South Carolina Books

I enjoyed the book and would encourage my folks to read it. It is so hard to get an unbiased history of Denmark Vesey. I am looking for African descened historians to give me an accurate picture.

Considering the author isn't a black historian, he gives a pretty, fair and balanced view of Denmark. I believe the truth is a problem for many people, but I am relatively satisfied this book.

It is beyond belief that some folks would have a problem with enslaved humans rising up and slaughtering thoe with their foot on their necks. These same people don't seem to having a problem with the the whites slaughtering, maiming, and raping, terrorizing and working to death the Africans. Go figure!

I highly recommend.

The Lives of Denmark Vesey is a story of an atypical slave (Telemaque) born in the Caribbean who ends up in Charleston, South Carolina by the time he's sixteen. Vesey, having learned three languages, was extremely intelligent compared to slaves of his time and would later lead a slave revolt in Charleston.

Douglas Egerton does a great job of vividly describing Charleston and many of its inhabitants in the early 19th century. This interesting and astonishing book about a slave in the early 1800s is very accurate and truthfully coincides with many historians living in Charleston today. I recently did a report comparing Egerton's book to various sources of the known history of Charleston in the late 18th and early 19th century, and Egerton's book hits on all the main aspects of Charleston. The buzzard and manure infested streets and the large "underground" slave population that roamed the streets at night are just a few of the characteristics of Charleston Egerton accurately hits on. Props to Egerton on an interesting and accurate story about a monumental aspect of Charleston's history.

I have very mixed feelings about this book because there are parts that I enjoy and think are important, but as a whole I think that this is very dangerous not because of the content but because of how this book was written.

For anyone who wants to understand the difference between field slaves and town slaves (there are a lot) in the 1820's in the South this is a good book. Douglas Egerton follows the life of the slave Denmark Vessey as a way to "show-off" Southern society and culture at the time and discusses issues that arose for enslaved and free blacks in Charleston.

But the main part of the book is when Egerton gets to the failed insurrection by Vessey (a plan that involved killing a large portion of white Charleston and sailing on boats to Haiti). This too he describes in great detail from the planning of the revolt to how Vessey and his conspirators were tried and hanged.

Then I read "Denmark Vessey and his Co-Conspirators" by Michael Johnson which appeared in the October 2001 issue of The William and Mary Quarterly. It is necessary that you read this in conjunction with Egerton's book. Johnson attacks the very evidence used by Egerton in his book (mainly trial documents) to claim that there wasn't a revolt at all and that Vessey and many others were killed because White Charleston "thought" there was a slave insurrection. He further argues that historians like Egerton have fabricated this entire plot and rewritten history, hence "co-conspirators."

Personally, I don't agree with Johnson that there was no revolt, but he convinced me that Egerton's evidence isn't adequate to say there was. Egerton did write a response to Johnson which pushed that there was in fact a revolt but doesn't even acknowledge that a lot of his evidence is faulty.

I got the chance to meet and discuss the issue with the author and got little besides a character assassination of Johnson. I cannot deny that his lack in recognizing his mistakes and trying to correct them has made me biased and I like his book a lot less. He sees it as a finished product, I see it as a rough draft that needs to be re-researched. But I think that this is the real issue here. Historians make mistakes, but when we are too prideful our mistakes can become what many see as the truth. I'm not saying that Denmark Vessey's slave revolt never happened, I don't know, but the attitude of historians like Egerton is dangerous because it provides the right conditions for this "rewritten history" to occur.

In Egerton's defense he did make a revised addition at the urging of his publisher (not on his own accord), but the changes are menial, the biggest he said was confirming that one town slave was a mulatto and not completely black, and he wants to later include how Vessey's wife, Beck, ended up in Liberia. To me, this was no effort to revisit any of the old evidence that is inadequate, just adding more fluff.

The other issue (others have mentioned) is that the Vessey is almost deified in this book. And yes I realize that it is convenient for me, as a white person, to say that killing all of the whites in Charleston is morally bankrupt, but Egerton doesn't even try to address this issue anywhere in his book.

This is an excellent history of slavery in South Carolina with a focus on the unsucessful revolt led by Denmark Vesey. The strength of the book is the history of Vesey and the evolutionary process that leds him to his death.

