Booklist and Notes

Booklist and Notes George Brosi Arnow, Harriette Simpson Old Burnside. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, an unstated 1996 reprint of a 1977 release. 129 pages. Trade paperback. $10.95 Harriette Arnow (1908-1986) is best known for The Dollmaker, published in 1954, a novel unsurpassed in telling the story of Appalachian migrants to midwestern cities. Her nonfiction works reveal meticulous research and artistic presentation virtually unmatched as well. Arnow was born in Wayne County, Kentucky, but lived from the age of five to the age of sixteen in nearby Burnside, the uppermost navigable port on the Cumberland River, now inundated by Lake Cumberland. For this book Arnow wanted a social history of that community laced with a subtle polemic against "progress," but her editors, to her dismay, pushed her for a more personal story. She was never satisfied with the results, but the critics and public have thoroughly enjoyed the blend. Connolly, James A. Three Years in the Army of the Cumberland. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, an unstated 1996 reprint of a 1959 release. 399 pages with an index. Hardback in dust jacket. $35.00. Trade paperback. $14.95. Connolly (1840-1914) was a lawyer in Charleston, Illinois, in August of 1862 when he raised a company of soldiers from the area. As part of the Seventh Illinois Infantry they joined the Army of the Cumberland and fought at Perryville, Kentucky; Chickamauga and Chattanooga , Tennessee; and throughout Georgia. In a diary and letters to his wife, Connolly gives a very readable and meaningful account ofwhat life was like for a Union soldier in the Tennessee and Kentucky hinterland . Covington, Dennis. Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia. New York: Penguin Books, a George Brosi sells both new and out-of-print books through the mail, and brings a display of booksfor sale to regional events. His address is Appalachian Mountain Books, Route 2, Whittier, North Carolina 28789. His phone number is 704-586-5319. 74 1996 reprint of a 1995 release. 240 pages with photos. Trade paperback . $11.95. This book was one of five finalists for the National Book Award in nonfiction last year because it tells a vividly compelling story. It recounts the spiritual Odyssey of an Alabama reporter who became personally involved in snake handling in a hill-country church. EhIe, John. The Journey ofAugust King. New York: Hyperion, a 1995 reprint of a 1971 release. 218 pages. Trade paperback. $10.95. John EhIe is one of the major Southern Appalachian writers of his generation. His eleven fiction works include a series of historical novels of the Western North Carolina mountains. His six nonfiction works include, most notably, Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. This novel, TheJourney ofAugust King, has just been made into a Hollywood movie. It tells the story ofan antebellum mountain farmer, August King, driving his livestock to a faraway market who begins to sense the presence of another person undertaking a parallel journey. Tension mounts as that individual is revealed to be a runaway slave girl and King must decide which of the many possible courses of action to pursue. Gladney, Margaret Rose, editor. How Am I To Be Heard: Letters of Lillian Smith. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, a 1996 reprint of a 1993 release. 384 pages with an index, bibliography, and photographs. Trade paperback. $14.95. Although born in South Georgia, Lillian Smith (1897-1966) lived in the mountains of Rabun County, Georgia's northeastern most corner from her teen years on. In 1944 she published Strange Fruit, a pioneering antiracist novel. Killers ofthe Dream, a nonfiction book ofSouthern life and problems, followed in 1949. Smith was set apart from mainstream society not only by her independent accomplishments as a woman and her progressive politics but also by her lesbian relationship with Paula Snelling. The 145 Lillian Smith letters collected here illuminate both the social context and the life of one of the Appalachian South's most courageous and creative personalities. Green, Terence M. Shadow of Ashland. New York: Forge/St. Martin's Press, 1996. 221 pages. Hardback in dust jacket. $17.95. This is a novel about the efforts...