BOOK REVIEW: Running on Red Dog Road and other perils of an Appalachian Childhood by Drama Hall Berkheimer
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Publisher: Zondervan
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Synopsis
Gypsies, faith-healers, moonshiners, and snake handlers cavort through
Drema's childhood in 1940s Appalachia after her father is killed in the coal
mines, her mother goes off to work as a Rosie the Riveter, and she is left
in the care of devout Pentecostal grandparents. What follows is a spitfire
of a memoir that reads like a novel, with intrigue, sweeping emotion,
and indisputable charm. Drema's coming of age is colored by tent revivals
with Grandpa, poetry-writing hobos, and exotic carnivals, and through it
all, she serves witness to a multi-generational family of saints and sinners
whose lives defy the stereotypes. Just as she defies her own.
Review:
Memoir about a young girl growing up in coal country Appalachia. Her
mother wasn't around much as she was off working in a factory as a "Rosie
the Riveter", her father died in the mines when she was young. Raised
by her Pentacostal grandparents where people spoke in tongues and no one was
ever turned away for a meal. Most of the men in area worked in the
mines or were dying from black lung. The whole area was very poor but
they made due and Drema didn't know any better and found her upbringing full
of love and adventure.
This is a good easy read. Each chapter is like a short story of a period
of time in her life.
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