The Trail of the Lonesome Pine

It's interesting how many people use the term "Western" to describe this novel set around the Virginia/Kentucky border at the turn of the 20th century. Maybe it's just that the title sounds like the title of a Western. (And the book does have some plot elements in common with westerns, too; namely,......more

This 1908 novel is a semi-enchanting love story which only really rises above the ordinary in its attempt to describe the unique culture of who, for lack of a better term, would be described as the hillbillies of Appalachia. Their peculiar speech (thar = there; hit = it; seed = saw; mebbe = maybe, a......more

This was part of my Appalachian Lit class in college. John Fox, Jr, who was business man from Lexington, KY, really did come to the mountains of Southeastern KY and Southwestern, VA in the early days (around 1900?) to help settle the territory. He came seeking to buy coal and timber for cheap from t......more

This past month, Karen and I made our first visit to the Appalachian Mountain range in the eastern US. Following my attendance at the Movies & Meaning festival in Asheville, North Carolina, Karen joined me and we enjoyed a week immersing ourselves in the culture and spectacular natural beauty of thi......more

Beautiful writing & story - would’ve given it a five except for a few racial slurs that really dampened the power of the book for me as a minority. At the time this book was written I guess that was considered average speak.......more