EYE on Publications

EYE on Publications A People and Their Quilts, by John Rice Irwin (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Box E, Exton, Pa. 19341). The idea was a good one—not just to do a quilt book but to show these creations as the work of breathing, dreaming persons and the possessions of present-day inheritors or owners who cherish them—and the plan has been beautifully realized, in handsome and well-produced photographs and an informative accompanying text. The creator is the eminent Tennessee museum developer and antiquarian ; the result of his effort here is a book that ought to be absolutely irresistible to people who love quilts. The pictures are by one Robin Hood, who is director of photographic services for the state of Tennessee . Appalachia and America, edited by Allen Batteau (University Press of Kentucky). The first thing to say about this book is that, as we discovered when we wished to check a particular point, it lacks an index (we were so surprised that we looked three times, just to make sure we weren't somehow failing to find it); unfortunately, therefore, we can't make the observation we intended to make. Instead, we'll tell you that the book, subtitled "Autonomy and Regional Dependence," is made up chiefly of papers presented at a 1979 symposium on Appalachian studies held at the annual meeting of the Southern Anthropological Association. What these papers do, says the editor, is to examine "the creation of an Appalachia that is increasingly defined in terms of its 'need' for educational, health, and social services." They accomplish this by looking at "the interplay between community values and structure, the focus of attention on the region by outside groups, and the conflicts and antagonistic relationships that derive from the professionalized efforts to 'help Appalachians.' " The enemy here, in other words, is not Harry CaudilPs rapacious moguls but, instead, the great bureaucracies with their impersonal regulations and their pervasive "professionalism." For many of the authors the technique of choice for understanding this phenomenon appears to be class analysis, as in the account—very interesting —of the Kanawha County, W.Va., textbook controversy of 1974, but the pieces are too disparate to sum up with any great accuracy ; however, one historian who commented on the book overall expressed his concern at the general view of "service professionals and educators associated with established public and private institutions...as unknowing (and knowing) tools of Corporate America." He seems to think that this represents one-sided scholarship. Everybody's Grandpa, by Louis M. "Grandpa" Jones with Charles K. Wolfe (University of Tennessee Press). Strangely, Grandpa Jones first became popular as a singer in the Boston area rather than in the South, and he didn't learn to play the banjo until after he had become nationally known. Nevertheless, he managed to survive these handicaps to become a double country star as musician and comedian. In 1969 came "Hee Haw," which, as Grandpa remarks, gave "some idea of just how much television could help our bookings." The network dropped the show in 1972 (wrong demographics), but the producers put it into syndication, where it apparently will stay forever. 118 Charles Wolfe, working with Grandpa's autobiography and with interviews, letters and observations, has produced a narrative that reads as if Grandpa had written every word. Fire on the Mountain, by Garry Barker (Kentucke Imprints, Berea, Ky. 40403). A collection of short stories in which the author sets out to "record memories [and] try to adapt the Appalachian stoicism and humor to fiction ." Analogously, the stories show mountain people adapting to contemporary urbanized society. Harvest From the Hills (Seven Buffaloes Press, P.O. Box 249, Big Timber, Mont.). More poetry (and some prose), this time collected and edited by Art Cuelho, who's a long way indeed from Appalachia; his poets, however, are such familiar figures as George Ella Lyon and Jim Wayne Miller, together with others who appear equally Appalachian if not all as well known. Industrialization and Southern Society 1877-1984, by James C. Cobb (University Press of Kentucky). Ever since the Civil War failed to end satisfactorily, the South has experienced a persistent desire to achieve success by developing an industrial...