Lee Smith (1) (1944–)

The Autobiography of Lee Smith, author of [b:Fair and Tender Ladies|199635|Fair and Tender Ladies|Lee Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389575982s/199635.jpg|1437835], [b:On Agate Hill|199636|On Agate Hill|Lee Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442970592s/199636.jpg|1851466], and [b:The Last Girls|126873|The Last Girls|Lee Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333577608s/126873.jpg|2636756], is so beautifully written and heartfelt that you feel she is a neighbor or a show more friend, or at the least a person you would feel comfortable sharing a coke and hotdog with.

Born in 1944 in Grundy, Virginia, Lee infuses her writing with a sense of place and persons who have all but vanished from the face of the earth. This is Appalachia at its core, coal-mining country, where family live across the street and over the holler and the other side of the mountain, and you cannot go anywhere without being recognized and cared for.

I particularly enjoyed this part of these essays, but it was also interesting to see how she took this beginning and lived a full life in other places and environments without losing this sense of who she was. Having always been interested in how others write, and why, it was enlightening to hear her stories of how she progressed from scribbling bits of imaginings to tapping into the depths of her soul for characters that resonated, like [b:Fair and Tender Ladies|199635|Fair and Tender Ladies|Lee Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389575982s/199635.jpg|1437835]’ Ivy Rowe.

She shares some of her heartbreaks, some of her loves, other authors she has admired, people who have influenced her, and the intimacies of the family she came from and the ones that she built with her two husbands. She seems to have scaled some heights without developing any feeling of superiority to others. She would confess to being privileged and yet admits to a life that has been less than perfection. There is much to be admired in both the writing the woman. show less

Smith uses a multi-generational approach to show us the uneasy relationship between popular traditional music and religion in the Appalachian area. Beginning in the 1830s with the marriage of a preacher and a woman from a fiddle-loving family, Smith gives us vignettes narrated by members of successive generations, that show how the times changed and the people changed with them. Most of the viewpoint characters are women, and most of the men are either repressive patriarchs or irresponsible show more bad boys. The presence of two good men in the penultimate section balances this a bit. Smith seems to be showing that while men had more freedom in the mountain culture, many (most?) fell into one of these extremes. Or maybe those are just the ones with whom this particular family of women was inclined to interact, or the ones who made for the best stories.

The voices of the women change a bit as the book progresses. Earlier narrators use simpler language, while the last couple use more abstract and educated-sounding words. The differences are not obvious; you couldn't have a dialog among these women without attributions and know who was speaking, except perhaps Katie. Perhaps, in this as well as the final chapter, Smith is telling us that while many things change, even more do not. show less

I don't know what to say about this book. I wanted to like it - in fact I mostly liked it up until the end when I slammed it on the table. Herb's world is slowly falling down around him. His wife is losing herself in earl onset dementia and in his 80s himself, he is slowly falling apart. His children try to stage an intervention in his beautiful Key West home - but he's unwilling to go to a senior care facility quietly. He reluctantly agrees it's ok for his wife - but damnit - he's not ready show more to throw in the towel. A parallel storyline follow Dee Dee, a manicurist with a checkered past who loved taking care of Herb's wife. Dee Dee may be young, but she's been around the block a time or two. When her summer fling leads to shocking surprises she finds herself having to look for help in unusual places. Herb and Dee Dee are both running from things and hurtling into each other's orbit. What could possibly happen if the two of them end up on the run together? Witty banter, interesting characters, and an ending I wanted to punch. show less

Guests on Earth, Lee Smith
I received this book from Librarything.com to provide a review and I couldn’t have been happier with the experience. It doesn’t take but a few pages to fall in love with this tale of loss, mental illness, community and acceptance. Bringing one to the question of who is really crazy and why. The voice of Evalina rises slowly from her earliest memories to the life she is afforded and her road to hope and recovery. A road I’m not altogether sure she found but I show more found intriguing, consternating and ultimately fascinating. This was a new point of view for me and I thoroughly enjoyed every odd choice and happenstance. So much is enlightening, stupefying and entertaining and days later, I’m still wondering on the ultimate ending. show less