Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Crapalachia: My Very First Book Review



Crapalachia: A Biography of PlaceCrapalachia: A Biography of Place by Scott McClanahan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

McClanahan wrote about people I've known and loved, and love, and remember, and misremember, and sometimes want to forget. He pretended to be rock solid hard-ass Appalachian/West Virginian, then shape-shifted in that magic way of the Scot-Irishman and became liquid, seeped into my soul and washed loose all the debris that had settled there -- was resting quite nicely, in fact -- and stirred up all that sediment and made me laugh and cry and nod my head in agreement and want a drink even though I don't drink any more.

Reading this book was like reading a love letter someone had written to me, someone I never knew loved me, someone I never knew, someone who knew me better than I knew myself.

The appendix is a lovely disclaimer/exclaimer/explainer, and I thank and applaud Scott for including it.

Quote: "I just realized that I never look at a painting and ask, 'Is this painting fictional or non-fictional?' It's just a painting."

"Crapalachia" is just a book. And a fine one, at that. Five stars.
~~Ginger Hamilton


View all my reviews

[Tomorrow: Tommy Watts - Part I]

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