What is most intriguing was the discussion of Vesey's rejection of the New Testement as a guide for his actions and his use of the Old Testement as a guide. The book deals well with the issue of the effect of the masters use of the Christian faith as a justification for slavery on the slaves and freemens spiritual life.

The only flaw in the book was the authors obvious admiration for Vesey. Not that such admiration is not deserved, but it tended to color some of the more difficult issues in Vesey's revolt. For instance, a major controversey has arisen concerning whether as part of the revolt the whites of Charleston were to be massacred. The author does not deal with the claim other than to dismiss is as illogical. However, this dismissal is insufficent given the hate and feellings for revenge that the slaves must have felt toward their masters.

All in all, this is a very readable history important events in American history. A good read.

This was an extraordinary book. Douglas Egerton does a marvelous job of telling the different lives of Denmark Vesey. The book is extremely well researched and tells the historical truth of Vesey's life. The author does a wonderful job of finding the true story of Denmark Vesey and incorporates intriging insights into his life. This is a wonderful book that illustrates what life was like for a dynamic slave who turned free. Egerton tells Vesey's story in a fascinating way and does a great job of recapturing Vesey's life. The author tells of how Vesey was a strong-willed, highly intelligent leader who had an ingenious plot to help slaves and free blacks to truly become free. The author shows how fascinating Vesey was even though his plan failed. This is a marvelous book and I highly recomend reading it! It is an absolute joy to read!

All of Randy Johnson's books are very informative. The maps and driving directions are excellent and also the trail descriptions.

Any traveler to North Carolina will be able to use this helpful guide to the state. It's full of information on numerous trails, including educational ones perfect for the family.

This is an excellent resource and planning guide. I have nothing to add to the earlier reviews, most of which are 5 stars.

The lack of GPS coordinates of the trailheads is the one glaring deficiency and the reliance on another map resource is no substitute. The copy edit staff should have done their homework and inserted this information, since it could be done from their desks. It appears instead that they put their efforts into misleading advertising -

"Detailed trail descriptions, and GPS-compatible trail maps"

Nevertheless, I have since purchased extra copies for gifts.

Mr. Johnson's "Hiking North Carolina" is a guide for hikers by a lifelong hiker in the North Carolina High Country. North Carolina has hundreds of miles of hiking trail, and Randy has hiked most of them himself. The one risk of writing a guide about something you love so much, is to ruin the sense of adventure by including too much information. On the other hand, I have been hiking long enough to remember guides that would allow you to barely find the trailhead, much less give you good information about the trail and what you will encounter. There is a fine balance between a guide that tells too much, like the Appalachian Trail guides, and a guide that says too little, like some I see in popular magazines. I believe that Mr. Johnson's guide strikes a good balance between the two; telling you what you need to know while preserving the sense of adventure in the experience. It's the adventure that draws us into the woods after all. I recommend this guide for anyone who is interested in hiking in the state. His maps are quite detailed and well drawn, and his trail descriptions are enough to get you where you want to go without spoiling the fun of discovery. It is an excellent work and well worth including in your outdoor library.

Robert Branch
Burnsville, NC

This was a good book for a general description of several trails in North Carolina, but didn't give many details. I think I was looking for something that would give me enough information to pick one trail out of them all to visit, but the brief descriptions didn't give me enough to go on. If you already know which trail you want to trek and it is one of the trails covered in the book, you're pretty well set. You will, however, need another map to know exactly how to get to that particular trail...the book has a map with a general location but no specific driving information.

Mrs. Whaley grew up in the same small village where I grew up. It was a thrill to read this book. If you aren't from the south it might be a southern thing, but talking about your roots and your people is a mainstay of southern lifestyle and conversation. I enjoyed the heck out of this little book and give it as gifts in baskets filled with other Charleston charms.

A small town girl makes it big in downtown Charleston, SC without becoming part of the sophisticated establishment. She is refreshing and free in her opinions and plantings. From simple potted plants to ancient camellias and restful blue hues, Emily gives anyone a sense of peace in her garden. She relates the destruction of three feet of saltwater from Hugo in her garden and how nature bounced back with tender care. Enjoyment in her 80's is contagious for all ages. As I walk the sidewalks in April and see the lavender blossoms from wysteria, I think of young at heart Mrs. Whaley.

