Breece Pancake killed himself with a shotgun in Charlottesville, Virginia on Palm Sunday in 1979. He was 26 years old at the time and had just completed a graduate writing program at the University of Virginia. Four years later "The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake" was published, a collection of twelve stories that posthumously established his literary reputation as one of the finest short story writers in twentieth century American literature.

Pancake grew up in the hollows of West Virginia and each of the carefully wrought stories in this collection deals with the seemingly desperate lives of the working poor in that part of the country. They are remarkably crafted stories, written with a deep sense for the locale and the people from which they are drawn. They are also models of precision, the kind of stories that deserve to be read over and over, studied for the way in which they use foregrounding and the mundane details of everyday life--albeit everyday life that quietly screams with the desperation of poverty, deadening work, drinking, promiscuity, and brutality-to draw complex portraits of people who endure, even when endurance is no more than a substitute for hope. As he writes in "A Room Forever," the story of a tugboat mate spending New Year's Eve in an eight-dollar-a-night hotel room where he drinks cheap whiskey out of the bottle and eventually ends up with a teen-aged prostitute: "I stop in front of a bus station, look in on the waiting people, and think about all the places they are going. But I know they can't run away from it or drink their way out of it or die to get rid of it. It's always there."

The best of these stories are "Trilobites," "The Honored Dead," "Fox Hunters," and "In the Dry." But there really isn't a weak story in the bunch. Every story is captivating, every one an exemplar of what good short story writing should be. At the end, the only thing that disappoints, that leaves the reader discomforted, is the thought that Pancake died so young, that these are the only stories we have by a truly remarkable writer.

In this volume, the writer's surviving voice really hits home and stays there. Like that perfect song that stays in your head and carries you through the day, Breece Pancake's words and wisdom echoe through the reader's mind forever after reading them. In this life, there is always something around to remind of a Breece Pancake story. From the time weathered fossils in the creek beds to the rare West Virginia 120 m.p.h. strait stretches, after reading this volume I see Pancake everywhere, no matter where I am in the world. Like the trilobite preserved beneath the earth that hides it, these stories are a tangible (and for some reason widely unknown), history of a time and generation that, like the tragedy of Pancake's suicide, is destined to be repeated if ignored.

There are times when things come together in such a way that you know it's perfect. It can be a phrase of music, a blending of colors and sounds in film, or, in this case, the words of a story. This book tells stories that fall together in a timeless way, but are still firmly rooted in a specific place and time.

Having grown up in West Virginia, there were parts of these stories that spoke to me from a sort of "native" perspective. But more to it was the emotion that was the core, the skin and the stitching of each of these stories.

It's a good book to own. To read from when you feel like being taken to another place for a while. And to carry a piece of that place with you once you put the book down.

I loved the continuing story of Tuesday and Jacob. The author captures the evil and control Jacob had over the women and children on the mountain. He took everything away from them so he could control them and when he wasn't around Aunt Aggie took on the role as tyrant. You want to dislike Aunt Aggie and Big Bessie, but then again you must remember they were controled as much as the others.
The author offers twist and turns throughout the story. I can't hard wait to read the next book of this series.

I am addicted to The Cabin Series! I cannot wait for the 4th novel to come out. I met the author, C.J. Henderson, and she is a wonderful compliment to her books. A lovely lady.

My husband bought me "Cabin II" for my
birthday. I was happy, but his ulterior
motive was obvious when I caught him reading
"The Cabin Misery on the Mountain!"

Sandy

I AM INTERESTED IN THIS BOOK AND YOUR ON-LINE CATALOG OFFERS SAMPLE PAGES. HOWEVER, THE PAGE CONTENTS YOU OFFER,PARTICULARY THE FRONT AND BACK PAGES, OFFER NO USEFUL INFORMATION. WILL YOU PLEASE REVISE THE SAMPLE CONTENT TO INCLUDE A PAGE WITH PHOTOGRAPHS? THAT REVISED INFORMATION WILL GIVE ME WHAT I NEED TO DECIDE ON A PURCHASE.

EXCELLENT BOOK. THE VERY BEST FOR THE AMERICAN COLLECTOR. I NOW HAVE ALL (4) EDITIONS AND IT SURE HAS HELPED ME WITH MY COLLECTION. SIDNEY SELIGSON DID A FIND JOB AND I WANT TO COMMEND DARA FOR COMPLETING THE 4TH. EDITION. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ALL COLLECTORS.

This is the 4th edition of this book. I previously had purchased all three of the other editions. I am a major collector of Fostoria American Glassware, and this book tells it all. Very helpful in describing items. Highly recommend.....

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.

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.

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.

