This book collects most of the written material available and includes actual person-to-person contact to document the Primitive Baptist Universalist church in Central Appalachia. Well-researched and well-written, this book describes a religious group that is remarkable for its openness and extreme forgiveness in a region traditionally viewed as fundamentalist, crude, and harsh. Readers must wade through excessive detail at times but if they persevere, the detail helps to color in the shades of this unique group.

Collaboratively compiled and edited by Dudley Cocke, Donna Porterfield, and Edward Wemytewa, Journeys Home: Revealing A Zuni-Appalachia Collaboration is the story of a bilingual play created through a sixteen-year collaboration between Zuni and non-Native American Appalachian cultures. The play itself, a wealth of information about dialect, lore, motives, and historical background, and is enhanced with an audio CD make Journeys Home a unique contribution to contemporary Native American Studies reference collections, and a cultural blend celebration and not to be missed!

Kept me laughing all weekend. Lots of stories, even lectures, besides the jokes--all with the regional twist.

Too many times, the Old Regular Baptists have been either ridiculed outright or praised as "quaint" or "anachronistic". Such praise still condescends. The ORB's have developed a hesitancy about opening up to the outside world who do not understand their way of worship. They will not allow cameras in the church house (as a rule) and anyone who brings a recorder into a church needs to be discreet to the utmost. That is why Howard Dorgan's book is so welcome. It well- and, more importantly, respectfully written.
Before I continue, the reader should know this reviewer grew up in the Old Regular Baptist Church. My paternal grandfather, his father, and his grandfather were all ordained Old Regular Baptist preachers.
Mr. Dorgan's book reads well and helps explain some of the idiosyncracies (to the eye of the outsider) of the denomination. They do not believe in Sunday school (and there is an historic and doctrinal reason for it), they do not pass a collection plate, they do not have musical instruments in the church. But what they do have is a spirit of God moving through their service that is incomparable to any I have ever seen.
The service is simple. There is singing, an introduction from the moderator, prayer, and two or three visiting preachers preach for 20 to 45 minutes each, and a prayer to close the service. There is none of the "extraneous" items, such as a bulletin, a youth group, announcements, children's church, a nursery, etc. It is just a time for pure worship.
Mr. Dorgan explains all this and more and I believe that he has even helped many of the faithful understand some of the reasons behind what they do. He does this with readable history and the theology behind the doctrine and practices of the denomination.
This ought to be required reading for anyone who wishes to go to an Old Regular Baptist Church for a service. You will not be questioned, you will not be looked upon suspiciously. Instead, the entire congregation may make their way to you and other new faces in the church to shake your hand and welcome you. If you are looking for "the good old-fashioned way", you will have found it here.
I recommend you also take a listen to their songs. The Smithsonian has put out a CD/cassette of the music by some of the best-known singers and preachers in the denomination.

My wife and I, along with our kids (23, with wife, 17, 8, and 6)(all boys) listened to it several times. We loved it! All of us! Warning: it is dangerous to listen to while driving as it hard to keep the car on the road during a belly laugh. Both stories are very funny, and you will fall in love with Miss Rosemary. Mr. Davis does a wonderful job telling the story. I'll bet his books are great, but I am now in the process of acquiring all of his works on audio just to hear him tell the stories. Well worth the money! Get the tape!

All three of these novels have basis in fact. The authors even give you the actual battles, dates etc so that you can further research the time period if you so desire.

Each novel follows the same family through the harsh settling of the Appalichian mountains. The spiritual undertones are strong but not overbearing to a non- Christian reader. The reality and brutality of the time period is evident in this families heartbreaks -- losing their mother or father or a dear friend. But at the same time the reader can almost feel the euphoria of etching out a life in the wilderness and saying "I did it!"

I truely have enjoyed all 3 of these titles; reading one right after the other. I eagerly await the 4th in the series!

Dr. Griffin played a very important part in my writing ability. As of now, & thanks to her, I am the author of two books. Also, due to her encouragement I've just finish a children book of African-folkstories.. Hopefully it'll measure up to her Talking-Treasures in the years to come. I encourage all to read her inspiring books.

