Book Description

Reviews (4)

The Real Nate.
Nate Shaw was the father of my Uncle Oscar Turner's best friend. His real name was Nate Cobb and the family of the son, Lorraine, is prominent in the Middletown, Ohio ghetto.

The author has done a masterful job of illustrating how greatness was thrust upon him. Nate never set out to become a hero, only to protect his own dignity and provide for his children.

I do not believe that there is a better book for teaching about the lies of 20th century sharecroppers. Theirs is an overlooked legacy.

Just looking for help with a book report
I am hoping that by entering a review here, I can see other reviews that I can use to write a book review on this title. Its due tomorrow! Yikes!

A Natural For Oprah's Book Club
Ted Rosengarten is a masterful writer. All God's Dangers is an amazing undertaking that brings Nate Shaw's story to life. After a few pages, it's almost as if you can hear Nate talking. A must read for anyone interested in history and anyone who wants to learn how a book should be written. And Rosengarten's Tombee, if it can be found, is another must read.

amazingly detailed
it is not often that you can receive such an in depth and personal account of life in the south "post-slavery". even though slavery had been abolished and the south was supposed to be in reformation, nate shaw's true-life account shows how the effects of slavery (on both sides) were lasting and not easily forgotten. Shaw's extremely detailed account helps those of us who were not living in that time and place to get a real understanding of how this country was formed, and will hopefully open your eyes to the unnecessary and hideous reasons people have for discrimination. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"They'd have a hard time trying to find out something about me," Eudora Welty once told an interviewer to explain her fierce aversion to biography. Ann Waldron, who has written well-received biographies of Southern novelist Caroline Gordon and editor Hodding Carter, discovered just how hard a time when she set out to write the first, and of course unauthorized, biography of this "sanctified, canonized, apotheosized" literary figure. But Waldron persisted to brilliant results: Eudora: A Writer's Life is not only a fully detailed portrait but a fair and balanced one.

"Ugly to the point of being grotesque," as a fellow Mississippian said of her, Welty, who was born in Jackson in 1909, always made her way by charm, wit, and an offbeat sense of humor. Though Waldron admits that few of Welty's friends would talk to her, she nonetheless tracked down amazing amounts of new material on her personal life--her tense, guilt-ridden relationship with her widowed mother; her sustaining friendships with such literary figures as Katherine Anne Porter, Elizabeth Bowen, and Reynolds Price; and her possible romance with the mysterious John Robinson, who, like many of the men in Welty's life, turned out to be gay.

Waldron does a creditable, if at times perfunctory, job of following the trajectory of Welty's literary career--from her first hauntingly strange short stories collected in A Curtain of Green to whimsical productions of her midcareer like The Ponder Heart to her "warm, appealing, beautifully written" memoir, One Writer's Beginnings. Literary analysis is scant here, but that's fine, because many others have written at length and in depth about Welty's work. But only Ann Waldron has dared to do the life--and she has succeeded in making it clear, sympathetic, respectful, and wonderfully readable. --David Laskin ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Reviewed by Heather Grimshaw for Bookreporter.com
Interpretations of books may differ, but most readers agree that an author's lot in life is to unlock diaries, tell secrets, and share the intimate thoughts of their characters. But when it comes to sharing theirlives, some authors are more willing to bare their pasts and share theirinspiration than others. Eudora Welty did not embrace the notion of herlife populating pages of a biography, yet Ann Waldron portrays the authorin EUDORA: A Writer's Life in a way that will surely prompt a renewedinterest in her works.

Waldron employs a stark style of writing that isat times dry, listing dates and events with little commentary, but hersimplicity allows the richness of her content to shine. A book thatpromises to enthrall readers whose literary interests have led to Welty'snovels, EUDORA: A Writer's Life will undoubtedly serve as a usefulreference.

Those whose interest in Welty precedes her novels should beprepared for a sneak peek into the author's development of characters andthe personal experiences that may have molded them in her mind. Usingquotes from interviews and snippets from correspondence, Waldron is able toproject Welty's voice in a way that allows readers to hear Welty as thoughshe were in the same room. Writers will especially appreciate one quotefrom Welty, in which she explains the way she discovered one character'srole in several short stories. "All I had to do was put two and twotogether, him and my little group, and I had him by the tail," shesaid.

While Waldron shares some of Welty's inner thoughts, asdocumented in letters and such, she does not presume to analyze the meaningbehind Welty's stories or the motivation of her characters, a practice thatWelty openly disparaged. In one chapter, Welty comments on letters shereceived from readers wanting to know whether a character's choice of anapple in "A Visit of Charity" is a reference to the Garden ofEden. Welty, whose impatience resonates in her quote said of the question,"The things some people teach! She was just eating that [an apple] theway you would a Hershey bar --- or anything else you'd saved for a rewardafter an ordeal. I used to visit the old ladies. They scared me. I couldn'twait to leave."

This quote and others help to draw a picture ofWelty, often called "Eudo" by family and friends and lovedunilaterally by colleagues, friends, family, and audiences around theworld. She was not, however, a woman who enjoyed the social life of thetimes. Her looks are described by some as ugly, off-putting, and odd; butsuch descriptions are always followed by praise of her character, her zestfor life, and her talent as a writer. Welty's looks may have prevented aslightly less creative girl from achieving similar heights, but she seemedto channel both the negative and the positives of her life into her work.She was able to transcend the superficiality of the times, which put astaggering amount of importance on looks, and is remembered by colleaguesas a woman before her time.

The book, which spans 340 pages, alsodelves into the network of literary giants that Welty cultivated. From herhometown of Jackson, Mississippi to New York City and abroad Welty toured,spoke, and nurtured a growing base of loyal friends and fans. She wascalled approachable by students who attended her lectures and lovable byfriends who shared intimate moments and memories with her. Well respectedand revered by writers, editors, and publishers, Welty was a multifacetedwoman who first tested creative waters as a photographer who was known towalk into less fortunate neighborhoods and take pictures of people from allwalks of life.