This book is very portable (slim and easy to carry). While it includes day hikes in the first section, the second section is great if you are planning to hike (and camp) for more than one day. Not only does it include trail descriptions, mileage, it also offers advice on how many miles to do per day, etc. I did find one "error" during the Hazel Mountain day hike section (the mileage in the text doesn't match the mileage in the description) but that's not major. Overall, GREAT BOOK!

Molloy obviouly spent a lot of time at Shenandoah because all the hikes he picked were winners (at least all those I have gone on so far!). This book tells me just what I want to know: the hike, distance, difficulty, and hiking time. Even better, it gives me a running commentary about what I am going to see on the hike, so I don't miss anything. And it fits right in my pack! I really like the directions to get me to the trailhead. I can pack up and be on the trail in a jiffy. So if you are looking for just the right information (in our era of information overload) Molloy's book is for you.

I barely have time to hike, much less shift through a thick, overdone guidebook. Molloy's guide is the perfect size. It saves me time, accurately detailing specific hikes to lesser known destinations with exact directions to the trailhead and good maps. It's all I ever need to explore Shenandoah National Park.

There are so many self-help books out there that just give you a lot of mush and feel-good words that don't add up to something. This book actually tells you real stuff. It helped me understand how being afraid is more than what we usually think of as fear. It's what keeps us from being successful, or happy. Unless you understand what Homer calls long-term fear, you can't break out of it. I love the little stories Homer tells about the people back in Coalwood. They make you laugh and then they make you think and you realize you've learned something really good! Of all the self-help, inspirational books out there, this one will really help you to break loose from what's been holding you back even when you didn't realize it. And, folks, if you've got something scary to do, like flying on a plane for a long trip or something and you've been dreading it, read this book and I'll guarantee you that you won't be afraid. It's really kind of a miracle read.

The advice I found in this book has changed my life, too. Somebody told me I should read this when they caught be dragging around filled with worry. What can a little book do to change that I asked and they said well, just read it and see. The insights in this book have been just amazing. Homer teaches through stories that are fun to read but after you're done, you just sit back and go I really see that. I really, really do. Honestly, I've spent money on a lot of these selfhelp do better kind of books but the way Homer does it, I think I really got my money's worth this time.

Hands down one of the greatest books I have ever read! Time to stop dreamin' and start taking some action. Homer Hickam has the gift of lifting you up higher than any mountain in West Virginia. I laughed and I cried...as I do through all of his books. But this one really grabbed my heart and made me realize that I am somebody too. We are truly lucky to have such a talent share his life (past/present) with us. If you are feeling blue or simply just down and out, I recommend that you read this book. I know that you will enjoy it as much as I did!

The Coalwood Way is a wonderfully written, engaging book. I am a bona fide Homer (Sonny) Hickam "groupie," I'll confess. I eagerly look forward to all his books but especially his memoirs about Coalwood. This book is simply wonderful entertainment written in such beautifully flowing prose that it's easy to forget you're reading a book. Instead, you find yourself lost in the magnificent little town of Coalwood and its colorful and engaging citizenry. If all you know of this story is the movie October Sky, forget it. The movie is a surface treatment of a magnificent and deep story of life and love in Coalwood in the 1950's and early 1960's. The movie was a Hollywood treatment that left out the better parts of Homer's books. Homer is called Sonny in these books and, of course, his dad is Homer (Senior). It's just one place the movie got it all wrong. There is a Christmas aspect to The Coalwood Way that is exciting and strangely satisfying (I'm Jewish). For one of the few times in my life, I was able to understand the Christmas spirit. Sonny Hickam taught me that in his delightful way. This book made me laugh and it made me cry. What else could possibly be wanted from a book than that? Highly, highly, highly recommended.

It is the fall of 1959 in the small coal mining town of Coalwood, WV. Sonny Hickam, the author, is a senior at Big Creek High School, and in the last year of his life as a full time Coalwoodian. He paints a picture of life in a community dependent on what has been called the most dangerous occupation. Through the fall, we meet some vividly portrayed residents including a pair of junior engineers, a poor girl from Gary, and Sonny's heart throb(s). We get to know Sonny's parents in more detail than offered in Rocket Boys and they do seem as the heart of Coalwood. And you will learn some WV lingo- I swan. It is a wonderful, warm and at times exciting story, quite different from Rocket Boys. Sonny has an insightful mind and a writing skill that is unique. It is an inspirational story that will make you feel good, and make you want to visit Coalwood. Take the book with you and find most of the memorable sites. Coalwood is alive and well, but still small and hidden 40 years after the events of Coalwood Way.

If you enjoyed Homer Hickam's Rocket Boys or the movie October Sky, this book is for you. Homer doesn't so much pick up where he left off at the end of Rocket Boys, but rather returns to the fullness of his senior high school year. He weaves a tapestry that provides detail in breadth and depth that keeps the pages turning. You'll suddenly discover it's well past bedtime and you are content to keep reading.