While reading this book, I felt as if I was sitting in a backyard garden on a lovely iron park bench with a glass of lemonade in hand, visiting with Emily Whaley herself. Opinionated, honest and full of Southern charm, Emily is a woman of character who has been blessed with the gift of gardening and a heritage of living right. When I first began reading, I expected gardening tips and descriptions of prolific gardens, which I was given. Yet delightfully surprising was having the lessons she had learned in her life unpretentiously and often humorously passed down to me by way of uncluttered recollections. She taught me to "find my own charms" in life and to "compete only with myself" to name so very few. This is one book I will certainly re-read the pages of often throughout my life.

Geez, I actually used one of the recipes in this book, put in towards the back. I believe its one of the authors favorites....however, I was surprised at how uncooked my chicken came out according to instructions, non-verbatem, "put chicken in 500 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes." I guess I'm nieve; either that or I figured a little old lady would know how long it took to cook chicken! Thank goodness it wasn't six breasts! Anyways, the rest of the book is pretty hard to get through. There are pockets of good storytelling, but the book wasn't as absorbing as I thought it would be. The book is a little bit about everything on the life and family of Ms Emily Whatley, a South Carolinian who gives us her families history back to Eve. I guess I was supposed to be transfixed. I kept thinking I could take this book in spurts of different "mood." Alas, it was not to be so. When you pick up a book with a grimace, donate it to the library or the goodwill instead! She does mention her garden----but she also mentions alot of other stuff. Its a rambling piece of a little old ladies history of her life; take it or leave it. Its not the most happening thing, but I guess you have to be from Charleston. I have to wonder why this book was published in the first place....I don't understand the appeal....it must be "A Southern Thing." Whatever.

Mr. Whaley has a wonderful way of drawing you into her stories about learning from her family and friends how important gardens and gardening is to life in South Carolina. You feel as if you are sitting at her knee listening to her tell her stories, rather than reading a book.

I have been to her garden and met her and she truly is a marvel. A true South Carolina gardener and gentlewoman.

Lots of good suggestions for future adventures for gem hunting. Love to read and plan before trips

Crossing western North Carolina from southwest to northeast are several branches of the Appalachian Mountain chain, including its highest peaks. The Appalachians, of course, are the product of numerous continental collisions and retreats, the latest of which appear to have occurred about a quarter of a billion years ago. Since that time, erosion of all forms has worn those Himalaya-sized peaks into the gentler mountains of today. That process has stripped many miles and layers of rock away, leaving deeper, older rocks now exposed to the surface for the first time.

Because the miles of rock now removed exerted enormous heat and pressure, as did the colliding continental masses themselves, many freakish, beautiful, and frequently valuable gems and minerals may now be found. This book clearly and precisely describes where, how, and when to seek them, and what you can hope to find at each of the 53 sites described. The reader and user should SCRUPULOUSLY OBSERVE the book's recommendations for good manners in dealing with the people who are kind enough to open their property for rockhounding.

The maps and directions are very good, but I was distressed that all photos were in black and white. I know there are limitations, but rock hues may have many nuances that black/white simply cannot capture. Even with this, the book is very good, and it will be glued to my fourth rib the next time I venture down that way. Highly recommended.

This is a fantastic book but unfortunately, many of the sites are now closed to collecting. I agree with the other reviewer that it needs color photos. I have used to to dig at a couple of sites with good results. Unfortunatley, the success of this book coupled with a few overzealous collectors (out of the thousands that are good and follow rules) are probably whey these sites are now closed. I just wish that I would have found the book a couple of years ago. It's still worth buying, just be sure to check the internet first before travelling or hinking all the way to a site to make sure that it is still open to collecting.

I purchased this book after having visited a mine or two in the state. It is written in a manner that makes one eager to take a weekend and do nothing but mine. That is what I am going to do soon, with this book in tow.

The info in this book is good. It gives directions and GPS info and other good info. BUT in this day and age there is really no excuse for just having black and white pictures in this kind of book. In black and white all the rocks look very similiar to me. If they would just add color pictures I would rate it 5 stars instead of just 4. I still recommend this book but not as your only one for this area. Get it to compliment others.

