Charles Frazier, author of “Cold Mountain”, has FINALLY written a second novel which also takes place in my beloved mountains. Instead of being set during the Civil War, this is before and during the removal of the Cherokee during the Trail of Tears era told by an orphaned white boy who became the adopted son of an Indian chief, Bear.

And, oh how I adored it.

However, it’s impossible not to like a book where it had John Calhoun giving advice such as this about speaking French:

“But he would pass along a trick he had learned, which was this: you couldn’t go wrong if you pronounced every single word of the language as if it were a child’s euphemism for the private parts.”

And then there is this hilarious gem about messing with outsider journalists looking for a story:

“I told one of the writers that our fields were so nearly vertical we planted our corn with a shotgun and had to breed a race of mules with legs shorter on one side than the other for plowing. And when he asked how we transported the corn down off the mountain, I said, In a jug.”

I’ve always loved smart-ass southerners. Then again, I do come from a long line of them (including John Calhoun for that matter. Although, I do realize I shouldn’t claim that link as he was one crazy racist son of a bitch.)

Date: Sunday, August 27th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
Category: All The Cool Kids Were Reading it.
Author: Miss Laura
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