Booklist and Notes

Booklist and Notes George Brosi Adkins, Leonard M. Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail. Birmingham: Menasha Ridge Press, 1999. 214 pages with full-color, full-page photographic plates by Joe and Monica Cook plus bibliography and index. Trade paperback. $15.95. This is not only a splendidly beautiful book but also a beautifully simple book. On the right-hand page is a full-page color photograph of the flower, and on the left-hand page is the attractive write-up, featuring much useful information, including where the flower can ordinarily be found. The flowers are arranged into five groups by coloration. Since the page borders bear a similar color, the reader can find the appropriate section of the book simply by looking at its edge. Within the color groups, flowers are arranged by order of flowering season. Overall about ninety wildflowers are covered. The wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail (AT) are the wildflowers of the higher elevations of the greater Appalachian region, because this 2100 mile foot trail begins at Springer Mountain in Georgia and ends at Mount Katahdin in Maine, thus traversing virtually the entire length of the mountain chain within the United States. The author, Leonard Adkins, lives in Catawba, Virginia, about a mile from the Appalachian Trail and has been very active both as a through-hiker of the trail and in the volunteer groups which maintain the trail. This is his second AT book and his fourth Appalachian guide book. Badger, Robert L. Geology Along Skyline Drive: Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Helena: Falcon, 1999. 100 pages with color photographs, maps, a glossary, references and an index. Oversized trade paperback. $10.95. The Skyline Drive is a 105-mile extension of the Blue Ridge Parkway which follows the high point of the Blue Ridge from the southern end of the Shenandoah National Park to its northern boundary. Every few miles parking spaces allow access to overlooks which call the motorist's attention to scenic vistas and natural wonders. This book simply explains the geology of each overlook with a few pages of photographs, figures, charts and side-bars which give an easy-to-follow explanation of the geological features. The emphasis is on the outstanding photos and graphics, which come alive on the book's high-quality paper. Readers will be amazed at how much can 82 be explained in so few words with the right illustrations. The author teaches at the State University of New York at Potsdam. Chappell, Fred. LookBackAU the Green Valley. NewYork: PicadorU.S.A./St. Martin's Press, 1999. 278 pages. Hardback in dustjacket. $24.00. This is the fourth and final novel in an autobiographically inspired quartet which also includes IAm One ofYou Forever, Brighten the Corner Where You Are, and Farewell, I'm Bound to Leave You. The protagonist, Jess Kirkman, like the author, is an academic poet living in Greensboro, who grew up in a mountain town. As this novel begins, he returns home to care for his ailing mother ten years after the death of his father. The plot is carried alongbyJess's effort to unravel the mystery of a map to the homes of several women he finds in his father's workshop. Publishers Weekly calls it "an intelligent and rewarding if sentimental closure to the Kirkman cycle." Fred Chappell (b. 1936) has now written over twenty works of fiction in poetry, story and novel forms. He is the recipient of numerous honors and fellowships and is viewed as one of the leading contemporary authors with roots in the Appalachian South. Couto, Richard A., with Catherine S. Guthrie. Making Decocracy Work Better: Mediating Structures, Social Capital, and the Democratic Prospect. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1999. 336 pages with an index, references and photographs. Hardback in dust jacket. $49.95. Trade paperback. $19.95. Despite the pervasive academic jargon, this book really does have something to offer. Apparently "Mediating Structures" are simply grass roots community groups, "Social Capital" consists of local institutions, from day-care centers to roads, which help a community advance, and the "Democratic Prospect" is the chance that local power structures will loosen their death grips on local communities and allow to...