Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal

Novelist House (Clay's Quilt) and Kentucky journalist Howard, both ""children of Appalachia,"" decided to pick up where the national media have left off in their environmental obsession, illuminating the long-growing mining crisis in Central Appalachia. Twelve Appalachians-among them a college student, former union organizers, community activists and the octogenarian ""mother of folk,"" Jean Ritchey-provide first-hand accounts of a disappearing way of life, a vital ecology in rapid decline, an industry that refuses to take responsibility for the devastation it causes (blowing the tops off mountains is only the latest, most destructive technique), and a nation too hooked on cheap energy to help. If nothing else, these oral histories will give readers a sense of what's at stake on a personal level. Student Nathan Hall calls mining the best job he ever had: ""I met the most interesting characters of my life... the most hilarious, most good hearted."" Says Judy Bond, lifelong resident of the leading coal-producing county in W.V., ""The more coal we mine, the poorer we get."" This important collection illuminates the ongoing betrayal of the American mining town.