West Virginia Books

Ruth Ann Musick, The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales (University Press of Kentucky, 1965)

Musick presents us one hundred ghost stories from her extensive folklore collection. She makes no effort to doll them up (though she does say in her preface that she edited them, some heavily, to take out redundancy), and so they often read quite plain; those looking for a Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark-esque compendium will be disappointed here, as Musick chooses the stories she presents in order to illuminate a specific type of ghost story or a specific set of commonalities. I would think this would be of most use to a writer who's looking for an interesting subplot or the like; there's a great deal of primary source to be mined here. ***

I bought this book "Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales" for my Grand-daughter, and started reading it myself, we both really enjoyed it, I am 59 and she is 11. This is a great read for anyone.

I have wanted this book for awhile and Amazon is where I found it, and I really like the book and it is in excellent condition.

Simply put, this book scared the crap out of me when I was little, and largely influenced my fascination with the horror genre all together. Who knew WV had such great lore?

This book, is simply put, perfection. I remember reading this book when I was in middle school, and I have kept a copy with me since. Now being almost 30 years old, it shows that this book can make an indellible impression on people.

My only dissapointments are, that it may be the most complete listing of paranormal stories on west virgina folklore, It can never house all the stories out there. Simply put, there just isnt enough room.

Another dissapointment, is that people from outside of the region, have no clue about this book, its existance, or just what a good read they are missing out on.

No matter the books current cost, its worth every penny and then some

Enjoy

Viro Los Diablos

This is far and away the best book I have ever read. It was a real page turner. A friend suggested I read it, and I suggested my mother and my daughter both read it as well. My mother said she actually cried while reading it (something she has never done over a book). My daughter laughed and said Willa Mae was "the Forrest Gump of West Virginia". It was a rich documentation of WV history, and included several events that I did not know. I am a WV native from near Hawk's Nest State Park, and was fascinated with its pre-history. What a wonderful book!

I bought this book for my mother for Christmas and she has not been able to lay it down since she started reading it. She loves it and I am sure that I will be reading it when she gets finished. My mother lived in Page, WV during her teenage years and has been able to relate to the area that she is reading about which only made the book more interesting, I'm sure. She lived there during the great flood of 1932 and this is discussed in the book. She would like to see more by this author and I can hardly wait to get started.

What a wonderful story. Only a poet with a heart as big as our mountains, the keen insight of a storyteller and a love of family that is burned into her soul could do justice to this story in the manner of Rebecca Cale Camhi.
This book grabbed me on the first page and never turned me loose, I don't think I have ever gone through so many emotions while reading a book as I did with this one. The Characters were so real I had to keep reminding myself that it was a story. I kept hearing echoes of my Father, my Mother, my Grandma, my Grandpa, my Uncles and my Kin.
There is a unique mystique about being a West Virginian that few who have not been born and raised here understand. It is so hard to describe or explain, because it is spiritual. Rebecca has captured it and woven it throughout her book. It starts where her story starts and ends, well it don't end, it is still here in these hills and in our hearts.
If you have not read this book you are robbing yourself of one of life's good experiences.
I sure hope there is more where this came from.

"Who says, "You can't go home again"? I just relived my West Virginia childhood through "Deepwater Mountain," one of the best historical novels I've had the pleasure to read.

"Had Thomas Wolfe grown up in the Appalachian Mountains of WV, as I did, I think he'd agree with me. NC doesn't hold a candle to WV.

"A Kincaid in Kincaid, next door to Camhi's Page, I remember my parents, Todd and Minnie Kincaid, taking me to visit Great Grandpa Poley, Great Grandma Lizzie, and Creedy in their little house with the toasty warm coal fireplace. They lived "just up the road a piece" from me.

I can't recall ever reading a book faster than this one. Saying I was mesmerized is a fact. Willa May and Daniel became my family in Chapter one and I simply felt overwhelmed emotionally when I had to leave them. I do hope Camhi will continue with their family saga. I recall feeling the same when I read John Galsworthy's first novel about the Forsyte Family.

"Camhi has that wonderful knack of capturing the reader and making her feel a part of history. Her characters are realistic and she teaches WV history, obviously having done her homework. I can see "Deepwater Mountain" becoming a required reading in WV English and History classes.

