local wit and custom . . . and alive with rounded, nuanced characters who appear to exist beyond the novel's covers. John EhIe, artist, and craftsman, . . . has staked a serious, quiet claim to this profoundly American territory." -The New York Times. Certainly EhIe is one of our most outstanding writers, and clearly this is a well-crafted book. Hopefully the shortcomings of the movie will not deter anyone from introducing themselves to EhIe's outstanding novels of the history of Western North Carolina , his life-time home. Frome, Michael. Conscience of a Conservationist: Selected Essays. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1989. 286 pages with an index and line drawings. Hardback in dust jacket. $24.95. Frome is best known to readers as the author of Strangers in High Places, a superlative look at characters who have had an impact upon the Great Smoky Mountains. This book has the same kind of human-interest appeal, but it goes beyond that by treating several incidents where Frome has gotten in trouble with the powers that be for his strong stands on environmental issues. More than half of this book is essays which give background on many aspects of...