Welty identified her dream to be a writer in the early20s and her determination led her from the society pages of a dailyMississippi newspaper to becoming junior publicist for the Works ProgressAdministration; and, later, a novelist whose life is of interest to readersaround the world.

After reading about her life, I find myself recallingcharacters that at one point or another find themselves in similarcircumstances or places that Eudora experienced, and have already put herautobiography titled ONE WRITER'S BEGINNINGS on my literary wish list.

--- Reviewed by Heather Grimshaw

Rewarding glimpses into a remarkable life
I spent most of the weekend immersed in this book--and becoming enchanted with Eudora Welty.Monday I was at the library getting several of her works.I wanted to start at the beginning, so I read her first shortstory--Death of a Traveling Salesman.It was as gripping and powerful as Ihad hoped.This biography is respectful and insightful.It provides youwith a strong sense of a gentle, talented southern lady who was absolutelytrue to herself and the world in which she spent her life and nurtured hertalents. I am looking forward to reading everything Eudora Welty wrote andgetting to know her.And it all began with this biography.

The Petrified Biographer
This is a terrible, mean-spirited attack against our greatest living writer, attacking her looks, her private life, etc. Eudora Welty has said throughout her life that she didn't want a biography written about her.This woman obviously does not respect her or she would respect her wishes.And why do such a book at this late date, with Miss Welty about to turn90?? The author coyly pretends to be an admirer and then makes endlesslurid allusions to a lady who basically has devoted her whole life tocultivating her art. Our most gifted writer is dismissed as a homely,unwanted "fag hag." (Judging by the photo of the dust jacket,Miss Waldron is no Hedy Lamarr herself). What would Edna Earle say aboutsuch a woman!!Don't buy this garbage. Buy another copy of one of MissEudora's books instead.You'll love it and it won't upset your stomach.To think some poor trees had to be slaughtered for this trash!!By theway, Happy 90th Birthday to Miss Eudora Welty who will certainly survivesuch a infantileattack as this.And someday an HONORABLE biography abouther no will doubt be written. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A Triumph To Honesty
Rosemary Daniell's memoir, Fatal Flowers, resonantes with an honesty that strips away the stereotypical image foisted onto women, especially southern women, over centuries of male-dominated myth-making, and so, image-making. Born in 1936 and a product of the deep south, I grew up always feeling alone and alienated. Later in life I figured out the reason I felt so 'outside the pale'. I refected this simpering, asexual image of the southern belle. Reading a memoir such as this makes one realize that depression, and even suicide, are sometimes the result of trying to fit into this too-restrictive mold. A recent study showed that female students are on a par with male students (or even ahead of them, academically) until they reach puberty. I wonder how much of our spiritual, intellectual and creative growth is stifled along with our sexuality by trying vainly to fit into this stereotype? This book, along with others, such as Erica Jong's Fear Of Flying, and Marilyn French's Her Mother's Daughter, will pave the way for others to write openly and rebelliously about their own experiences of grwoing up in this oppressive, restrictive society. Perhaps books like this will eventually break the final taboos against southern female sexuality. A must read for anyone who wants an honest appraisal of our ever-emerging female psyche. I highly recommend this fook.

A Triumph To Honesty
A Triumph To Honesty

Rosemary Daniell's memoir, Fatal Flowers, resonates with an honesty that strips away the stereotypical image foisted onto women, especially southern women, over centuries of male-dominated myth-making and so, image-making. A product of the deep south, born in 1936, I grew up always feeling alone and alienated. Later in life 1 figured out the reason I felt so 'outside the pale'. I rejected this simpering, asexual image of the southern belle. Reading a memoir such as this makes one realize that depression, and even suicide, are sometimes the result of trying to fit into this too-restrictive mold. A recent study showed that female students are on a par with male students (or even ahead of them, academically) until they reach puberty. I wonder how much of our spiritual, intellectual and creative growth is stifled along with our sexuality by trying vainly to fit into this stereotype?. This book, along with others, such as Erica Jong's Fear Of Flying, and Marilyn French's, Her Mother's Daughter, will pave the way for others to write openly and rebelliously about their own experiences of growing up in this oppressive, restrictive society. Perhaps books like this will eventually break the final taboos against southern female sexuality. A must read for anyone who wants an honest appraisal of our ever-emerging female psyche. I highly recommend this book; five stars rating.

A Nightmare You Should Strive to Miss
I was so disappointed with this book. I am a white woman who also grew up in Atlanta, and I don't identify with her experiences or feelings of horrible oppression at all. I found the book to be very tedious, filled with self-pity and lots of blame on others. The salacious title of the novel promises racy, exciting plot lines, but if that tempts you to buy this book, save your time and rent Sex and the City instead.

The first woman with the courage to write about it
Rosemary Daniell's memoir of her life as a Southern woman is unlike any that exists in literature. Because she has told it like it really is. For those readers who are interested in the truth about women in the South--and women everywhere--this book is for you.

Don't waste your money
I threw this book in the circular file after reading it. I can't believe that some book publisher would even bother to print this book. I feel that I have been fleeced of $15.95. This was a "staff recommendation" at my local bookstore. Gag....Once again, I feel that the P.C. culture is promoting more lies, misinformation and garbage and calling it art.

Rosemary Daniell has led a tragic life which she portends is the result of a lineage born out of southern womanhood. As a native southerner, I was insulted. She may have been born in the South, but, basically, she has lived a so-called white trash existence which is not exclusively a southern phenomenon. Ms. Daniell has made about every bad choice women can make in their lives regarding relationships, honoring your self, motherhood, etc.

When she repeatedly claims that the Jimmy Carter family typifies southern culture and that Rosalynn Carter is an ideal of southern womanhood, I was further insulted.