This book is a beautifully rendered compilation of Appalachian textiles. It has basic explanations, but also tells the story of the women behind each piece of work. I saw the author's exhibition in Scotland, and also attended a study day where she walked us through the entire exhibit, explaining each piece and many of her stories. While the book is excellent, it may lose something if you haven't seen the exhibit, but it still stands on its own. It's not an instruction guide, it's not meant to be, it's the catalogue of some exceptional work from some exceptional women who should not be forgotten.

John O'Brien has lived and thoroughly researched the Appalachian label. This book is a "must read" for any native of WV that wonders why they don't feel like an "Appalachian" and yet have been referred to as such. It is also the story of a young man fighting "Appalachian fatalism". It can be seen as a struggle against and a struggle for West Virginian culture. A great first book.

As a resident of Pendleton County during the first 22 years of my life, I have discovered through the writing of John O'Brien why I harbor an intense pride of my home state. A must read for anyone who has lived in the beautiful mountain state, anyone who has traveled there, or anyone who is curious about Appalachia. Beautifully and simply written, with historical facts and interspersed with personal vignettes.

This is a terrific book. O'Brien writes with a compelling style that could almost classify the book as a page turner (which is quite rare for this type of non fiction).

As a native West Virginian, just about every chapter had something that I strongly identified with...the West Virginia style family reunion in Pocahontas County, the "deep family secrets" that only the women talk about, the strong sense of family and community, the love of the outdoors, etc.

Growing up in Northern West Virginia, I always considered (and still do) my childhood to be somewhat idyllic. It was small town life with football, 4-H camp, camping vacations, spending summers at my grandmother's farm, etc. I was always puzzled as an adult after I had moved out of the state for graduate school at the quizzical/sorrowful looks that I would receive from people when I told them of my native state. John O'Brien has clearly articulated the history and reasons behind those stereotypes and I believe debunked most of the unfair ones.

I would recommend this book to any West Virginian (both resident and expat) who has that strong sense of pride in their heritage, but is searching for answers and explanations about the conflicting messages they receive from "the outside".

My only trepidation in this whole thing is that it took John O'Brien so long to write this first book, that another book from him may be a long time in coming.

There are people who can't abide the thought of a snake, and there are those who love the thrill of a serpant like others love the thrill of skydiving. Dennis Covington is a modern Southern who is both repelled and attracted by the quirky form of self-validating faith known as "Snake Handlers". His book takes you to places you've not only never been, but likely never wanted to go. But like the snakes themselves we are both charmed and dismayed by the culture that validates itself by manufacturing uniqueness. "Signs and Wonders" don't have to wait for the Lord to perform them, they are available on demand. The strengths and the obvious weaknesses of this "Holiness by Ordeals" program are uncovered, at the same time as Dennis Covington uncovers a view of the God we can't understand but again have occasion to admire. I don't like the subject of this book (I'm not a snake guy), but like a beautiful snake, I do admire this book and have been enriched by spending some hours in its company. Its a very good read.

It's hard to recommend this book to people because they hear what it's about and almost universally think that they don't want to read about it - religious fanatics handling snakes, drinking poison, plotting to kill their wives - sounds like loads of fun. But it is! It really is. Dennis Covington treats this subject with a great deal of humility and respect. He makes the characters come alive and really shows you some of what they may be thinking or feeling. Everyone that I have convinced to read this has enjoyed it tremendously.

Having always lived ith an ardent curiosity of snake handlers, their religion and their culture, reading and re-reading this book brought forth more questions as others were answered. Covington does an outstanding job of "humanizing" the people involved in this seemingly primitive practice, while at the same time describing the feeling of life in a small Southern, rural area, beset with a moderate dose of illiteracy and poverty. Reading wasn't enough for me, however; I had to SEE it happen. So a week ago some friends and I set out from our home city and traveled 3 hours north to a revival at a snake handling Holiness church in the same area in Alabama that Covington wrote about. Seeing IS believing...it was exactly as he described it. It stood the hair on our necks up. It mesmerized, coaxed, lured. Seeing it explained to me how Covington, for a moment, became a handler. The book so accurately represented the "real" thing, especially in its description of the people. Because I read it, I saw it. Because I saw it, I understand it. I have read ten other books on the subject, and if you want to FEEL what the real thing is like, this is the one book to read.