I read a great deal of both Christian literature and Southern literature, and The Suncatchers is a winner in both categories! Turner has captured the essence of the Deep South with all of its idiosyncrasies in her portrayal of The Church of the Open Door. When Perry Warren flees a broken marriage and moves south to write an expose' of the typical fundamentalist Christian, he ends up living right next door to Eldeen Rafferty, a "poster-child" for the stereotypical Southern Christian. Perry becomes friendly with Eldeen and her family so that he will have more fodder for his book. He does not count on actually beginning to love these new friends dearly and enjoy attending church services with them. At The Church of the Open Door, its occupants, from Brother Hawthorne, the pastor who steps out of the "typical" male role to help his wife and tells his parishoners to do the same, to Joe Leonard, the shy teenager who plays the tuba for church services, and everyone in between, accept Perry unconditionally, and each manages to teach Perry a lesson about Christianity. As Perry goes through the painful process of analyzing his unusual upbringing and his failing marriage, he gradually begins to find healing and answers at The Church of the Open Door. Without a lot of preaching and testimonials, The Suncatchers manages to present such a wonderful picture of the Christian life that everyone who reads it will want to live as Eldeen and her family do. Even Perry finally realizes that this Christianity thing might have something for him as well. As a woman of the Deep South who is a born-again Christian and holds a masters degree in English (some may see these things as paradoxical), I find Turner to be on the same level with Eudora Welty. Turner captures the true spirit of the South in her charaterizations and descriptions; her Eldeen is portrayed with equal finesse of Welty's Phoenix Jackson, Sister, and Stella Rondo. I feel as if I would know Derby, S.C. and The Church of the Open Door if I visited there much as I feel I would recognize The Worn Path and Sister's P.O. The Suncatchers is undoubtedly the best book that I have ever read, and I hope that Turner will continue with her tales of Derby.

This is another wonderful example that there are absorbing reads out there with amazing characters and great story lines without explicit language and vulgarity. I'll never forget Eldeen!

I'm going to depart from the other reviewers and give a lower rating.

I really like this author. I've read her other books and really enjoyed them. I know is was her first book (or one of her firsts). But she was a little too wordy.

I liked the storyline of Perry, who is writing a book on "fundamentalist Christians". He visits a church and is pleasantly surprised by what he finds. He meets the eccentric Eldeen, who shows him what God and Christianity was really all about.

I loved the character of Eldeen. I loved how Perry discovered that Christianity is not all about rules, and how some of what he learned about God was helpful in his relationship with his estranged wife.

But the book was so wordy that I got lost in all the details. There was a lot of going back and forth between past and present, and that got confusing. Because of the wordiness, I almost missed that Joe Leonard was Jewel's son.

There also seemed to be some loose ends. It looked like certain things would develop, but then the author seemed to stop. There was the relationship between Perry and his mother. What was wrong with his mother? She cried frequently and seemed emotionally unbalanced. There was mention of her going away and nobody telling Perry why. Was it because she was depressed and spent time in a mental hospital? Why did Perry's dad collapse? That seemed buried in all the details of the book. It would have been interesting to develop this more since this seemed to affect Perry, who he was, and how he related to his wife.

And what happened to Jewel's mother? It was mentioned that Eldeen married Jewel's daddy when Jewel was 6, but I thought some mention of what happened to Jewel's mother would come up.

This author clearly has potential. I am currently reading "By the Light of a Thousand Stars" and am really enjoying the book. I think without the excessive wordiness, the book would have been easier to read.

"Suncatchers" is an excellent Christian novel that is also a great witness tool! The main character learns first-hand about the Christian faith and struggles with his own non-belief. The characters were wonderfully crafted. A delightful read!

I really don't know how I happened upon this book, but I was delighted with it from the first page! As a voracious reader, I have read thousands of books in my lifetime, from Somerset Maugham to Alfred North Whitehead to Agatha Christie! Believe me, Suncatchers is so much better than most books -- Do yourself a huge favor and GET THIS BOOK. Already emailing my friends to borrow or buy a copy ASAP, I am purchasing several for gifts (and one for me!). There are very few books that cause me actual regret to finish. Suncatchers is one of them. To close the cover on such vibrant, inspiring, fascinating characters was difficult indeed. I will now get the other books by Jamie Langston Turner, and I pray that she will continue to write more!

