Gurney Norman

The author looks for her father's family in Virginia. They may have belonged to a mysterious group known as the Melungeons.

Various authors examine and dispute the stereotypes of Appalachia.

A collection of poems, written in the 1970s and 1980s, from the works of ninety poets from six states in the southern Appalachian region.

"In Confronting Appalachian Stereotypes, historians, literary scholars, sociologists, creative writers, and activists talk back to the American mainstream, confronting head-on those who would view their home region one-dimensionally."--BOOK JACKET. "The essays provide a variety of responses from people who live or were born in the region. Some examine the sources of Appalachian mythology in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature. Others reveal personal experiences and examples of grassroots activism that confound and contradict accepted images of "hillbillies." The volume ends with a series of critiques aimed directly at The Kentucky Cycle and similar contemporary works that highlight the sociological, political, and cultural assumptions about Appalachia fueling today's false stereotypes."--BOOK JACKET.

Intending to create a foundational text for further scholarship on Appalachian writing, the editors have selected 29 critical reviews for this collection. They include thematic surveys on the reasons why Appalachian authors are becoming considered worthy of academic criticism and the history of the regional genre as well as commentary on specific authors and works. Authors and works include Jesse Stuart, a comparison of changing views about Stuart and Pound, the poetry of James Still, Hariette Arrow's The Dollmaker, social criticism in the works of Wilma Dykeman, Mary Lee Settle's autobiographies, the concepts of home and machine, the roles of kin and counterculture in Gurney Norman, John Ehle's fiction, Lee Smith's use of language in Oral History, two reviews of works by Jo Carson, the role of community in Fred Chappell's works, the role of Calvinism in the poetry of Robert Morgan, and the promise of feminist ecocriticism. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) -- Distributed by Syndetics Solutions, LLC.