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A review by kairosdreaming
Making Our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia by Emily Hilliard
4.0
*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's Copy from NetGalley.
What an interesting book! While not a West Virginian myself, being in the South and near the foothills of Appalachia, some of the folk expressions carried over and it was interesting too to see how they varied by region.
This book covers more modern folk, specifically what the author terms as "folklife", hearkening not necessarily to history, but to the adaptability of traditions and other expressions of culture and self that can be found. Going through topics like hotdogs (next time I'm passing through Bexley I'll have a stop to make for sure), to a museum where the townsfolk having a Sat. chat is part of the draw, to a video game that expresses different interesting notes of WV lore and place (I now need to play this video game), it covered a wide array of topics you wouldn't necessarily put together as "similar". But in the author's way of describing how culture can be generated, it makes sense.
There is some jargon that goes along with the topic (I, with no shame, don't mind looking up terms and concepts and had to do that a few times in this one), but I would expect that from any non-fiction book in a person's specialty area. In general, the vibe and purpose of the book came through and is a great way to explore the people of West Virginia while also understanding some of their history, sociology, and paths forward.
Review by M. Reynard 2022
What an interesting book! While not a West Virginian myself, being in the South and near the foothills of Appalachia, some of the folk expressions carried over and it was interesting too to see how they varied by region.
This book covers more modern folk, specifically what the author terms as "folklife", hearkening not necessarily to history, but to the adaptability of traditions and other expressions of culture and self that can be found. Going through topics like hotdogs (next time I'm passing through Bexley I'll have a stop to make for sure), to a museum where the townsfolk having a Sat. chat is part of the draw, to a video game that expresses different interesting notes of WV lore and place (I now need to play this video game), it covered a wide array of topics you wouldn't necessarily put together as "similar". But in the author's way of describing how culture can be generated, it makes sense.
There is some jargon that goes along with the topic (I, with no shame, don't mind looking up terms and concepts and had to do that a few times in this one), but I would expect that from any non-fiction book in a person's specialty area. In general, the vibe and purpose of the book came through and is a great way to explore the people of West Virginia while also understanding some of their history, sociology, and paths forward.
Review by M. Reynard 2022