Foxfire Fund

A mix of new material pulled from the Foxfire interview archives from 50 years ago. I enjoyed the similes, songs, mythical Cherokee tales, and the memoirs of the influenza epidemic of 1918, which made me reflect on the resilience of southern Appalachian people and their resilience in times that are unimaginable today, in the days of flu shots. The interviewees remembered relying on neighbors—who set firewood and food on their front porches—to keep them alive.

The tales with folklorist show more annotations such as those by Barbara Duncan made a handful of stories much more profitable for the reader and provide much needed context for what would read just like the other odd and random musings in the book. Some of these stories, rendered verbatim in Georgia dialect, were dense and impenetrable even for me, a native Appalachian whose grandmother came from that area.

If these stories were very engaging, would they not have been published decades ago? Many are clunky and weird and difficult to understand. If I couldn't make head or tail of some of these anecdotes, I can't imagine how the average reader will respond. This new pass through the archives to glean more material for publication might have been mostly a bad idea.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and was encouraged to submit a review. show less

A wonderful collection to browse: if one topic doesn't interest you, another will. This assortment of remembrances and anecdotes from dwellers of the Appalachian mountains in Georgia touches on a variety of issues, from religion to childhood toys to love and marriage. Many stories awaken sweet nostalgia for a simple time, while a handful deliver a greater appreciation for the modern era--particularly the descriptions of devilish pranks, which were apparently conducted on a variety of show more holidays, not just Halloween. My favorite bits included a how-to manual for the construction of a cucumber doll (eats and poops like a real baby!) and stories about quilting bees, corn-shuckings, and other ways that mountain-dwellers used to have fun while helping others in the community. Many of the storytellers in this book opine that the world has changed for the worse, and sometimes it's hard to disagree with them. show less

This charming book was rather quaint and cozy to sit through. The biggest problem with a lot of old skills is that they are dying out since no one wants to learn them anymore. Take Blacksmithing for example. Long ago, blacksmithing was the only way to get metal products and it was hard work. Nowadays there aren't many people that want to devote the time and effort to learn how to blacksmith. This book of a collection of folksy wisdom and skills that they used in the Appalachian Mountains to show more survive and thrive. Many of them were never rich, but that wasn't what it was all about. It was about living life simply and honestly. Given the Big Box mentality that many people tend to have in the United States, I suppose this book resonated with me a bit.

So if you want to know how to make your own soap, there is a recipe in this book. If you want to know about folk art, there is a section devoted to that. The book actually made me want to visit this area for myself, though I can't imagine going all the way to Georgia or South Carolina. show less

I was given this set of books by a friend, and found them interesting, though not compelling to keep. The interviews are good, the picture of the past is informative and the instructions on how to make things very detailed, however, I hope I don't need to be doing any of it any time soon. I have passed them along to another friend who is interested.