"In fact, I see Willa May as John Denver's Mountain Mamma in "Country Roads," which many people say put WV on the map. Anyone wondering about WV, the most Northern of the Southern states, the most Southern of the Northern States, and the most Western of the Eastern states, and the most Eastern of the Western states, should grab the opportunity to find out about Wild, Wonderful West Virginia by reading "Deepwater Mountain."

Shirley Dawn Kincaid Walker(formerly of Kincaid, West Virginia)
6309 Alderwood Bay
Woodbury, Mn 55125

I grew up in Kincaid, West Virginia, which is right next door to Page, Robson and Deepwater Mountain, the places that Rebecca Camhi brings to life again in her book, Deepwater Mountain. I traveled through these small towns for four years while commuting to college at West Virginia Tech. Becky has brought back the memories of traveling that wicked road, dangerous to this very day.

This book brings back vivid memories of my great-grandfather Napoleon Kincaid and my Uncle Harry Cale. I can still see Napoleon, "Poley," as we called him, delivering his moonshine on Page Road just a few miles south of Deepwater Mountain. (By the way, Becky, we were always told that "Poley" never got caught by the Feds, but that he had a lot of close calls.)

I can still hear my father and grandpa Tibb talk about Poley, Lizzie and Creedy. When I make my annual visit to clean the gravesites at the Kincaid Cemetery here in Kincaid, and see the gravestones of Poley, Lizzie and Creedy, it brings back all those memories that Becky described in this wonderful novel. It is hard to explain how we West Virginians feel about our state: when we meet another West Virginian, no matter where we've traveled, it's as if both of us have come back to the hills. It's in our hearts!! Becky has truly captured this spirit throughout her entire book.

Those in my generation who were born and reared in Kincaid, WV, can relate to Becky's book because we actually lived the life of her characters from 1940 to present. And when we look back through Becky's eyes, we can see ourselves at the very beginning. Becky has truly captured the motto of West Virginia "Montani Semper Liberi" (Mountaineers are always free!)

Once you pick up this book, you won't put it down until you have finished reading the entire book. Becky Camhi is a truly remarkable author. Each chapter is a surprise, and you just can't wait for the next one.

I look forward to Becky's next book, but will be hard for her to top this one.


Douglas L. Kincaid, Sr. of Kincaid, West Virginia

Maynard's SCREAMING WITH THE CANNIBALS takes on the next stage in the life of the narrator of CRUM, which has a large following of enthusiastic readers.This one picks up the story where CRUM left off. Fans will leap at the opportunity to find out what happened to Jesse- and yes, the narrator of the first book finally gets a name! Jesse is presented as a sort of archetype of all those young adventurers who need to see what is on the other side of the next ridge. He wants to move on, to escape from everything in his old life. In the final part of this book, he gets as far as South Carolina where he experiences racism, the ocean, and forgiveness. The long scene in which Jesse escapes a Kentucky revival meeting with his soul unsaved and his skin intact is worth the price of the book. He doesn't find everything he's looking for, but there is more than a hint that Maynard isn't through with his story.

First, forget the review that said women don't enjoy Crum. Anyone can and will enjoy both of Lee Maynard's books if they have a good sense of humour and aren't a prude. I loved Crum. It was hilariously raunchy and accurate in its portrayal of country life.

Screaming With The Cannibals may even be better than Crum. Where Crum was a country boy's wild adolescence, Screaming With The Cannibals is a young man's cross country adventure. It's funny, sexy, adventurous, human, exciting, ...and a whole lot of other adjectives!

A modern classic. So much life and imagination is packed into this small book. Life in the country, road trips, strange Mountain folk, scary Southern folk, tent revivals, crazy preachers, skinny dippin', train jumpin', [hot] lifeguards, murderous cops, car chases, and sex smothered in home cookin'.

It has that timeless, country humour and atmosphere of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, with a bit of On the Road, Stand by Me, O Brother Where Art Thou?, and 9 1/2 Weeks thrown in the mix. All written in simple, straight forward, but still somehow poetic language. I didn't want it to end.

If you haven't read Crum, don't bother getting this book. This is the sequel to Crum, and although it's not quite as good as the original, it's a great story.

Crum is a book that very few women would enjoy. If you're a guy with a sense of humor you should check it out. It's one of the funniest books I've ever read, about a kid growing up in a small town in West Virginia. The book is full of the adventures of this kid and his friends, and of his quest to leave the town of Crum. If you enjoy that book, you will also like this one.