Rosemary Daniell is a "victim" of too many drugs and too much dysfunctionality not her southern upbringing. Besides being sophomoric in reasoning and rambling in content, this book is not worthy of anyone's time or money. Don't buy it. ... Read more

Book Description

Artist Mary Whyte moved with her husband to a small South Carolina barrier island 10 years ago and quite by accident met a group of senior citizens who were making quilts in a small abandoned church. Longtime residents of Johns Island and descendants of slaves, this extraordinary group of African American women changed Whyte's life and paintings in astonishing and unexpected ways. Chronicled in dialogue and images are the Gullah way of life and the evolution of an incredible friendship between the artist and Alfreda LaBoard, who became the subject of many of her paintings. Whyte uses the watercolor medium to produce rich, dark tones and textures. Her combination of tightly controlled brush strokes and loose, broad sweeps of washes, coupled with contrasts of light and dark, produce a level of intensity not usually associated with watercolor. The use of mostly transparent pigments, hard and soft edges, limited backgrounds, and simple poses bring into focus for the viewer what Whyte feels is important. Her watercolors reveal not only what it is like to be African American and living the Gullah tradition in South Carolina, but at the same time, what it feels like to one who is not. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Heartwarming
My mom, an artist, received this book as a gift. I was intrigued by the paintings, started reading it and found I could not put it down. The life lessons spoken/lived by Alfreda and her friends touched my heart. If only we could all live accordingly. A deeply moving book. A wonderfully inspiring gift of encouragement.

Like Tuesdays with Morrie -- only it's Wednesdays with Mary
A heartwarming true story for all ages, with incredible color paintings by a talented Charleston artist.

This would be a great gift for moms, sisters, grandmoms. A must-read for anyone who loved When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, or The Secret Life of Bees!

Here's to Alfreda and to all the wise women at the Hebron Zion Church on John's Island. You are an inspiration!

alfreda's world
The book is wonderful, it is easy to read. This book is breath taking. ... Read more

Book Description

In his fortieth year, Chris Offutt returns to his alma mater, Morehead State University, the only four-year school in the Kentucky hills. He envisions leading the modest life of a teacher and father. Yet present-day reality collides painfully with memory, leaving Offutt in the midst of an adventure he never imagined: the search for a home that no longer exists.

Interwoven with this bittersweet homecoming tale are the wartime stories of Offutt's parents-in-law, Arthur and Irene. An unlikely friendship develops between the eighty-year-old Polish Jew and the forty-year-old Kentucky hillbilly as Arthur and Offutt share comfort in exile, reliving the past at a distance. With masterful prose, Offutt combines these disparate accounts to create No Heroes, a profound meditation on family, home, the Holocaust, and history. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

You Can't Go Home Again
The author writes about his returning to his home to his eastern Ketucky roots to teach at the local college, and "give back" to his hometown.That part of the book was informative for me since I did not know a whole lot about that part of the world and its people.But, the really intersting part of the book is the parallel story he tells about his mother and father inlaw, who are Holocaust Survivors.
That part of the book, which documents his inlaws' survival stories, is especially memorable.Now the fascinating aspect of all of this to me was that the two stories, ie his memoir, and the inlaws' history, have virtually nothing to do with each other.
The two stories remain separate throughout the book.

Offutt's style of short concise sentences, and chapters makes for easy reading.His insights into the Appalachian culture
are eye opening for us outsiders.

I recommend the book, especially for those who might be considering "going home" to give back. According to Offutt, it isn't easy.

He sounds like a funny and likable guy
The book No Heroes suffers from a severe dislocation, when Chris Offutt tries to tell the story of Arthur and Irene, his in-laws, and their shattering Holocaust experiences, but basically giving them short shrift and only a few paragraphs compared to his lengthy tales about encountering old chums, teachers and girlfriends when he returns to teach in the hills of Kentucky.

His little hostage to fortune, Sam, doesn't like school there, so Chris doesn't stay long.In a way it's a shame he wrote this book because it makes nearly every person in the Kentucky hills sound like a moron.He is unforgiving in his characterization.can people really be this small-minded and idiotic?Maybe so, but he isn't doing the Kentucky visitors bureau any favors.

At the same time, he's great at describing things, and the colorful dialect of many of his old Morehead buds will provoke a round of belly laughs, some of their sayings are both priceless and profane.He sounds like a funny and likable guy, except he's a little bit on the preachy side.

Not really a success, but maybe he's written other and better things, I'd read more of him.

longitude and attitude
this memoir reads like a journal and seems to square many assumptions the writer went into a larger world to confirm. my own experience: leaving the south, making friends from other cultures, then coming back (for what?) line up almost perfectly with the trajectory of Mr. Offutts story. Progress has been made, work needs to be done.
Locals who have problems with this book, I have advice: go and be.
Chris is actually doing you a service...

Pathetic Misrepresentation
Yes, I am educated enough to spell misrepresentation.I am also a graduate of Morehead State University and soon will have a Masters of Business Administration.Wait it gets better.I also have already obtained an MCSE, MCSA, Dell Certified Technician, A+ Certification, Brainbench Computer Technical Support, ExPert Rating Computer Technical Support, and 17 other professional certifications.Could this be possible?Yes, it is.Morehead State University is a fine institution and there are not as many "hicks" roaming the streets as Mr. Offutt would like to believe.There is no mistaking his imaginative talent and excellent authorship, but his egotistical dreamland is very questionable.I would recommend this great work of FICTION to anyone out there who enjoys a good Kentucky redneck or imbreed joke because you are just as imaginative as Mr. Chris Awful (oops, eye lowst meye diktonary!!!)

