North Carolina Books

The book purports to provide just that -- an overview of a beautiful city nestled strategically between the Blueridge Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains. The reader gets a glimpse of Asheville's rich heritage -- the down-home hospitality of its downtown and the mystic beauty of its mountains; the folk arts and crafts of its multi-ethnic community and the splendid out-door recreational and tourist attractions offered to its visitors; its numerous cultural resources, including art museums, galleries, live theater, symphonies, as well as a description of its growing economy with its developing communications networks,its manufacturing and technology industries, its business, financial and real estate industries, and its educational and health care centers.

The book will warm the heart of readers who are interested in visiting Asheville on a holiday as well as those considering a move to the area for more reasons than its temperate climate and cultural amenities. Though this work is a typical over-sized coffee-table book, its authors (all residents of Asheville) ably provide a well documented text to complement the outstanding picturesque, colorful photography by Tim Barnell. As a recent retiree having moved to the area after a year of careful research about Asheville, I love this book -- the only one on the topic with fabulous photographs as well as well written supportive textual materials covering a variety of topics. Excellent reading and viewing for someone who might consider moving to Asheville, a city frequently rated as one of the top ten places to retire! It has been just rated #1 in AARP's May-June, 2000 issue of Modern Maturity, for the best small city in the USA which to retire!

Doris Betts has written a group of stories peopled with all of us. Faced with their own "ordinariness," and their recognition of what they could be if only they knew how to get there from here, Doris Betts' characters charm us and break our hearts. Ms. Betts has done it again; she does it every time. Brava!

I highly recommend this book to any wildflower enthusiasts in the region. A great addition to anyone's reference library.

At the risk of terrible understatement, it's pretty clear that the Southern Agrarians did not have a huge impact on the political climate of their era (primarily the 1930s). While their political success was small, however, the ripples of their intellectual impact continue to be felt today. And so while parts of this book, one of the most articulate presentations of the agrarian position, are somewhat dated, there's still a lot of value for modern readers.

The book got off to a slow start for me. Davidson's presentation of the theory and history of American regionalism, in a section titled "The Nation We Are," is important, but much of it summarizes, or reacts to, the work of historians and sociologists now even more obscure than the Agrarians themselves (Frederick Jackson Turner being a notable exception). While Davidson makes important points about the endogenous or organic nature of regions, regional characteristics, and regional loyalties -- in distinction to the imposed, artificial, and largely arbitrary nature of political divisions like counties or states -- his focus on the social science of the 1930s is not a terrifically compelling read today.

Once we get past that first section, though, things are much more rewarding. This is particularly true of the second section, titled "Immovable Bodies and Irresistible Forces," which focuses on defining the characteristics of various American regions and the people who live there. I especially enjoyed "Still Rebels, Still Yankees," which contrasts Brother Jonathan of Yankeetown, Vermont, with Cousin Roderick of Rebelville, Georgia. "The Two Old Wests," an exploration of how frontier, geographic, and cultural influences blended, with very different results, in the Old Southwest (Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and later Texas) and Old Northwest (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and other parts of the modern Midwest), was fascinating. And "The Great Plains," a précis of Walter Prescott Webb's important book of the same title with Davidson's own expanded commentary, extends the analysis to the foothills of the Rockies. As a Seattle resident, I would have liked to have seen Davidson carry his discussion all the way to the Pacific coast. I can't complain about what he did do, though.

Entertaining and valuable as all this is, the most useful section for modern students of politics and regionalism might be the chapter titled "Expedients vs. Principles -- Cross-Purposes in the South." Davidson here makes a number of important, and still timely, points, including illustrating how attacks on the "backward" South are frequently Trojan horses for the imposition of another, usually Northeastern, political or social agenda. The author also argues, contra those who say the Constitution and federalist system are outdated because "the Founders couldn't foresee" the nature of modern society, that indeed, Jefferson and his contemporaries did foresee the coming of large-scale industrialism and the destructive effects it would have on agrarian society.

Reading Davidson today, one can't help but wonder whether things are much worse, or perhaps a little better, than during his day. One the one hand, monopoly industrialism has in many ways yielded to "the new economy" driven by high technology. On the other hand, American culture seems more monolithic than ever, thanks to mass media and popular culture that are far more pervasive and homogenizing than in the '30s. Are there any discernable differences between the twenty-first century great-grandchildren of Brother Jonathan and Cousin Roderick? It's a question worth investigating, and Davidson's insights are as valuable and provocative today as they were nearly 70 years ago.

Remember visiting your grandmother's house, smelling homemade biscuits and sweet potato casserole? Ever wonder how she made all of that cooking seem so easy? With Aunt Mag's Recipe Book you'll learn how to make country classics easily. I bought it and especially recommend the Molasses Cookies recipe--
a must-have to preserve the history of country Carolina cooking.

This book is amazing and has wonderful information. This book is one of the best I have read in a long time, it provided me plenty of information. This book is entertaining and informing. I would reccommend this book for anyone doing a research paper or for anyone in particular wanting to read a really good book.

Michael Hardy has given us an excellent look at the people who helped to shape Avery County, North Carolina. His compilation of historical photographs with well written descriptions is a "must have" for anyone who has Western North Carolina roots, or who enjoys learning more about Appalachian culture.

Anyone living in the Southeast (Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee) will find this travel book to be a practical and useful tool. The author, Eleanor Berman, pairs seasonal activities and local attractions with various locales. For me, this opened my eyes to the many enjoyable short trips my family and I can take without going too far from home. The book contains telephone numbers, driving directions and suggestions for accommodations and restaurants that I likely would never have discovered on my own. My family and I have stayed in several of the book's recommended bed and breakfasts and have been delighted. I keep this book handy to refer to for travel ideas. I reccommend it highly as a thorough and "user friendly" guide to travel in the Southeast.

Fran's book is a wonderful, down-home recollection of what life was like growing up during the Depression. You will feel like you've been sitting on the front porch with her, listening to her stories. She depicts rural mountain life without sappiness or silliness... it's just a good read.

Such a voice. I wonder why this is not yet a movie! and i am not just saying this because one of the characters in the book is modeled after me. I would not do that! Art does not immitate life, in this case, it is the other way round. A most excellent read, if you happen to like the English language and enjoy rolling it around in your head. and Perhaps on your tongue.
My character is the half blind Negro cat, by the way.