Lee Maynard is an outstanding writer, and I'm constantly looking for anything new by him. I was thrilled when I found this book earlier this year and not at all disappointed when I read it.

This is another great book by Lee Maynard that should be made into a movie.Jack Nicholson would be great in this movie and ofcourse it should be filmed in West Virginia!!

Screaming with the Cannibals(SWTC)is action packed and often hilariously funny. The novel is a page-turner filled with downright descriptive sex, and the language men and boys might use when at war. It is the story of an intelligent young boy, Jesse Stone, coming of age and coping with feelings of aloneness, repressive religion, racial turmoil, etc.

The 2nd in a series, SWTC takes up where Maynard's first novel Crum left off. However, the author skillfully incorporates information from Crum in the form of flashbacks and each novel stands alone.

SWTC opens with Jesse, a rough and tumble 50s era football playing, book reading kid, finishing Crum High School. He is determined to see the world he has experience only through the books in the school's library.

Short on specific goals but high on self-reliance, Jesse packs his favorite book, a change of clothes and about thirteen dollars and "lights out" for somewhere.

He hitches a ride and briefly end up a farm hand in nearby Kentucky. There he gets interested (that's putting in mildly)in a neigbor's wife and contributes to a near riot at the farm community's yearly Fundamentalist revival. On the run, he heads south on an unlicensed Triumph motorcycle he rebuilt from used farm equipment parts.

Testesterone in high gear, Jesse finds more trouble with a South Carolina Sheriff before he lands a job as a lifeguard at Myrtle Beach.

Jesse runs smack-dab into racial trumoil and segregated beaches, the same Sheriff, responsible work, plus hoards of nubile girls and a Mrs. Robinson-type older woman.

If you ever wonder, "What goes on in the minds of teen aged boys?" this is the book to read.

The novel is extremely well written and easy to read. I especially like Maynard's writing style.

Readers who remember Myrtle Beach in the "old days" will enjoy the scenes set there.

John Billheimer is off to a great start here with a first novel that includes another first, a transportation thriller. It features a good plot that keeps moving at all times, some fresh material for those of us who can't stand another serial killer, and sense of humor. Not everybody could get a good weekend read out of the misadventures of a federally subsidized bus company in West Virginia, but Billheimer certainly can and does.

Especially after having met John Billheimer, I am in awe over his initial offering into the world of mystery fiction. CONTRARY BLUES wonderfully captures the essence of small-town West Virginia life and what goes on in ingenious yet simple minds over the incursions of modern-day life. This is a great first effort and if you are like me, you'll be captured into reading the next four of his Owen Allison series. An easy read, a page-turner of exceptional quality and a real sense of West Virginia everyday life brought to you by someone who 25 years ago called West Virginia home.

A SEASON TO INVESTIGATE FIRST-TIME NOVELISTS - Boston Globe. A fine beginning, funny, irreverent, written with an ear well-tuned to authentic West Virginia dialogue and an eye for small, accumulating scenes...Billheimer unfolds his wry tale steadily, with just the right mix of humor and menace, and his Department of Transportation investigator-auditor, Owen Allison, is convincing and likable.

The Contrary Blues is such a page-turner that you might not realize until you reach the end how cleverly it is constructed. Humor, colorful West Virginia colloquialisms, and poignant characterization make this book a lot more interesting than the average mystery.

John Billheimer's first Mystery novel, Contrary Blues, leaves you feeling satisfied and wanting more. Fans of Rick Boyer, Bill Crider, and Bill Tapply will recognize the sure fire formula that made their writing a success. A fast moving plot taken to sudden and unexpected turns, characters who jump out of the pages into your living room, and an unassuming hero that Mr. Middle America can relate to. Billheimer tells his story in a quick but enjoyable pace, giving the reader a glimpse into everyday life in a region of the country most of us have never stepped foot in, and with the subtle humor and true to life street dialog that show his respect for his characters and his reader alike. This one is sure to be enjoyed.

First, this book is beautiful to look at... great photos, full of colours, very Caribbean.
Then the recipes are very appealing and mouth watering and they don't come accross as too difficult to execute.
And most off all, so far all the recipes I have tried turned out to taste great and also look good.
I live in the Caribbean and the recipes in that book really seem to represent the islands.
The best cookery book I have bought in a long time.