This a very easy to understand and very informative tome for casual gardners in North Carolina.

This was a great book for me! It is helping me pick plants that will flourish in my environment. It's user friendly & very informative.

This book is helpful and it aided my brother in deciding which plans to put in his Charlotee garden.

Pam Beck's newspaper column always had great tips for the local gardener. This book does not dissapoint. This handy book is easy to carry for those many trips to the home centers or nurseries. It has good pictures of the plants and the descriptions are concise but very helpful. Every North Carolinian, especially those new to the area, should invest in this little gem.

Really good resource for North Carolina gardeners. They were right on about the plants in the book that I have first hand knowledge about. These plantings have done well in my garden. So that gives me confidence to try some of the ones they reccomend that I haven't tried yet.

This is the type of amateurish map that is given away by visitor's bureaus or chambers of commerce in most cities. Someone's making money off this minimal effort. It's better than nothing, but we've pulled better maps out of the back of other Charleston guide books.

This is the best map I have ever used! Out of the dozen travel books that we brought on our trip, this turned out to be the most resourceful and accurate map of them all.

This map appeared on my amazon homepage as a recommendation after I purchased a travel guide to Charleston, SC as a gift for my girlfriend before we took a vacation in Charleston. I bought this map to go along with the book and I have to say that she loved the map! It is very cute and extremely detailed and we found it very useful - we pulled it out, usually while walking down the street, just about every day that we were in Charleston. My girlfriend loves this hand-drawn map so much that she is going to frame it and hang it up in her bedroom! Thanks amazon.

I just used this map and the "Fromer's Guide" for a trip to Charleston. The map shows everything in the downtown : hotels, restaurants, historic sites, attractions, government buildings, parks, churches, shopping and points of interest, and its compact. I could not ask for a better destination map.

This map is helpful when it comes to weeding out the attractions, restaurants, hotels and stores. It makes good suggestions for dining, but there have been additions to some places (such as starbucks) that are not listed on the map. Looks like it should be updated. The map is NOT helpful when leaving downtown Charleston. We actually got lost using this map to find the plantations north of the city. The best approach is to use this map for downtown only, and make sure you visit the Charleston visitors center for more background information and pamphlets.

If you have an interest in the history of Africans in America, specially in South Carolina, this is book will be right up your alley. I did not not detect any bias or underhandedness. It is an educational and enlightening read.

If you are a history buff, please pick up this book.

Black mojority is a momagram written to examinne the life of an african american in carolina during the colonial era. While it is very thourough in ts analysis of the slaves role and growth durning this time, it moves very slowly. I was assigned to read this book for a history course i was taking in college, so this wasn't a book i would noramlly pick up and read. I did find that i learned may things i did not know about this time and slaves. I found it all very facinating. this is a great book to read if you plan to major in history. It is thorough and well put together, all in all a great book to learn and grow from.

Peter H. Wood did a thoroughly researched well written history of African-Americans in South Carolina from 1670 to the Stono Rebellion. I am African-American and read this book for the first time in college; it was assigned to me by a terrific professor, (Thomas R. Hietala). I came to that class with my own concept of what slavery was and what it meant; this book totally challenged me to question my perceptions of slavery. I believed the stereotypic view that Africans were brought here and taught skills here and picked cotton and it was all misery and this book and others he assigned showed me how our modern vision of slavery is very shallow.

This book focuses on the rice growing region of South Carolina and it shows how slavers concentrated on capturing Africans from the rice coast because of their agricultural knowledge and skills; he shed a light on who these African people were before slavery. It explores how the cash crop in South Carolina came to be rice. How South Carolina was established as a colony of Barbados and the slave owners in South Carolina were formerly working class overseers who worked for the royal owners of Sugar Plantations in Barbados and later became land and slave owners in South Carolina; in both places (Barbados and South Carolina) the populations became Black majorities.

It also shows how slavery system in South Carolina evolved for the enslaved from something that was oppressive and informal into something brutal, permanent and hopeless. The evolution of slavery also changed the owners as they became a numerical minority the also became increasingly paranoid, determined to establish brutal absolute authority over the slaves and blinded by their own propaganda.

