One thought on “Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean:Meditations on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia”

1. Creative Non Fiction confessional stories These essays contain all the information that could NEVER make it into a dust jacket bio Want to know your fav authors motivations, dark secrets, struggles, or sexual orientation look no farther It s all here Contributors write about families left behind, hard earned educations, selves transformed, identities chosen and risks taken Great writing that reaches deep into the histories of the authors The LGTB crowd is well represented here, many had difficul [...]

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2. For better or worse, this was my country, and I could not let it go until it blessed me What form that blessing would take I did not know yet I only knew that when it came I would recognize it through its disguises It is this that keeps poets in their countries through namelessness, doors closing, hungers, and there are many kinds, until they are forced to abandon home, which can, in itself, become a blessing Mary Lee Settle, in Charley Bland, quoted by Aaron Smith in his essay For Better or Wor [...]

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3. 3.5 stars These are my people If you have Appalachian roots, you ll see yourself again and again in these essays They concern religion Silas House s essay about growing up in the Holiness Church Appalachians outsider status, with a particular emphasis on the LGBT experience, and reflections from authors who have left the region for good Melissa Range s Outsider Appalachian , David Huddle s Above My Raising.The collection also included a great but harrowing essay by Chris Offutt, the very funny C [...]

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6. The essays, prose, etc in this collection are gems I m not Appalachian, but I am a born bred North Carolinian The internal struggles the writers lay bare are not just for fellow Appalachians I think that people from all walks of life should read these reflections.

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