As an Executive Chef who specializes in Caribbean Style product development I found it very refreshing to see such a wonderful example of a Caribbean Cookbook. I found the recipes to be clear, easy to follow and in some respects very creative. The photography is truly stunning and for once doesn't focus on sandy beaches and palm trees. The only thing I would like to have seen were some more modern recipes, maybe next time Virginia.

I went through my cookbooks, to see if I could weed some out, because I have too many to mention. It's hard getting rid of a cookbook, especially one with a few recipes in it that you've come to love. But I've scanned the recipes I need to keep forever into my MacBook. However, there were an even dozen I couldn't part with. These are books I turn to time and time again, even though I consider myself somewhat of a gourmet chef.

Ms. Burke's EAT CARIBBEAN is, in my opinion, absolutely indispensable. Her Jerk Chicken is delicious, and coming from me, someone who's had her own recipe for Jerk Chicken published, that is really saying something. You won't go wrong with this book. Ms. Burke is the marketing director for Walkerswood Caribbean Foods and they're the people who make the jerk seasoning that I, and so many others use, so it's not surprising that she really knows her stuff and if you get ahold of this book, you'll be cooking like you do to.

Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

I actually stubbled across this book at the Sangster Airport in Montego Bay Jamaica. After reading about Virginia Burke at the back of the book I realized that she also grew up in the same district as I did in Walkerswood JA. Now that I have a personal connection to this book I was more than eager to begin to try some of the recipes.

The recipes are easy to follow and came out great. This is saying a lot for me since I just started cooking on a regular basis a year ago. What will instantly catch your eye about this book are the vibrant colors and the accruacy of the photos used.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is either a novice or pro in the kitchen, or for anyone interested in trying their hand at cooking Carribean cuisine.

The colorful cover caught my eye, but it's the creative and easy-to-prepare recipes inside that keep me coming back to this book regularly. This cookbook goes way beyond jerk, or adding a little pineapple or coconut to a dish. Author Virginia Burke is true to the cultural origins of dishes and the recipes are presented in an easy-to-understand and unpretentious manner. To my surprise, finding the ingredients in the U.S. has been quite managable. I have seen this author on TV once, and think she deserves a cooking show of her own. How fun it would be to take a weekly culinary trip through the islands with Virginia Burke.

A very good book for reference. I have used it many times looking at thing I'd like to bid on and wanted more information on the origin and value

This book is indispensable for indentifying the older pieces of Homer Laughlin. While not a price guide per se it does give the reader an idea of the value of older pottery shapes.

Wonderful book about a wonderful company. HLC is one of the oldest companies in the USA which continues to operate successfully. It's famous for Fiesta and restaurant china, and in earlier years for an endless array of household patterns. In this book Jo Cunningham does a sensational job of documenting company history, along with hundreds of popular as well as rare patterns made from 1873 through 1939.

This is a must have for Homer Laughlin collectors. Get a feel for the life,times and area that produced the largest American manufacturer of dinnerware. This book is packed with information that you just can't digest in one setting. I'm constantly referring to it and learning something new everytime.

A well researched and well written guide. Readers like pictures and this book has lots of bright and colorful pictures with descriptions and information. The book gives insight into Mr. Laughlin and his pottery. I recommend this book to all collectors of Homer Laughlin.

I absolutely loved this mystery thriller. Many times when I lay down to read at night, I fall asleep. This book kept me up late, many times. It was hard to put the book down. Heartwarming along with lots of suspense!

I expected this book to be corporate and political and I usually don't get into books like that. This, however, was a suspenseful page turner that was difficult to put down. Since the chapters were short, I found myself saying "okay, one more chapter" until the next thing I knew time had passed and the book was finished in a day and a half. The writing style made this a very comfortable read and I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone regardless of whether or not it's in your usual "genre" because this book has something for everyone. I hope to read many more from Richard Jackson!

I don't normally come back to the site to write reviews, but this book was exceptional and I had to let others know. Chapter after chapter it keeps getting better. By the middle I could hardly put it down. I'll warn you, by the end, I had to stay up until I finished it. It was well written, full of detail, makes you feel like you are a part of the investigation. I will absolutely buy another book by this same author.

Power and Deceit is a page turning action packed must read! Richard Jackson truly has a gift for writing. I can't wait for his next book!

"Power and Deceit" is a great story...if you like James Patterson or John Sanford, you will enjoy this book! Chapters are short, so it is a quick read...and before you know it, you are so caught up in the story, that you won't be able to put it down until you finish it! Thumbs up to this new author on the scene! Hope to see more stories from Richard Jackson soon!

