| Title | : | Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean: Meditations on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780821421680 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 288 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2015 |
In essays that take wide-ranging forms—making this an ideal volume for creative nonfiction classes—contributors write about families left behind, hard-earned educations, selves transformed, identities chosen, and risks taken. They consider the courage required for the inheritances they carry.
Toughness and generosity alike characterize works by Dorothy Allison, bell hooks, Silas House, and others. These writers travel far away from the boundaries of a traditional Appalachia, and then circle back—always—to the mountains that made each of them the distinctive thinking and feeling people they ultimately became. The essays in Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean are an individual and collective act of courage.
[Taken from official website]
Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean: Meditations on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia Reviews
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Creative Non-Fiction "confessional stories". These essays contain all the information that could NEVER make it into a dust jacket bio. Want to know your fav authors motivations, dark secrets, struggles, or sexual orientation- look no farther! It's all here. Contributors write about families left behind, hard-earned educations, selves transformed, identities chosen and risks taken. Great writing that reaches deep into the histories of the authors. The LGTB crowd is well represented here, many had difficult childhoods because of narrow rural viewpoints and criticisms. Some of my favorites were Silas House, Jessie Van Eerden, Dorothy Allison, Chris Offut, Charles Dodd White, Sarah Einstein, Ann Pancake, and Sheldon Lee Compton. And just as it should be, everything is about PLACE (Appalachia).
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"For better or worse, this was my country, and I could not let it go until it blessed me. What form that blessing would take I did not know yet. I only knew that when it came I would recognize it through its disguises. It is this that keeps poets in their countries through namelessness, doors closing, hungers, and there are many kinds, until they are forced to abandon home, which can, in itself, become a blessing." (Mary Lee Settle, in Charley Bland, quoted by Aaron Smith in his essay "For Better or Worse, This Was My Country")
Settle doesn't have an essay in this collection, but this seems to be the perfect summation of the tone and scope of these essays, written by those who seem to exist on the "fringe" of Appalachian identity (LGBTQ, mixed race, feminist, academics) and yet identify with that culture (while simultaneously fleeing it). The title and cover really grabbed me more than anything. Some of the essays are certainly stronger than others, but I'll be thinking about the ideas expressed here for some time, especially when driving in the backwoods. -
There are many five-star essays in here, and the anthology is a monumental project. To be successful at such an undertaking is incredibly admirable. The editors (Blevins and McElmurray) did a fabulous job both in selection and ordering, and of course so much more. Read the first essay, and you’ll be hooked.
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An amazing collection of essays by brilliant writers. Insightful mediations that help to dispel many of the stereotypes of the Appalachian people. Powerful voices speaking out from an Appalachia which is often defined by the outsiders. Filled with many words of wisdom - thoughtful, funny at times and beautifully written.
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Joyce Dyer's "A Tiger in Your Backyard" about the company town was the most home-hitting piece for me.
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Fantastic read! I'm not usually a personal essay person but these were fabulously engrossing.
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3.5 stars. These are my people! If you have Appalachian roots, you’ll see yourself again and again in these essays. They concern religion (Silas House’s essay about growing up in the Holiness Church); Appalachians’ outsider status, with a particular emphasis on the LGBT experience, and reflections from authors who have left the region for good (Melissa Range’s “Outsider Appalachian”, David Huddle’s “Above My Raising”).
The collection also included a great but harrowing essay by Chris Offutt, the very funny “Confessions of a Halfalachian” by Mary Crockett Hill, and the coming-of-age reminiscence “Tough” by the fantastic Ann Pancake.
One of the editors is Adrian Blevins, whose Live from the Homesick Jamboree I really liked. -
The essays, prose, etc. in this collection are gems. I'm not Appalachian, but I am a born/bred North Carolinian. The internal struggles the writers lay bare are not just for fellow Appalachians; I think that people from all walks of life should read these reflections.