Homer discovers truths about himself and others, even as he's about to move away from home. There is always more to learn from one's parents. There are many emotional highs and lows in Coalwood, but lessons learned from both will leave you feeling hopeful for the human spirit. The people of Coalwood continue to display a dogged determination to get though the difficulties, even if they stumble along the way. Not one to cry easily, I found my eyes welling up with tears during the last chapter. It is possible to find great joy and beauty in hard times.

Homer doesn't miss on emotion. There's anger, joy, fear, excited anticipation, sorrow, laughter, and contentment. You may very well learn something about yourself while reading The Coalwood Way. I highly recommend it!

This is a book report on Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I am doing it for my reading class. This is the second of three books about Shiloh a dog. It is about a kid who worked for a man named Jud to get Shiloh from him. When the kid gets Shiloh, he treats him well, unlike Jud who treated him bad. When Jud gives Shiloh to the kid he gets lonely and starts drinking a lot. He gets drunk and tries to run over Shiloh but instead runs off the road and crashes. People try to be nice to Jud because he crashed and got hurt bad. Finally, one night the boy visits Jud with Shiloh. When they get there for the first time Shiloh licked Jud's hand. I recommend this book to people of all ages.

In the sequel to Shiloh, Shiloh Season, the award-winning author, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, once again beautifully portrays the rural life of West Virginia and the love a young boy, Marty, has for an abused dog named Shiloh.

In this sequel, Marty is faced with the conflict of losing Shiloh to the dog's original owner Judd Travers. Judd is known throughout the small community of Friendly, West Virgina for not only being a drunk but also for abusing his dogs.

I would recommend reading the first Shiloh before reading Shiloh Season. However, Naylor gives background information in chapter 1 to refresh the reader's memory from what happened in the first of the 3 novels. Therefore, if you choose not to read the first Shiloh then you will not be totally lost when picking up with Shiloh Season.

Marty worked for Judd in the first Shiloh in order to earn the right to own the abused beagle Shiloh as his very own. However, in Shiloh Season, Judd continuously taunts Marty in wanting Shiloh back as his dog again. What could possibly make this situation worse? Judd is drinking heavier now than ever before and backing up his threats of taking Shiloh with gunshots at Marty!

Marty learns many important lessons throughout the course of the story. He not only learns the different responsibilities that accompanies raising a dog but he also learns that truth and honesty are always the best policy even if it means losing something that you love. Marty also learns that forgiving someone is sometimes very hard but a very crucial lesson when growing up.

As a teacher, I would definitely recommend this book for 10 year old students and older to read independently or for teachers and parents to read aloud to their children of the same age level. I can't wait to read Naylor's Saving Shiloh which is the third book of the Shiloh trilogy. I also hope to see future books about Shiloh to continue the series.

It all first started when Shiloh was being abused by his owner Judd Travers. So Marty tried to take him away but after an attack from a German Shepherd, Shiloh was hidden no more. His parents found out ing and worse Judd Travers Shiloh Season was a book about a boy named Marty and a dog named Shioh,and a man that Marty despises named Judd Travers. In this book Marty feels like he did not get Shioloh fair and square. He thinks that the only reason that he got Shiloh was because he saw Judd do something that he was not allowed to do. Because of this Marty keeps on getting the feeling that Judd wants Shiloh back. But Marty loves Shiloh and doesn't want to give him up. There is a lot of conflict going around with Judd and Marty. Since Marty had taken away Shiloh from Judd he has been drinking and drinking ever since. Marty is worried that since he drinks and is violent he might come after Marty or even worse come after Shiloh and kill him. Marty fears for his life. He has to look over his shoulder every second of his life.

My husband and I picked this book up on a fluke. It was the best thing to happen to us on our trip. The book provided excellent suggestions and descriptions of rustic campsites. It was excellent. I would definitely recommend it if you don't have a clue as to where you're going but you know what you want.....to be away from RVs, portable radios, etc!

I was anxiously awaiting the publication of this book for my May trip to WV. I picked a campground based on this guide, and once again I was not disappointed! The site was the best one I've camped at yet--very private, beautiful, peaceful, quiet--just as described in the book. The guide rates the campgrounds based on beauty, security, spaciousness, and quiet--four very important factors to me. It also describes campground costs, facilities, area attractions, and gives directions. I like knowing what the site will be like--fire ring or fire grate, picnic table, graded tent pad, etc. All of this information contributes to a great camping experience without unpleasant surprises.