Putting others down to make himself feel better.
As a student of Morehead State University and a long time resident of Appalachia, I can only hope that Mr. Offutt intended his book to be PURE FICTION.In addition, I even took the one creative writing course he offered (and at the time I was very satisfied with the class).Because of this, I can honestly and confidently say that the author made up almost all of his situations to make himself out to be a superior to Appalachian natives he claims to 'know' so well.His repeated insults and sly innuendos do nothing but make him look like a fool to those who know the truth.'Back home,' you can bet we all know the real reason he left was not his disappointment in Appalachia, but Appalachia's disappointment in him. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Mesmerizing, transporting tales from a brilliant storyteller
These stories get played on every long car ride our family makes, and all of us (from the first grader on up) are rapt.Davis uses his gentle voice and sly humor to paint unforgettable portraits of beloved relatives, local eccentrics, and lost friends.The stories are fresh and moving each time we hear them; in fact, the repeated listenings increase our appreciation for the mastery of Davis' telling.

This is family entertainment of the highest order.

My favorite audiobook of all time
I don't think anyone can listen to Donald Davis tell his Different Drummer story and not be touched by it.Just it alone is worth the price of the set of cassettes.You also get to hear LSMFT (yes, that's the title of the story), which has a nearly perfect ending.Each is a story so good that you wish you could forget it, so that you'd have the pleasure of listening to it again for the first time.

Donald Davis is a Great Storyteller!
Listening to the story is better than reading it.His accent and voice make the vivid stories come alive.His stories, about growing up in western North Carolina are nostalgic, yet the issues will appeal to anyone of any age.My children 9 and 15 love his tapes along with my 70 year old parents.He is one of our favorite people to listen to in the car on trips.

Donald Davis is wonderful`
I have read and listened to several of Donald Davis' books.He is the best story teller I have ever listened to.He makes you laugh, cry and remember.I encourage anyone who loves to hear a good yarn, listen to any of D. Davis's works.He is awesome.

Donald Davis--Storyteller Extrordinaire!
I am buying Donald Davis' cassette, "THE CRACK OF DAWN" for the second time.I owned my first copy for many years until by stereo was stolen from my car and had Mr. Davis' tape in it.I had the privilege of meeting him at a storytelling festival at Cal State University, Los Angeles and heard this story in person.It is every bit as good on tape.Mr. Davis spins his yarn in such a mesmerizing way that you can almost see his Aunt Laura and hear the "Crack of Dawn." ... Read more

Book Description

Ruthie Mae Bolton was born January 6, 1961, in the Hungry Neck section of Charleston, South Carolina. At the time, her mother was thirteen; she has never known who her father was. Her mother was the wandering kind, so Ruthie Mae-nicknamed "Gal" by her stepgrandfather-was raised in her grandparents' home. One day Grandmama died as a result of a severe beating by her husband-it occured to no one to call this to the attention of the authorities-and Gal was left in the brutal hands of her granddaddy, who beat her unmercifully as well. Ruthie Mae began to steal things in school and she developed a stutter; she drank and smoked dope. But she stuck resolutely with her education and graduated from high school, which was likely her salvation, for today Ruthie Mae is happily married, with children and a fine job. At last she is at peace-with herself and even with the memory of her grandfather. It is nigh impossible to convey the astonishingly eloquent simplicity of Ruthie Mae's witnessing to her time. Here is an absolutely remarkable document, as touching as it is painful, as ageless as it is timely. ... Read more

Reviews (42)

You Go Gal!
What a Story! Originally when I picked up Gal, I thought it was going to take me back to the '30s or '40s. Gosh was I surprised to find out that the author was born in 1961...she's around my age! As I read her story I was appalled and thought the atrocity of her situation shouldn't have ever happened. Where was the extended family? Why didn't someone...anyone intervene?

Ruthie Bolton, aka Gal, was born in the impoverished Hungry Neck section of Charleston. Ruthie's mom was a 13-year old teenager and she never knew her father. Tired of her step-father abusing her, Ruthie's mother left home and Ruthie, and never returned to claim her. Ruthie's step-grandfather, Clovis Fleetwood, while an honorable enlisted Navy man was a mean, vicious, brutal, selfish, jealous and unloving family man. Because Fleetwood though Ruthie's grandmother was cheating on him he brutally attacked her and left her for dead while her granddaughter and children watched. Ruthie's life would be pure hell after her grandmother's death and would quickly spiral into one of poverty, abuse, neglect, humiliation, and later in her teen years include stealing, drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, and an early marriage which ended in divorce. Only after Ruthie meets her second husband, Ray Bolton, and his family will she be shown love, support, understanding and compassion. And it is then as an adult that she realized that her family and childhood were not normal.

Gal is a heartwrenching but touching and poignant story. It's a story of overcoming obstacles and excelling in spite of adversity. It's a story of what one is able to accomplish when one has the love of a family. It's a story that I recommend to everyone but especially those who need the motivation to move beyond a horrible past. Ruthie's story is one of pain, humiliation, courage and ultimately love. Ruthie's life is a miracle and a triumph. Thank you Ruthie Bolton for sharing your story.

Emotionally gripping but missing something...
This story of a young woman's struggle to survive despite her circumstances has some good things going for it. The reader is pretty much instantly hooked into her story, eager to find out how it will end. But at the same time, there's something missing.

Ruthie Bolton or "Gal" is a pseudonym for the heroine of this true story, written with the help of a friend who tries her best to stay true to the voice of this unique woman. There are no 25-cent words. There's no attention to sentence structure or grammar, which can be disconcerting at times. But what you get is the raw, honest narrative of someone who has clearly lived through a great deal and come out of it a survivor.

Ruthie's childhood world has trouble and pain written all over it. Living in a small town outside of Charleston, S.C., she was raised by her grandmother and step-grandfather. The step-grandfather, Ruthie's only father figure, is an abusive man who keeps her and her cousins in line with violence. Ulimately, that violence takes her grandmother's life.

Ruthie grows up in relative poverty, marked out for failure from the start. But she survives her blows and graduates from high school. Fleeing her step-grandfather's home, she tries to make a life for herself and ends up making some poor decisions that change her life often for the worse.

