Jeffrey Gold

Appalachian Homilies

“Several years ago, Roberta Herrin was contacted by a Los Angeles reporter who was doing a story on cock fighting in Cocke County, Tennessee. His angle was ‘Cocke County is the last little pocket of sin in the United States.’ We all carry unconscious prejudices about Southern Appalachia, prejudices which Herrin dispels beautifully in an utterly non-pedantic way. I encourage you to read this book to understand Southern Appalachia in a way that is more honest than the stereotypes we picked up watching The Beverly Hillbillies.”