Red Holler
Contemporary Appalachian Literature
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
New York Times–bestselling author Ron Rash joins 23 writers on Appalachian culture and community: “Buy this book, it's a barn burner!” (Dorothy Allison).
Drawing on Appalachian literature’s roots in Native American myth, African American urban legend, and European folk culture, and embracing Appalachian urban fiction, the Southern Gothic, gritty no-holds-barred realism, and magical realism, the illuminating works in Red Holler perfectly depict what makes Appalachia so fascinating: its irreverent and outlaw challenges to mainstream notions of propriety and convention.
“Enthusiasts of Appalachian literature will appreciate the breadth of work” in this extraordinarily diverse anthology of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and graphic narratives by fresh new voices alongside widely known and celebrated authors. We travel into housing projects, forest-stripped ravines, trailer parks, and communities ranging from Mississippi to New York to explore vibrant hometown and migrant Appalachian traditions, values, and society. Red Holler takes us over and beyond the stock imagery of rural mountain habitués and redefines this expansive and distinctive American landscape (Publishers Weekly).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Branscum and Thomas push beyond the old tropes in this diverse but uneven anthology of contemporary Appalachian fiction, graphic narratives, nonfiction, and poetry. Jacinda Townsend's wonderful but abruptly ended account, "Lackland," traces her father's real-life experience as a black Appalachian serviceman stationed in Jim Crow Mississippi. Jeff Mann offers a memoir in "715 Wiley Street," shedding some light on an oft-neglected perspective, even though "writing about gay people in Appalachia," Mann says, "doesn't net me much money or attention." "Affrilachian Poet" Makalani Bandele approaches the universal in "Southbound #71," where she expresses what it feels like when "the bus driver looks at you like you just picked your nose and wiped it on your shirt." The best surprise of the collection is Pinkney Benedict's graphic narrative, "ORGO vs the FLATLANDERS," which lovingly mocks the genre's overwrought mythologies while "work out on paper that boyhood understanding of the true nature of the world," which his farmer father broke in two: "mountain people and flatlanders." Benedict, Ron Rash, and Dennis Covington as well as Donald Ray Pollock, Jane Springer, and Alex Taylor help move the collection beyond many amateurish pieces. Teachers and enthusiasts of Appalachian literature will appreciate the breadth of work, including artist statements and bios.