Eventually, Ruthie triumphs over the bad hand she is dealt and settles into a happy second marriage with a man whose family accepts her for who she is. Ruthie has a painful struggle accepting that love. This situation was the most gripping for me because you see Ruthie's heart, raw and broken, truly for the first time.

If the emotions that are let out in this part of the book were as available to the reader elsewhere, I would have enjoyed "Gal" much more. Instead, I often felt like a I was reading a rambling listing of events and voices at times. Ruthie's feelings are buried. We don't know how these things touched her, what changes they created in her behavior. These moments are what's missing.

At the same time, "Gal" will grip any reader willing to take the risk. I would highly recommend this book for teen readers because of the simplicity of the language and the life lessons it has to share. It will certainly spark some interesting discussions between teens and their peers, and their families.

Gal, the True Life of Ruthie Bolton
Gal, the true life of Ruthie Bolton is a story written through the eyes of a child who never knew the meaning of love. Born in 1961 to a mother just aging 13, Ruthie Homer was left in the hands of her grandparents, Clovis and Ruthie Fleetwood. Not long after Ruthie (Gal) was five things seemed to become a bit strange. Clovis Fleetwood, or Daddy as Gal called him, had a sudden urge of violence and depression which he took out on everybody in the house. Daddy started forcing the other girls in the house to cook, clean, and tend to his every need. If they did not do exactly what he asked, when he asked, he immediately beat them with a belt or a skinny tree branch. Getting caught up in sex, drugs and alcohol was what Gal considered that to be a "normal" life. The road through Jr. High and High school was long and windy for Gal. It took her on journey's through living life on her own, the death of her mother, the encounters with drugs, and the price you have to pay for having a selfish father. One day, after pretty much giving up on life, Ray Bolton walked through the door of Ruthie's one bedroom apartment. He came from the family Ruthie has always dreamed of having; a family who showed kindness, and happiness towards her at every waking moment. In this family Ruthie found everything she lacked as a child. Through this wonderful family, the little girl who got caught up in the life of a drunken old man soon found out what it was like to be loved.
This book is a very well written book. The details can be a little much at times, but with that, its almost like we could actually be there. The way the author wrote the book makes it easy to understand what Ruthie was going through in her childhood days and she always keeps you wondering, "what's going to happen next." This book is written in dialect so its easy to get the just of Ruthie's life in the South. However this dialect can sometimes be confusing when there are multiple people speaking, and when the transition from Ruthie Homer to Ruthie Bolton occurs.
This book is a terrific book for all reading levels. The summary starts off going through the horrible life of a little girl, then goes on to everything this girl had ever dreamed of, making it almost a fiction book. After reading when I went back and thought about it, I realized that it was a true story, so it gave me another perspective on her life. On a scale of one to ten I would rate this book a nine and a half, but I would recommend it to just about anybody interested in reading.

gal
this book is 5 stars 3 moons 8 suns a few planets naw its the whole solar system

Very good...
She definitely caught all the details of her hard-life. Her words--very captivating and she has a very unique style of writing. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Straightforward and Detailed
Although one cannot accuse J.A. Zeigler of being a creative writer, his account of this horrifying family is definitely an interesting one. I live in the town that the Bighams lived in, and practically everyone here has read this book as well as the now out-of-print "A Piece of the Fox's Hide" by Katherine Boling. Who came before Charles Manson? Jim Jones? Jeffrey Dahmer? The Bighams! ... Read more

Book Description

Since its founding in 1733, Savannah, Georgia, has seduced visitors with its verdant beauty and its palpable sense of history. Rebels, Saints and Sinners reveals the true stories behind some of the city’s most notorious figures, including Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who captured the city during the Civil War, and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson who spent a year playing minor league ball here, wintered in Savannah during the off season after he made the big leagues and later ran a small store in Savannah after he was banned from baseball due to the Black Sox scandal.

These stories also highlight local heroes – for example, Savannah native Cynthia Jacobson, still trying to solve a 100-year old family murder and Dr. Richard Arnold, deemed the hero of the 1854 Yellow Fever epidemic. Villains are also portrayed as well – one example is political kingpin John Bouhan whose corruption so defiled city politics that it took a political revolution to usurp his power.

From John Wesley, founder of Methodism, to rock-and-roll pioneer Elvis Presley, many notable figures have left their mark on the city, and most of them are chronicled here. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Candid look at old Savannah
Enthralling essays about Savannah's noble and oft ignoble past! Includes essays about "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's days in Savannah, Bobby Jones time there in 1930, and a 1950s Elvis Presley concert that stirred the status quo and bemused the local media. Along the way we watch the city grow from an outpost carved in the vast wilderness to a modern city, see the rise of Savannah Jazz, and look on as a teenage Ted Turner learns to sail in Savannah waters. Also included are in-depth profiles about Savannah's lest than glorious past such as "Corruption Savannah Style", which looks at the vices of Georgia's mother city during the first half of the 20th Century. From the colonial era and James Oglethorpe to the 1970s, this book lays bare old Southern clichés and in doing so is great reading. ... Read more

Book Description

Prior to his death in 1985, Cratis Williams was a leading scholar of and spokesperson for Appalachian life and literature and a pioneer of the Appalachian studies movement. Williams was born in a log cabin on Caines Creek, Lawrence County, Kentucky, in 1911. To use his own terms, he was "a complete mountaineer."

This book is an edited compilation of Williams’ memoirs of his childhood. These autobiographical reminiscences often take the form of a folktale, with individual titles such as "Preacher Lang Gets Drunk" and "The Double Murder at Sledges." Schooled initially in traditional stories and ballads, he learned to read by the light of his grandfather’s whiskey still and excelled at the local one-room school. After becoming the first person from Caines Creek to attend and graduate from the county high school in Louisa, he taught in one-room schools while pursuing his own education. He earned both a BA and MA from the University of Kentucky before moving to Appalachian State Teacher’s College in 1942; later he earned a Ph.D. from New York University and then returned to Appalachian State. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Essential for those interested in Appalachian Studies
The stories of Cratis Williams are essential for the getting a glimpse of Appalachia. He is/was indeed the leading spokesperson and scholar of life in the Applachian Mountains. These stories deal mostly with his childhood growing up in rural Eastern Kentucky. These stories are unforgettable and profound.