It seems even more astonishing they began to believe that Africans were better off and happy under a system that enslaved them. The most powerful thing Professor Hietala ever said in our class was "Never forget that slaves always wanted ownership of their own bodies and the power to direct their own lives and destinies; nothing was more important."

At times I think historians forget this when writing about African-American slaves. Wood understands this and he also shows respect for how enslaved Africans not only yearned for their freedom but how they planned and took risks for their freedom. He explores in depth the complexity and challenges of their struggle in choosing to look at the Stono Rebellion and the events that lead up to this big risk.

The story Wood tells begins with the history of these two communities (Barbados overseers who become South Carolina planters and enslaved Africans) continues with the development of the system of slavery in South Carolina and climaxes at the Stono Rebellion. The most fascinating thing about this act of Resistance is how close they came to success. When reading it for the first time I found myself saddened that they did not succeed because their success could have rewritten African-American History by altering the issues that sparked the Civil War and subsequent events; Reconstruction, Jim-Crow and the Civil Rights Movement. In essence their success could have changed my history and had far reaching implications with respect to who I am.

I think it is worth reading because of the history it explores and because Wood is an excellent researcher and writer. He not only uncovers the history but he exposes readers to the lives of enslaved Africans in a new way by portraying them as whole human beings who had a life before slavery. He treats with respect their existence and culture in Africa and acknowledges how it (African culture) influenced the economy and agriculture of South Carolina and by inference the South. It is a brilliant well researched and written work, as a student I came to appreciate that brilliant scholars were not always brilliant writers, Wood excels at both. I recommend it highly to any one interested in learning more about African-American history.

This study of slavery in early SC is well researched and well written, a social history told in narrative style with a clearly defined chronological structure. Makes a great companion to Philip Morgan's Slave Counterpoint.

Peter Wood presents a very thorough account of Africans in South Carolina in the 1700s. From the first Africans to arrive on a Spanish expedition in 1526 and the African migrants arriving from Barbados in 1670 to the social tensions of the 1700s, Wood covers such topics as cattle raising, rice cultivation, disease, family life, religion, Black English, growing anxieties between whites and blacks, and the Stono Rebellion in 1739. Blacks became the majority population in South Carolina by the early 1700s. They were brought in as laborers and were immune to many lowland diseases that led to the higher mortality and morbidity rate among European settlers. Interestingly, the sickle cell trait heightened Africans' resistance to malaria. What I gathered from this work is that, while Africans were enslaved by the whites, Africans shaped South Carolina more than any other group through such things as their knowledge of cattle grazing, rice planting and cleaning, etc. Interesting book but, due to the narrowness of the study, I would only recommend it to those interested in black history or South Carolina.

Blue Roots: African American Folk Magic of the Gullah People

This book is an okay read. One assertion by the author stood out for me though as possibly historical incorrect. On page 26 the author states "They were steeped in their culture and well educated in their prospective tribe's socio-religious traditions, primarily in the Ifa beliefs of the dominant Yoruba culture." I was with him until he said "primarily in the Ifa beliefs of the dominant Yoruba culture."

I only have basic knowledge, but no where have I read that the Yoruba had any significant influence on African American(United States) culture, and the Africans dominate religion was Ifa. I have not read that of the sea island Africans, nor the mainland Africans. The only influence I am aware the Yorubas to black American culture is in lower Mississippi. The Yoruba people, who are from Southwest Nigeria, were very small in number to the US.

The largest groups of Africans transported to the US were from the Bight of Biafra(25% - Igbo), Angola, Gold Coast(Akan), BaKongo, Senegambia. It is said that one out of every four black American has an Ibo ancestor. However, if I am wrong, I stand to be corrected, of course, with sources. I simply have not come upon his assertions in my readings regarding the Yoruba.