It's impossible for us today to imagine what a frightening proposition it must've been in the mid-19th century to sell your eastern farm or business and prepare to head west to start a new life. Maps were unreliable, distances were staggering, and stories about wild animals and Indians sobering. It wasn't quite like stepping off the edge of the world, but it probably seemed like it to many greenhorns.

So in 1859, Captain Randolph Marcy, under orders from the Department of War, wrote The Prairie Traveler. Marcy, who would later serve as a Brigadier in the Civil War, was an accomplished traveler in the west, and his guidebook was packed with useful information for the determined but inexperienced pioneer taking either the northern overland trail to Oregon or the southern Sante Fe one to California.

The book is great reading--and, not infrequently, helpful even today for the camper when it comes to advice about improvising shelter or lighting a fire from damp wood. For the mid-19th century reader, it provides essential tips on provisions, wagon-packing and animal-care, first aid (large doses of whiskey are the best remedy for rattlesnake bite), identifying good water (alkaline ponds are surrounded by yellow-reddish grass), improvisation (red willow bark is a good substitute for tobacco), collapsible camp furniture, and gun safety. The food section is especially interesting. Marcy recommends carrying lots of dried vegetables (one ounce of dry vegetables, when wettened, equals an entire ration), "cold flour," a concoction of flour, cinammon, and sugar which, when mixed with a bit of water, provides a pick-me-up (not unlike today's energy bar), and jerked meat (no need for salt; the prairie sun will dry buffalo strips in short order). He also provides a rather gruesome recipe for pemmican (powdered buffalo meat saturated in raw buffalo fat, sown up in a hide bag with the hair turned outwards).

Marcy distrusts and indeed actively dislikes Plains Indians, although he admires Delawares and Shawnees, and writes quite warmly of a Delaware friend of his named Black Beaver. So he spends a fair number of pages warning prairie travelers to be wary of approaching Indians. To better prepare them, he teaches the rudiments of sign language, teaches how to track Indians (scattered mustang manure rather than whole mustang manure indicates Indians on the move rather than just a wild mustang herd), and gives detailed instructions on how to sleep with cocked and primed rifles. It never seems to occur to Marcy that Plains Indians were a diverse group, or that their animosity might've had more to do with the white pioneers' presence than with the natural meanness he attributes to them.

A fascinating read!

Read this book and you will view things a bit differently on your next drive. As you effortlessly drive across a bridge over a river at 65 MPH, your thoughts may well travel back to Captain Marcy's advice on how to cross a river with wagons pulled by mule-team.

This book is essential to any author, movie director or Living Historian who wants to "get it right". THE PRAIRIE TRAVELER is chock-full of information about overland travel in the mid-19th century, and covers almost any possible, practical, useful subject related to wilderness travel. Although it is written in 1850's American English, it is actually a fairly easy read with very little "culture shock".

For those of you with the cerebral agility to remove the mental straight-jacket of "Political Correctness", THE PRAIRIE TRAVELER will accurately picture the Frontier society as it existed at the time. It was a very good society in most ways, with the limitations that 19th century people were born into and educated with. Those pioneers did advance themselves, bit-by-bit, away from the limitations they were born into, and the result is the 21st Century America we live in today. We stand on their shoulders, advanced as far as we are today, because of the small advances they made in their generation.

A 21st century man condemning a 19th century man for being the product of his times reflects the mental and educational limitations of the 21st century man.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and bought some for friends who like history. The reading is easy, though you will find a dictionary helpful with some of the archaic words. I have relatives who crossed the prairie in 1848 to California; I have a much better understanding of what the trip must've been like.
For those who love American history, esp. the old west I highly recommend this book

A good insight into the mind of an inhabitant of the new world in the 1800s. Very unpolitically correct to the point of being amusing (section on 'Indians'). I read this book on a long camping tour and liked in a lot. There are some sections that are more like lists, and arenot as interesting, but you can skip over them.

A fascinating assemblage of facts and information for the overland emigrant of the mid-1800's to successfully complete the long, arduous journey to the west coast. Captain Marcy includes everything one can possibly imagine: from types of wagons, livestock, food, provisions and medicines to fording rivers, selection of campsites, types of saddles, packing, tracking, guides, guards, etc. and habits of Indians. The itineraries at the end of the book detail the mileages, availability of water, grass, wood, road conditions, etc. along several different routes to the Pacific. With our many modern day conveniencies traveling across the country, we tend to dismiss the hardships and sacrifices our pioneers endured while traversing the continent. This little book puts it all into focus.