Cratis Williams eventually came to Boone, North Carolina to teach school. He returned again after receiving his Ph.D. from New York University. Appalachian State University's graduate school is named for him.

"The Cratis Williams Chronicles: I Come to Boone" is another book that goes into detail about his coming to the high country of North Carolina. Highly Recommended.

If you're at all interested in peeling back the stereotypical images of Appalachia and peering into a region with soul and character, give Cratis Williams a read. ... Read more

Book Description

The first non-fictional account by a female expert in the field of forensic anthropology, this book is a collection of short stories about forensic and bioarchaeology cases in Louisiana. Raised in a family of storytellers, the author weaves the history of her family into the accounts ofher cases which include those that are both solved and unsolved. This account also illustrates how determination on one woman's part made it possible for her to rise to the top in an often male dominated field. ... Read more

Reviews (38)

The Bone Lady ROCKS!
The Bone Lady: Life as a Forensic Anthropologist is a great read and anyone interested in forensic anthropology should pick this book up. It's not a technical laden book of words that are only known to this field. It's written in a format that can be easily read and understood. Inasmuch as I enjoyed her writing, I wish she had written more books. I was hoping to read more about her cases and if there were any updates. Even possibly getting more into detail of the forensic process.

A Smooth Narrative and a Southern Story-Telling Charm
What is a forensic anthropologist? "We are physical anthropologists who are trained in the human skeleton, and we use that training in a medico-legal context to assist law enforcement."

The real live "Bone Lady," Mary Manhein, answers this and another questions with smooth narrative and a Southerner's story-telling charm.

A Louisiana State University graduate who didn't begin undergraduate studies until her early thirties, Manheim weaves her own autobiography into the short book's twenty-seven chapters. After completing the bachelor's degree in English, she earned a master's degree in anthropology from LSU. She grew up loving literature, she says. And her early years were anchored in rural home places, "the hills of southwest Arkansas and northwest Louisiana, where my life revolved around stories."

Today, she is director of the Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) at LSU.

The Bone Lady tells dozens of work-related stories in and around her FACES Lab. Many detailed photographs and illustrations accompany the puzzle-like scenarios that the author finds herself trying to solve when either attempting to determine the identity of human remains, or the cause of death.

Filled with bits of trivia, the story takes readers into mysterious and sad cases of the "lost" people that Manhein has tried to identify, from drown victims to a suicide stowed away under a family porch. Even the controversial case of Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long's assassination receives a chapter-length treatment, at least Dr. Carl Austin Weiss's alleged participation in the shooting on September 8, 1935.

Readers of true crime, memoir, and Louisiana history will find this slim volume interesting, strong, and crisp. These are the hard-won stories that have made the author; all of it is rooted in the red clay and swamps of Louisiana.

----------Reviewed by Dayne Sherman

Bone Lady a good book for the general public
Interest in Forensic science has exploded over the past few years. As a result so have books concerning the subject area. Many of the books are well and scholarly written. The Bone Lady reads well for the general public, but for thise truly interested in the field of forensic science there are a number of books that are much more informative with respect to science. For a forensic anthropology book, consider Bill Maples Dead Men Do Tell Tales. If however you are simply looking for a simple entertaining excursion into memoirs, the Bone Lady is for you.

Cool Book
This was a quick really great read...I highly reccommend it!

A good starter book
It's well written but way too short. Manheim should have gotten more into either her personal feelings or (what I would have preferred) more into the science of what she does which I am sure is fascinating but she chose not to for some reason. Anyway, this book is a good way to pique interest in reading other books on the subject of forensic anthropology. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

#1 Book
I know a good book when I read one. Ybor City Chronicles is a excellent one. This book delivers a fresh new look at Ybor City that no one has ever seen before! It is comical and serious, yet it still gives you an inside look to the city of Ybor. In addition, it provides wonderful profiles of Ybor's most powerful people. Once I read this novel I honestly felt like I knew so much more about the city I grew up in (Tampa/Ybor). I recommend this book to anyone who wants a new perspective of this sun-bathed city. ... Read more

Book Description

On sabbatical from his professorship at the University of Pittsburgh, native West Virginian Chuck Kinder (portrayed as Grady Tripp in Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys and played by Michael Douglas in the film) makes a midlife pilgrimage to his homeland to re-imagine and reconnect with that fabled, fantastic country. Confronting the regrets and heartaches of his past, present, and future, Kinder seeks solace in the funny and raunchy family stories, lies, legends, and history that reside in West Virginia's haunted hills and the hollows of his memory. But more than anything, Kinder wants to live it up hillbilly style. Immersing himself among the lives of mountaineer characters, both the quick and the dead, the bad-boy author bears holy witness to the triumphs and misdeeds of the loafers and misfits, winos and oddball characters of his homeland. Readers will be astonished by tales of bloody mine wars, outlaws on the run, roadhouse romance, barroom brawlers, beer-joint ballerinas, and a man who calls himself the last mountain dancer. With mothmen, moonshiners, and family feudists, it's Planet West Virginia. Chuck Kinder's wild-ride rediscovery of his West Virginian roots is sure to quicken all of our hillbilly hearts. ... Read more

