Noodling for Flatheads: Moonshine, Monster Catfish, and Other Southern Comforts
by Burkhard Bilger
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Description
The Old South is slow to give up its secrets. Though satellite dishes outnumber banjo players a thousand to one, most traditions haven't died; they've just gone into hiding. Cockfighting is illegal in forty-eight states, yet there are three national cockfighting magazines and cockpits in even the most tranquil communities. Homemade liquor has been outlawed for more than a century, yet moonshiners in Virginia still ship nearly one million gallons a year. Some of these pastimes are ancient, show more others ultramodern; some are illegal, others merely obscure. But the people who practice them share an undeniable kinship. Instead of wealth, promotion, or a few seconds of prime time, they follow dreams that lead them ever deeper underground. They are reminders, ultimately, that American culture isn't as predictable as it seems-that the weeds growing between its cracks are its most vital signs of life. In these masterfully crafted essays, Burkhard Bilger explores the history and practice of eight such clandestine worlds. Like John McPhee and Ian Frazier, he introduces us to people whose spirit of individualism keeps traditions alive, from a fifty-something female coon hunter who spends 340 nights a year in the woods to a visionary frog farmer and a man whose arms are scarred by the eighty-pound catfish he catches by hand. A fluid combination of adventure, history, and humor, Noodling for Flatheads is evocative, intelligent, and wonder-fully weird-a splendid antidote to the sameness of today's popular culture. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
These essays frequently lulled me into thinking they were light amusements--just a chance to smile at odd Southern pastimes. But when I least expected it, they would turn profound, plunging into "the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves" or other philosophical fare. Pretty mart writer. Pretty good book.
I could almost taste the squirrel brains!
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Bodio's A Sportsman's Library
10 works; 1 member
Author Information
7+ Works 700 Members
Burkhard Bilger is a senior editor at "Discover" & a contributing editor at "Health." (Bowker Author Biography)
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Travel, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 975.043 — History & geography History of North America Southeastern United States (South Atlantic states) 1865-Present: Post-Civil War to Present
- LCC
- F216.2 .B49 — Local History of the United States, Canada and Latin America United States local history The South. South Atlantic States
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 158
- Popularity
- 206,564
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.75)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 2