I suspect that the author is an Ifa worshipper and highly exaggerated

Written in the colloquial, narrative style that characterizes much of the writng of the South Carolina Low-Country, "Blue Roots" is a readable introduction to a culture and folk religious practice that has been a part of Southeastern low-country life since the first Afro-Americans were brought to it's shores as slaves. Pinckney is masterful in creating the mood and "feel" of the gullah culture with its unique personalities such as Dr. Bug, Dr Buzzard and J.E.McTeer, former High Sheriff, businessman and "root doctor." I met Mr. McTeer if the early 1970s while doing field research on the "root culture" around Beaufort, South Carolina and found him charming, complex and most astute with regard to his "practice." "I'm a poor-man's psychiatrist." he remarked "my clients don't trust regular doctors, so they come to me." On the other hand, he had no doubt as to the effectiveness of the "magic" he performed in a small roon adjoining his real estate office in downtown Beaufort. Those who want to look beneath the surface of this complex world may wish to explore the titles listed in Pinckney's bibliography including those titles by Puckett and Hyatt which, admittedly, does require some effort on the reader's part, but reveals fascinating details such as the strong probability that the use of the name "Dr. Buzzard" predates the individual mentioned in "Blue Roots." Pinckney's "Blue Roots", can, and should be seen as a excellent entry, much like the port city of Charleston is to South Carolina, into a incredible world that many pass by and without recognizing the complexity, beauty and magic contained therein.

I've been a South Carolinian all my life and while in college @ SC State I developed an interest in the Geechee or Gullah culture. I researched several library collections for info documenting the life and folklore of the Sea Islands. After spending time down on several of the islands I realized how important this vanishing culture was to not only S. Carolina, but the US as well. I found Mr. Pickneys book by accident while just browing around in a book store. I read four pages and immediately knew I had to purchase it. This book is filled with some really good stories both true and folklore. He even covers Dr. Buzzard the famed root doctor that all blacks in SC have heard so many stories about. Buy it!!!!

Everything you ever wanted to know about the coastal people of the Carolinas that no one wants to tell you.Mysterious, makes you think and you can't help but want to know more. I Enjoyed every chapter, and chuckled when I found I could relate to "never pay back salt", and "never keep a crowing hen"

Do you enjoy folklore? Are you interested in the Gullah people? Do you just want to read some spooky tales? If so, this is the book for you. Blue Roots explains how the Gullah got to SC and why they alone out all of black America have hung on to so much of their African culture. You will be chilled by stories of the dreaded plateye and the hag. You will read of Dr.Buzzard the greatest of the root doctors and how the High Sherrif of the Low Country brought him down. I especially appreciated the fact that the author showed a respect for the Gullah and their ways and
made no judgements.

Kimberley Wilson, author of 11 Things Mama Should Have Told You About Men

Dr. Walt Larimore is a nationally known doctor and communicator, but in this series of true stories he's simply "Dr. Walt" a country physician who is the best family doctor I've ever known. Add his compassion for patients with the country charm of Bryson City, which is sort of like the TV-Land town of "Mayberry" from the old Andy Griffin show, and you have a winning combination. Bryson City is a wonderful part of the country where people know each other's names and more importantly they are connected through friendship and faith.

If you are looking for a better quality of life, then slip back into the mountains of North Carolina for another round of treatment from Dr. Walt who heals with more than medicine through these real life stories. (BTW- once you begin reading about real life patients in Bryson City you may give up watching Grey's for good).

Good series of books for pleasure reading. I enjoy books that take place in the NC mountains.

Very good! Really good for older readers who can appreciate the memories/stories of a young doctor ,husband, and father practicing in the N. C. Mountians. I recommend this book---as well as the first one---Bryson City Tales

Dr. Walt Larimore returns with the second book of his series which chronicles the early days of his practice in the Smoky Mountains. This book is as charming as the first one, as the residents of tiny Bryson City try to get used to the big city ways of one of its newest practitioners. In the first book of the series, Dr. Larimore discovers that some simple country remedies work just as well or better than the latest medical technology. In this book, he learns that the key to curing patients is not only in the physical realm, but in the mental and spiritual areas as well. He goes into greater detail about his daughter's cerebral palsy, and does not hesitate to tell some funny stories in which he is the butt of the joke. This book and the others in the series make for delightful reading.

I very much enjoyed the first novel in this series, Bryson City Tales, and was delighted when this second book was published. If you are a fan of reading about small-town life, you'll love these books. Dr. Larimore's narrative brings the reader right into the story. The stories range from amusing, heartwarming, suspenseful, sad, to inspiring. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book, Bryson City Secrets, due out in March! If you're looking for a terrific read, I recommend these highly.