Book Description

My mother loved me to pieces, as she often said, writes Roy Blount Jr., "and I'm still trying to pick up the pieces." In the book his readers have been waiting for, our generation's master of full-hearted humor lays open the soul of his life story. Blount-Georgia boy, New York wit, lover of baseball and interesting women, bumbling adventurer, salty-limerick virtuoso, and impassioned father-journeys into his past, and his psyche (and also to China, Manhattan, and sixty feet underwater) in search of the answers to three riddles that have haunted his life: one, the riddle of "the family curse"; two, the riddle of what drives him, or anyone, to be funny; and three, the riddle of what so cruelly tangled his bond to the beguiling orphan girl who became the impossible mother who raised him to Be Sweet. Sardonic and sentimental, hilarious and grieving, brazen and bashful, tough and tender, honest and wayward, Be Sweet resonates with the complex but bouncy chords of a whole man singing, clinkers and all. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Interesting mother -son history
Roy Blount Jr. writes a rambling account of growing up with his strong yet troubled mother -- a woman who despite an abusive upbringing herself managed to raise a son and a daughter with little help from a good but passive husband to be individuals with a strong sense of themselves. Blount is funny and he makes good points about the defensive nature of humor, the lurking self-loathing beneath the humorist. The only turnoff in this saga is that as a middle-aged man, Blount still is in rebellion against his mother for her guilt trips, so much so that he can't, it seems, "be sweet" to the women in his personal life whom he claims he has loved. Otherwise a good read for anyone intersted in family relationships and 1950s nostalgia.

bitter with the sweet
I was lucky enough to stumble across Roy Blount reading from this book in a Vermont bookstore. I bought it on the spot, telling him that it was the first one of his books that I had paid full price for. He thought this was pretty fun, the store employee sitting next to him didn't. This book is worth its full price.

Be Sweet in no way sets out to "make fun of the mother-son relationship". I suppose because Blount is such an irreverent goof-ball on the radio and in print, it seems fair to have that preconception. However, Blount has always let us know that some things are sacred and after you get a short way into this book you realize that family is one of them. He desperately does not want to cast aspersions on his own mother's character, but he has to acknowledge that she did drive him to distraction throughout his life.

There were several points in this book were Blount seems to be going off on a tangent. To be honest I began to wonder if he was just filling the space between the covers. Oh me of little faith! In the last third of the book I was progressively more amazed and impressed as I discovered that his seemingly unconnected threads were actually germane to the resolution of his mid-life psychic wrestling match with himself.

Bill Bryson's recent A Walk In the Woods similarly surprised me. I don't expect journalists to write deeply personal prose. Roy Blount beats Bryson hands down as far as the psychological depths that are plumbed and illuminated. If the presentation of the psychological dimension of things bores you or insults your sense of decorum, then don't read this Roy Blount book. If you want to know what is going on in the head of middle aged white Southern guys of above average emotional honesty, then this is a pretty good place to start.

good writing...but
Blount is a good writer and has an excellent sense of phrasing. Many of these essays are insightful and quiet funny but overall this memoir really needs some editing. It is too long and rambling and he continually looses sight of his own theme. The best essays aren't even about his past but his current situation as a "humorist." His travels to China and stints on talk shows are the best.

A not very funny humorist!
Having roared at Roy Blount's humor on the Garrison Keillor show, I really looked forward to reading his book making fun of the mother-son relationship so aptly caught up in the title, "Be Sweet". I was terribly disappointed and found him not only lacking in humor but exhibiting a real dislike for females altogether. It was a book I easily gave away to the second hand shop.

An amazing book; very serious, but still true to past work
I was very surprised by this book on a number of levels. I've thought Blount's past works were funny, but also quite well thought out. Blount is never "funny" in the sense that Dave Berry is funny. There is no silliness about Blount; he is firmly grounded in reality.

This work is very serious. It is his attempt to displell his "family curse." He explores his relationships with his parents, sister, and ex-wives. He speculates on the nature of humor and humorists.

I thought the book was brilliant. It's like Blount is willing to talk about things that no one else will because doing so would sound stupid, but it's still what you want to say.

An added bonus is Blount's voice. He is not a particularly elegant reader. But it is hard to imagine any other voice reading this work. I compare it to Jean Shepard, who also has the perfect voice for his own work. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Jimmy Carter's Georgia hometown has been the one constant in his life, and he pays tribute to it with Christmas in Plains, a collection of holiday memories from his childhood through his Navy days, his time as Georgia governor and U.S. president, and his very active retirement. As a schoolboy, Carter looked forward to painting many-colored magnolia leaves to mix in with the holly on the mantle. His favorite way to collect mistletoe "usually at the top of oak or pecan trees and on the ends of slender limbs, was to shoot into the clump and let the bullets or buckshot cut off some sprigs." And when his godmother went to Cleveland, Ohio, one December, he asked her to bring back a snowball.It was quite some time before he realized that the large white marble she gave him was not "a real petrified snowball." Carter's memories of holding onto faith during the Christmases of his presidency are often poignant, taking place in the context of the Iranian hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. And his postretirement experiences of Christmas are strangely, comfortingly familiar, characterized by jealousy of in-laws and generosity towards neighbors. --Michael Joseph Gross ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Holiday Memories from the Depression to the White House
In An Hour Before Daylight former President Jimmy Carter reminisced about his boyhood on the farm during the Great Depression. Included in that were memories of Christmases, both for his family and for those around him in the farming community of Archery. Following up on the reception of An Hour Before Daylight, President Carter has focused his reminiscences on Christmases on the farm, in Plains, in Atlanta, and in the White House.
Christmas in Plains is a short but warm book that will not take long to read. In that short time, however, the reader will be struck by the importance of family, tradition, and holiday in President Carter's life. Some of the material presented is repeated from An Hour Before Daylight, and perhaps from some of President Carter's other books as well. It doesn't matter. The book is well-written, and evokes in the reader his own stirring of ghosts of Christmas past.
Written by almost anyone else, this book would not attract much attention. Many people have experienced Christmases much like these (except for the White House). Perhaps that is why it does receive attention-because of President Carter's celebrity we will read it and remember our own roots, family times, and traditions. And this is a time when those memories bring us a special comfort.