This is the second great camping trip I've had thanks to Johnny Molloy. I also bought his guide to camping in the Smoky Mountains and was rewarded with another memorable vacation there. I will continue to use these guides to plan my camping trips, and I can't wait to see what the next published guide will be!

Best in Tent Camping: West Virginia

I just got back from the best trip! After sweltering most of the summer I decided to head for the cool mountains of West Virginia. A roommate in college was from there and suggested I go camping in the Mountain State. I found Johnny Molloy's book and away I went. I started in the south end of the state at Bluestone State Park. The lake was refreshing and the nights were much cooler than at home. After this I headed really high and went to Spruce Knob Lake, at 4,000 feet the highest campground in the entire guidebook. Oh, the weather was spectacular! I fished the lake and went hiking in the nearby Seneca Creek Backcountry. The trip to Upper Seneca Falls was idyllic. I tell you what -- I'm gonna try to get up there when the leaves turn, because West Virginia is the unsung outdoor jewel of the East. (make up name and place, someone from the South

Louise Johnson, Richmond, VA

It's tempting to cast Homer Hickam as a rags-to-riches, self-made man. The son of a coal mine supervisor, he was raised in a rural West Virginia town with limited access to public education's most up-to-date resources. When, as a child, he experimented with designing and launching rockets (well before man had walked on the moon), he went up against the traditions of a community that had little use for original behavior. Inauspicious beginnings perhaps, but as an adult, Homer Hickam became an engineer for NASA and a best-selling writer.

So it would have been easy for him to paint himself as an undiscovered diamond in an unforgiving coal town. But that's not the tenor of Sky of Stone, in which Hickam re-creates the events of a long-ago summer spent in his hometown of Coalwood following his freshman year in college.

Sky of Stone is a follow-up to Hickam's two previous memoirs, Rocket Boys (which was made into the movie October Sky) and The Coalwood Way. In all three books, the author commemorates his hometown and its citizens with loving admiration. Homer's parents, though imperfect, are remembered for their humor, dedication and ingenuity. The author gives them full credit for insisting that he go to college and pursue his dreams.

More surprisingly, Hickam portrays Coalwood not as a soul- and lung-destroying wasteland, but as the embodiment of the American dream. Coalwood's fine schools, decent houses and well-nourished families are sustained by the production of coal. That's what the town's mining families believed, and Hickam honors their strong sense of self-determination.

The dark side to the coal industry -- black lung, union quarrels, unequal opportunity for women -- rears its head in Hickam's reminiscences, as they did in Coalwood in 1961. But they are not the subject of Sky of Stone. Hickam focuses on three young people -- Bobby Likens, Rita Walicki and himself -- for whom Coalwood's resistance to change acted as a bracing stimulant, calling forth all of the trio's shrewdness and creativity. They were made by Coalwood, not in spite of it.

The book's various plot strands -- the estrangement of Hickam's parents; the charges brought against his father involving the death of a mining foreman -- occasionally seem unconnected. But the author brings them all together in a final courtroom drama. Hickam's skill with plot, his wit and his capacity for summing up a character in a couple of good quotes all make Sky of Stone an admirable entry in the chronicles of his life.

Homer Hickam's memoir of his life is an open look at his life in the summer after his freshman year in college. After a not too brilliant start at college he ends up going home for the summer to Coalwood, West Virginia a small coal mining town. The way of life in a "company" town is difficult to properly present, yet Homer Hickam does it with ease. The lessons he learns about his father, his mother,and life itself are so openly expressed and wonderfully written, that sometimes it is hard to remember that this is not a fiction novel. The author learns a great many important "life lessons", usually not the easy way. The hard work in the coal mines is vividly detailed, you can feel the aching muscles and exhaustion. His love of an "older" woman is a heartfelt part of this book. It is like a good friend sitting down and remembering a summer, honest, open and introspective, thankful that in the end some tough lessons were learned. There is never a moment of arrogance about what he has achieved in his life,despite the odds. You don't have to read OCTOBER SKY or THE COALWOOD WAY in order to understand and enjoy this book, but why you wouldn't want to read them anyway would be hard to understand. SKY OF STONE is a wonderful memoir, and a heartfelt tribute to his family, to life in a hardworking small town and the people that help him weave the strong fabric of his life.

And that's it, plain and true. Homer Hickam writes wonderfully rich books filled with prose worthy of Harper Lee or Mark Twain. He's the new Mark Twain in my opinion. They'll be studying him the college a hundred years from now. I'm just glad we have him with us in these days. Sky of Stone kept me awake until I finished it. I love his characters. I love especially his honorable and amazing father. You can tell Mr. Hickam still loves him so much. And Johnny Basso, Jake Mosby, Rita Walicki... these are characters that people will talk about for a very long time. Proud to know you, Homer, if only through your books.