Gurney Norman was selected as Poet Laureate for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
An exciting and provocative new collection.
~Appalachian Journal
An important book.
~Arkansas Historical Quarterly
Thought-provoking, admirably accessible to nonspecialist readers, and offers an excellent introduction to Appalachian regional studies. Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary and historic Appalachia, it is also a model regional study that provides an excellent comparative perspective for scholars and students of other American regions.
~Choice
A challenge to 'monolithic pejorative, and unquestioned' images of Appalachia.
~Chronicle of Higher Education
Social theory, history, literature, personal experience, and activism are successfully bound, and issues of race and gender are not neglected.... For scholars of the southern Appalachian region the volume is indispensable.
~Contemporary Sociology
An interesting and diverse collection.
~Filson Club History Quarterly
Presents a broad view of a region diverse in population, social issues, and history.
~Florida Historical Quarterly
Addresses the origins and perpetuation of these disparaging stereotypes, and offers writers' personal experiences growing up or living in Appalachia.
~Goldenseal
Provides provocative and insightful essays about this much-maligned region of the United States.
~Kentucky Monthly
One does come away with a better idea of why Appalachians are seen as they are.
~Lexington Herald-Leader
Every subject is covered from AIDS to rednecks to labor activism to the coalfields to race and gender.
~Library Booknotes
Addresses the origins of stereotypes of literature from the region, looks at labor and advocacy movements in Appalachia during this century, offers writers' personal glimpses of growing up or living in the region, and ends by highlighting the stereotypes and broad generalizations that characterize 'The Kentucky Cycle.'
~McCormick (SC) Messenger
A book that attempts to do a lot, and succeeds on the whole.
~Mountain Eagle
Now we have this thought-provoking collection of essays of the country we northerners knew so little about.
~Oakland (MI) Press
The essays, which share the goal of refuting the ongoing stereotyping of the region, are written from a variety of perspectives—anthropologists, sociologists, fiction writers, historians, health care activists, political scientists, to name a few.
~Ohioana Quarterly
Poring through the book's pages, readers, Appalachian readers especially, will experience a wide range of reactions—anger, humor and pride foremost among them.
~Paintsville Herald
Containing essays written by some of the region's leading scholars, activists, and artists—the list of contributors itself testifies to the creativity of the people in the region and to the contributions Appalachians have made to the nation.
~Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
These important, provocative essays are an outstanding contribution to Appalachian studies scholarship, but they are also quite accessible to non-specialists.
~Tennessee Librarian