Once again, Jimmy Carter delights us with a "good read."
Since leaving the White House in 1981, Jimmy Carter has developed a rightfully-earned reputation as one of the most respected former presidents in U.S. history. Part of that reputation has been earned through the numerous books he has penned over the years. His books are thoughtful and down-to-earth, and remind us of values and perspectives that are truly part of the American tradition. His latest book is no exception and offers a delightful read during this holiday season--an opportunity to pause and reflect on Christmas Past with the former president, thereby recalling our own Christmas memories as well. Once again, we thank this man of wisdom and integrity for sharing his thoughts and memories with us!

The Human Side of America's 39th President
I had the privilege and honor of meeting President Carter at the University of Washington, where he signed a copy of this book for me. "Christmas in Plains" is a wonderful book that approaches autobiography in a new and interesting way: Jimmy Carter reflects on his life as a series of holiday seasons. We see the triumphs and the failures in eloquent and honest prose.

History will remember Jimmy Carter as a compassionate human being with a genuine desire to help others. This book would make the perfect holiday gift. After all, what better values truly embody the holiday spirit than compassion and love?

Christmas Joy from the Carters
The short, joyful book contains Jimmy Carter memories of Christmas. His earliest memories begin around 1930 (when he was 5), and involve memories of father Earl and mother Lillian, as well as black neighbors (in an era of separation, his family perhaps represented a light in the South). There are happy childhood memories of finding the Christmas tree and fireworks. Jimmy and Rosalynn always tried to get back to Plains, but there are included a few absent remembrance from Navy years, and a rather tense Christmas with the holding of the Iran hostages. The line drawings by daughter Amy add a family charm to the book. May the Carter's have many more Merry Christmases together in Plains.

Life in Plains, Acommunity in
CHRISTMAS IN PLAINS by Jimmy Carter
LIFE IN PLAINS
This is another of Jimmy Carter's books of God and his values. Jimmy is a good man and writes something that will not electrify you. This is part of his autobiography from Plains, the village or small town in Georgia where he remembered the good things when was a boy and always returned to Plains with his family to spend time with his mother and his wife's mother for Christmas. His father passed on earlier from cancer during this period.

He graduated from Annapolis, spent a long tour in the Navy, elected for two terms as state senator and then to the Governor of Georgia, before being elected President of the USA. He married Rosalynn, a childhood sweetheart, during his time in the Navy and they had three sons. He now has six grandchildren, at the last count.

After that, Jimmy and Rosalynn returned to Georgia. After founding the Atlanta-based Carter Center he is devoting the rest of time writing and doing good for all the world's people. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Sunday Passtime
It's pouring down rain outside and the house is empty except for the dog and myself. I grabbed this book and didn't stop until I closed the cover. Good passtime. The story is real and the people are personable. This is the kind of story that can take you back to the good ole days.

Deeper than you think
This is a wonderful book. It is a storyteller's book: handcrafted by the teller to reflect HIS story.

I've read critical comments about the book and Taulbert himself that belittle either or both because they do not decry segregation or prejudice enough. Such commentators miss the major point. I don't see how anyone can read about young Taulbert and the injustices he suffered silently without being outraged and moved to change things. The Mississippi Delta apartheid was not a society Taulbert chose, but one in which he was raised. His story is about his life, not politics per se.

I recently heard Taulbert speak. He is as impressive in person as he is as a youngster in this book.

You will be richer for reading this book. I gave it 4-stars only because it is not intellectual on the surface and in that regard may not fulfill a certain challenge some of us expect in a book. Nonetheless, read this book. It is really a wonderful read that takes you to a past and a geographic spot not often visited.

Hope for humanity
Clifton Taulbert gives me hope and inspiration as writer -- his words are so carefully crafted, his view of the world is sincere and filled with an uplifting vision. His vivid description leads me to believe that even in the midst of the chaos and destruction we now inhabit, humanity may yet find a path to a better world. He is a truly inspiring writer; this is a truly inspiring book!

Good Sunday Reading
All the kids were gone and I decided to grab a book and read. Well this is the perfect book for just relaxing and enjoying. The stories were so real that they just took me back to where he was.

interesting
Humans have the amazing ability to make any experience mean whatever we want to us. Wether or not an experience is positive or negative, real or imagined, is almost irrelevant to how we perceive that experience. In the book "When We Were Colored", the author proves this assertion. Despite a plethora of dehumanizing situations and experiences, Clifton Taulbert still manages to paint his childhood as a beautiful succession of events teaching him how to reach his dreams and succeed. That his upbringing served him well and Mr. Taulbert succeeded is clear. However, what is not discussed, but is painfully evident, is the real reason for his success. Although Mr. Taulbert's childhood gave him the tools he needed to succeed in life, the main way that it did so was by instructing him in how to be a "good Negroe", also referred to as an "Uncle Tom." ... Read more

Book Description

A touching story of a woman's search for her family roots in the wake if the sudden death of her father.

Claiming Kin is a powerful and compelling story about a woman's quest to search out her roots upon the death of the father she barely knew.A former journalist hungry for the truth, her search into the past leads her from her hometown in Nashville, Tennessee, back to the birthplace of the Scruggs in nearby Williamson County.There she traces the family back to 1847 and the Scruggs Farm where her ancestors were once slaves.Her journey soon becomes spiritual and emotional, forcing her not only to examine her own beliefs in the importance of family, but also her religious beliefs as she turns toward honoring her ancestors.This is a tale that will capture the heart and mind. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Who do you think you are?
Sometimes we discover who we are out of curiosity and other times life slaps us in the face and forces us to confront the reality of who we are.After the death of her father, Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs seemed to have found herself asking questions that she could not answer.These questions led her on a journey that would span over twenty years, and I suspect still continues today.

The book begins with a description of one of the authors few recollections of her father.This opening scene is a pleasant memory