New Book Notes

Abstract

New Book Notes George Brosi Leonard M. Adkins and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Along the Appalachian Trail: Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2012. 128 pages. Trade paperback. $21.99. This volume, part of Arcadia’s “Images of America” series, presents over two-hundred historical pictures and captions that provide the reader with a sense of how the southern portion of this fabulous trail has developed. Leonard M. Adkins has completed the entire Appalachian Trail five times, and five of his seventeen outdoor books are about the AT. Leonard M. Adkins. Hiking and Traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway: The Only Guide You Will Ever Need, Including GPS, Detailed Maps, and More. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013. 408 pages with 68 maps, 32 photos, bibliography, and index. Trade paperback, $18.00. This guide provides information that will be relevant to travelers: dining suggestions, public restroom locations, sightseeing information, and wildflower bloom calendars. “In the ever-expanding pantheon of guidebook writers, Leonard Adkins reigns supreme.” —Charleston Gazette Raymond L. Atkins. Camp Redemption: A Novel. Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2013. 271 pages. Hardback with dust jacket. $25.00. Camp Redemption portrays the lives of a Willingham couple who own a failing Bible camp in the North Georgia Mountains. “Camp Redemption is as irreverent as any book can be, hilariously poking holes in the wind-baggery, Bible-thumpery, holy-rollery, hypocrisy, ignorance, and willful narrow-mindedness of organized and disorganized religion. Yet, through it all, a divine unseen hand is working out its plan. A marvel.” —Man Martin. Raymond Atkins lives in Rome, Georgia where he teaches English at Georgia Northwestern Technical College. Rex Bowman and Carlos Santos. Rot, Riot and Rebellion: Mr. Jefferson’s Struggle to Save the University That Changed America. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013. 182 pages with bibliography and index. Hardback with dust jacket. $24.95. [End Page 81] The authors, both former reporters for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, have intertwined historical facts with interesting tales from the period in a way that engages readers. “A lively, very-well told account of the university’s early, ugly years. The chronicle of drunken, loutish behavior is artfully handled.” —Peter S. Onuf Theresa L. Burriss and Patricia M. Gantt. Appalachia in the Classroom: Teaching the Region. Athens, Ohio University Press, 2013. 280 pages with an index and maps. Trade paperback. Hardback with dust jacket, $59.95. Trade paperback, $26.95. Theresa L. Burriss is the Director of the Appalachian Regional and Rural Studies Center at Radford University and the Chair of Appalachian Studies there. Patricia M. Gantt is Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor of English at Utah State University. In this book, they have engaged some of the region’s foremost post-secondary teachers to share their best ideas for teaching about the region. For example, John C. Inscoe on teaching history, Erica Abrams Locklear and Jeff Mann on teaching literature, Ricky L. Cox on teaching the novel, and Grace Edwards on teaching poetry. Casey Clabough. George Garrett: A Critical Biography. Huntsville, Tex.: Texas Review Press, 2013. 209 pages with chronology, bibliography, and index. Trade paperback. $22.95. George Garrett (1929–2008) remains one of the region’s most beloved writers and educators. He was a crucial help to Appalachian Heritage in crafting our Winter 2006 issue commemorating the life and work of Mary Lee Settle (1918–2005) and, at the time of his death, we had a poem he had just sent us. “This critical biography helps to raise Garrett to his much-deserved position as one of the top luminaries of Southern literature and articulates beautifully the vast intelligence, wit, and talent of this remarkable man.” —Lynda Byrd Cook. Casey Clabough teaches at Lynchburg College and is also a frequent contributor to this magazine. Kim Clark and the McDowell House Project Advisory Committee. Marion. Mount Pleasant, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2013. 128 pages. Trade paperback. $21.99. Marion, North Carolina, lies at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This book in the “Images of America” series presents over 200 photographs with informative text on the development of the town. [End Page 82] Joe Cook. Etowah...