I just bought this book based upon the previous reviews and would like to set some of the facts straight. A reviewer stated that in this book, especially on the section about Putnam County, there is a large section about Jack Whitaker and even a map to his house in Hurricane. There is NO SUCH THING! First, Mr. Whitaker won the lottery in 2002...this book was published in 1998!!! To clarify this inept review, there is NO MENTION of Mr. Whitaker winning the lottery in any part of this book. Otherwise, this is a great factual representation of West Virginia.

By the author, E. Lee North (north444@aol.com).... West Virginians are the friendliest people in the country, and it was a pleasure interviewing and dealing with Mountaineers. This is my third book on West Virginia and it really is an incredible state. Just think --Wheeling is the only city to have been the capital of two different states and not now a capital of any; it was also the site of the last battle of the Amer. Revolution (Ft. Henry). These facts are well covered in "The 55."

Part of WV is N of part of NY state, part is W of Pt. Huron, Michigan, part S of Richmond, and it extends E to within 39 mi of Wash., DC. So it might be called a northern, midwestern, southern, or eastern state! (And has been.)We present just about everything you'd want to know about the Mountain State, including tables showing each county's percentage of women, minorities, income, home values, etc., and "Notables" for each county. There's a map of the whole state, and maps of every county.Actually, this book is probably the first popular history of all the counties of a state.

The Notables are quite interesting -- from Governor Cecil Underwood (imagine, elected WV's youngest governor in 1956, and her oldest in 1996) and Senators like Robert Byrd, Jay Rockefeller, and Jennings Randolph to sports stars like Jerry West and Sam Snead, writers Pearl Buck, Alberta Hannum, and Mary Lee Settle; military leaders Stonewall Jackson, Jesse Reno (Nevada's city of Reno is named for him)... well I'm just scratching the surface here. We do have a comprehensive index...

I owe a lot to our wonderful relatives down in Wheeling, and to Ye Olde Alpha tavern, our perennial gathering trough. And to the good folks at West Virginia University Press and Library.

By the author, E. Lee North (north444@aol.com).... West Virginians are the friendliest people in the country, and it was a pleasure interviewing and dealing with Mountaineers. This is my third book on West Virginia and it really is an incredible state. Just think --Wheeling is the only city to have been the capital of two different states and not now a capital of any; it was also the site of the last battle of the Amer. Revolution (Ft. Henry). These facts are well covered in "The 55."

Part of WV is N of part of NY state, part is W of Pt. Huron, Michigan, part S of Richmond, and it extends E to within 39 mi of Wash., DC. So it might be called a northern, midwestern, southern, or eastern state! (And has been.)We present just about everything you'd want to know about the Mountain State, including tables showing each county's percentage of women, minorities, income, home values, etc., and "Notables" for each county. There's a map of the whole state, and maps of every county.Actually, this book is probably the first popular history of all the counties of a state.

The Notables are quite interesting -- from Governor Cecil Underwood (imagine, elected WV's youngest governor in 1956, and her oldest in 1996) and Senators like Robert Byrd, Jay Rockefeller, and Jennings Randolph to sports stars like Jerry West and Sam Snead, writers Pearl Buck, Alberta Hannum, and Mary Lee Settle; military leaders Stonewall Jackson, Jesse Reno (Nevada's city of Reno is named for him)... well I'm just scratching the surface here. We do have a comprehensive index...

I owe a lot to our wonderful relatives down in Wheeling, and to Ye Olde Alpha tavern, our perennial gathering trough. And to the good folks at West Virginia University Press and Library.

WVU Press has re-issued this book in 1998, an expanded history with latest information on every county's vital stats -- pct minorities, ages, income, et al. Very complete, even listing several "notable persons" for each county. Complete with maps and photos.

There's plenty about Putnam County, including the map showing Hurricane and the home area of Jack Whitaker, who won the biggest one-winner Powerball prize on Christmas Day 2002 ($314.9 million)... just the tax on Whitaker's winnings paid off one-third of the Mountain State debt for that year.

"The Fifty-Five"is the bible for West Virginia's counties.

