Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: At Home in the Heart of Appalachia by John O'Brien ISBN: 0-385-72139-0 Publisher: Anchor Books/Doubleday Pub. Date: 13 August, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.32 (19 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Welcome to Wild, Wonderful West Virginia--sort of
Comment: I grew up in southeastern Ohio and northwestern West Virginia and I write, so I've always been interested in books about Appalachia. In most of them, I've read about illiteracy, incest, black lung, poverty and a whole heap of despair. Okay. Unfortunately, that was true for some residents--but the West Virginia I knew was friendly, funny, loving and, at times, breathtakingly beautiful. I make it back at least once a year and it still is all of those things and then some.
That's a side of the state I'm still looking for in fiction and nonfiction both.
I'm grateful to John O'Brien for the sections of his book that take on the long-standing myths and misconceptions about the Mountain State. It's definitely worth reading just for that. The other criticisms I've read on here have merit and I felt O'Brien's emotional problems and his relationship with his father were vague and sometimes even evasive. He sounded very clear about the state around him but not his own state of mind at times.
Still, definitely worth reading if you have an interest in West Virginia and Appalachia.
A great step on understanding a misunderstood region.
Rating: 4
Summary: Finally, the truth
Comment: Like John O'Brien, my parents were born and raised in WV. In the Franklin of his book, in fact. Like John, my parents left WV after high school look for jobs and greater opportunities. Like John, I am "from" WV, even though I didn't grow up there.
This book went straight to my core. First of all, because he's writing from Franklin, a town I know as "home". He explained so many things I've seen all my life but never quite understood -- the Woodlands Institute, the fight over school re-districting, the conflict between Franklin and the North Fork communities, etc.
I know the places and people he talks about and his words ring true. Everett Mitchell really could sell raffle tickets to a tree stump if he decided to! I also have had the same feelings of attachment and alienation from WV and "Appalachia". It's home but....
I've heard my parents describe their confusion about this mythical place called "Appalachia". I've heard them wonder where it is and what it's about because the myth never seemed to describe their home and their childhood, even though, theoretically, they are from the very heart of Appalachia.
I've seen the conflicts John O'Brien describes between the "middle class" and the "hillbillies" acted out within my own family. Within, I suspect, my parents marriage.
John O'Brien does the ONLY credible job of describing the myth of Appalachia I've ever read. Living in DC, every few years the local papers will come out with a fully predictable feature article. It will include someone, usually a transplant from the midwest, finally wandering away from the whirlwind of Capitol Hill and the White House and national politics and taking a drive west.
They "discover" that WV (and, by extension, the mythical Appalachia) is a mere 2 hours (2 hours!!!) from DC! But, oh!, the contrasts! Oh, the stark beauty! Oh, the poverty! Oh, the feuds! Oh, the tragedy! How can this be, a mere few hours from our nations capitol! The most powerful city in the world!! What can we DO about this?????
yada yada yada. Pretty nauseating, predictable, lamely written stuff. It was an incredible relief to finally read something true, thoughtful, and considered about West Virginia.
The one...downside?...to the book is some of the stuff about John's personal life. I'm torn between really appreciating how Appalachia and his personal trials are interwoven. But sometimes it seems just a bit too...much. That's a judgement call though. I can see why he did it. I can't really blame him.
I lent the book to my father, born and raised in "Appalachia", and currently living back on the home place in Franklin. He found it frustrating but I think that's mostly because it hit much too close to home for him. Once he got past his frustration, he agreed that John O'Brien honestly describes his home, his culture, and his world. I suppose you won't get a better recommendation than that.
Rating: 2
Summary: West Virginia is more than a depression attempt at writing
Comment: John O'Brien's At Home in the Heart of Appalachia is neither inspring, uplifting, or well written. His book is filled with overindulgent excuses for his father's racism while perpetuating stereotypes of Appalachia. His writing is aimless. In some areas, he seems too engrossed in self pity, and in others he just seems to be building on an image of a man he obviously created for himself in college. Attempts to strip his ego are shallow and unconvincing. At times, I really saw, or felt I saw, O'Brien trying to get a book out by deadline. If this was a writing that glorified the Appalachian experience or its people, he would have had an excuse. John O'Brien had some fuel to work with, if this was the case. The Woodland's Institute would have been suited for a book of this nature. His returning "home" may also have been a great journey, if it truly was his home. It wasn't. New Jersey was his home and John happened to have relatives in West Virginia.
 |
Title: Appalachia: A History by John Alexander Williams ISBN: 0807853682 Publisher: University of North Carolina Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title: Mist over the Mountains: Appalachia and Its People by Raymond Bial ISBN: 0395735696 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Pub. Date: 01 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: Appalachian Values by Loyal Jones, Warren E. Brunner ISBN: 0945084439 Publisher: Jesse Stuart Foundation Pub. Date: 01 September, 1994 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title: A History of Appalachia by Richard B. Drake ISBN: 0813190606 Publisher: University Press of Kentucky Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title: Yesterday's People: Life in Contemporary Appalachia by Jack E. Weller ISBN: 0813101093 Publisher: University Press of Kentucky Pub. Date: 01 March, 1980 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
