Peevish Pen

Ruminations on reading, writing, genealogy and family history, rural living, retirement, aging—and sometimes cats.

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Location: Rural Virginia, United States

I'm an elderly retired teacher who writes. Among my books are Ferradiddledumday (Appalachian version of the Rumpelstiltskin story), Stuck (middle grade paranormal novel), Patches on the Same Quilt (novel set in Franklin County, VA), Them That Go (an Appalachian novel), Miracle of the Concrete Jesus & Other Stories, and several Kindle ebooks.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Good Memoir

I finished Voices from the Hollow, Philip Hirsh’s memoir of his childhood summers spent in Bath County, VA. Parts of the book had originally been public radio essays.

Besides being an interesting and well-written memoir, the book—subtitled, “What happened When the Blue-Bloods Met the Blue Ridge”—is both a cultural history of a small part of Appalachia and a look at the clash of two very different cultures. It also documents the positive influence the Appalachian culture had upon on the author.

Voices from the Hollow is the kind of memoir I find especially appealing; it’s much more than an I-did-this, I-did-that book. With meticulous recall and specific detail, the author defines both people and place.

I bought the book when the Blue Lady Bookshop, which carried many books by regional authors, had a going-out-of-business. I’m glad I bought the book. A good read!

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1 Comments:

Blogger Amy Hanek said...

It looks as though you have the reading bug. What a nice time of year to catch it too! Thank you for sharing... I am going to attack my bookshelf this week.

2:53 PM  

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