"There's a land of rolling mountains, where the sky is blue above." After coming to West Virginia four years ago for college, I not only became attached to "Country Roads" and being a Mountaineer, but I truly fell in love with the state and everything wholesome its heritage represents. Just as I enjoy waking up every morning to turn a new page in my Bed and Breakfast daily calendar, or curling up on a snowy evening with a cup of hot cocoa and a book on family owned gourmet restaurants, I've enjoyed leafing through the pages of "55 West Virginias", full of state history and statistics. A perfect book for those as in love with the state as I, the weekend traveler, or the world traveler, I think you, too, will find E. Lee North's Guide to West Virginia's State Counties as charming as you will the state itself.

Coke works at Hazelwood closing chapter on demise on steel in entire region. Read also: Homestead, with new forward by author, best one-town summary

I read this years ago, and I thought it was an excellent analysis of the collapse of the steel industry in Pittsburgh, filled with compelling tales of individual people.

The books feels like a Greek tragedy, in which the protagonists are doomed to a slow slide towards the edge of a cliff. Institutionalized conflict overcomes the efforts of people from both labor and maangement to halt, or at least slow the inevitable slide.

For people who think that the current dot.com crash is a serious downturn, this book offers a very good counter-perspective. When an area loses 100K jobs in 10 years, and whole towns essentially close, that's a *real* downturn.

On the other hand, there's always hope. Pittsburgh has bounced back, and has a much more diversified economy. The last time I visited, I could see the sky, which was more difficult in the steel days. To grasp those days, either see the early Tom Cruise movie "All The Right Moves", or for depth, read this book.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to learn about what went wrong in this basic industry. Not only a study of the collapse of the steel industry in the Mon Valley, the book is also a study of the pain of postindustrialization that swept the country in the 1980's. Esentially, the author is writing about a national trend, but focuses on the Pittsburgh area, which is really a microcosm. It is also a good look at what happens when unions and management can't get their acts together.

This is a detailed and heartbreaking story of the failure and collapse of the American steel industry. Sometimes the details are more than one needs to know, but this book will serve as an excellent case history on the underlying reasons for the transfer of the "rust-belt" jobs overseas, and now America's reliance of foreigners to produce the goods we use, in return for pieces of paper (Bonds) giving them claims on American wealth.

Mr. Hoerr tries to write a dispassionate history, but it is difficult in the face of such monumental stupidity and greed. "A vibrant forty-six mile stretch of river valley, providing primary jobs for over thirty-five thousand steel employees... would be devastated and expunged from economic memory in less than five years." "After that, the opportunities are limitless... from here to there where McDonald's needs someone to serve the one-trillionth burger." (p12-13).

The author was a reporter during this period, and apportions blame to both the steel company management and the unions, but clearly reserves his primary animus for management. They saw labor as an undifferentiated mass of dumb "hunkies", the pejorative term for people of Slavic origins, who only needed to take orders. That attitude was repaid, as Mr. Hoerr says: "I have known only two major corporations that actually engendered feelings of hatred among their employees, GM and US Steel." (p206) Management eventually acquiesced to the form, but not the substance of labor participation by forming "Labor-Management Participation Teams," but usually ignored their recommendations. There was also a willful neglect in spending the capital to modernize the operations - USX finally proposed building the first continuous caster plant in the Mon Valley in 1986! - at the very end. (p550) Instead it infuriated the labor force by spending its capital in buying Marathon Oil.

The author had access, and draws telling portraits of the principal actors involved, from the USW's I.W. Abel, Lloyd McBride, Lynn Williams, Bernard Kleiman and Edmund Ayoub. On the management side there was David M. Roderick, Thomas Graham and David Hoag.

I worked in US Steel's Homestead Works for two summers during my college years - '65 and '66. At the time I thought this work was the most "real", and those mills would be eternal - America would always need steel, and would obviously need to produce it. Fortunately the avenging angel passed me by, as I decided this work was not for me. Once again another "wolf" has finally come to America - this time high (and higher still) gas prices, which will force more economic dislocations that prudent planning could have avoided. Will American society be able to organize its economy prudently, to truly meet the real needs of its citizens, and minimize massive dislocations? This book is an excellent story of previous follies - can we learn from them?

My dad - who died a couple of years ago - published this book. He was very proud of it, and I think he would have been very pleased to see that Amazon customers are responding to it favorably.