Loving mountains, loving men / Jeff Mann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mann, Jeff.

Series:

Ohio University Press series in ethnicity and gender in Appalachia.

Ohio University Press series in ethnicity and gender in Appalachia

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mann, Jeff.

Mann, Jeff--Childhood and youth.

Mann, Jeff--Homes and haunts--West Virginia.

Mountain life--Appalachian Region, Southern.

Mountain life.

Poets, American--20th century--Biography.

Poets, American.

College teachers--United States--Biography.

College teachers.

Gay men--United States--Biography.

Gay men.

Gay youth--West Virginia.

Gay youth.

Appalachian Region, Southern--Biography.

Appalachian Region, Southern.

West Virginia--Social life and customs.

West Virginia.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (238 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Athens : Ohio University Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Loving Mountains, Loving Men is the first book-length treatment of a topic rarely discussed or examined before: gay life in Appalachia. Appalachians are known for their love of place, yet many gays and lesbians from the mountains flee to urban areas. Jeff Mann tells the story of one who left and then returned, who insists on claiming and celebrating both regional and erotic identities. In memoir and poetry, Mann describes his life as an openly gay man who has remained true to his mountain roots. Mann first describes his upbringing in Hinton, a small town in southern West Virginia, as well as his realization of his homosexuality, his early experiences of homophobia, his coterie of supportive lesbian friends, and his initial attempts to escape his native region in hopes of finding a freer life in urban gay communities. Mann depicts his difficult search for a romantic relationship, the family members who have given him the strength to defy convention, his anger against religious intolerance and the violence of homophobia, and his love for the rich folk culture of the Highland South. His character and values shaped by the mountains, Mann has reconciled his homosexuality with both traditional definitions of Appalachian manhood and his own attachment to home and kin. Loving Mountains, Loving Men is the compelling, universal story of making peace with oneself and the wider world.AUTHOR INFORMATION---Jeff Mann is a professor of creative writing at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. He is the author of a collection of poetry, Bones Washed with Wine, and a memoir, Edge.SIDEBAR QUOTE--- The sheer beauty of the prose in the memoir and the language of the poetry is incredible. This is one of the great watershed books of Appalachian literature. Its contribution to the field of Appalachian studies and gay/gender studies is significant. ---Danny L. Miller, coeditor of An American Vein: Critical Readings in Appalachian Literature"

Contents:

Intro

Preface

Acknowledgments

One

Sawdust in Belly Hair

Emerald Whisperings

Beginner's Wine

Appalachian Beard Stubble

Emory and Henry

Hinton and Hejira

Summer Night

Two

Gathering Green Tomatoes in the Rain

A Red-Gold Mustache

Remember This Healing

Wintry Woods

Two Lovers

Sunset over Hinton

Incandescence

Displaced Seeds

Icefall

Bodies We Have Loved

Rotting Crab Apples

Heart's Famine

Waiting for Crocuses and Silver-Maple Bloom

A Mustache Moist with Manna

Distance the Skeleton

The Symmetries of Happiness

A Feast Together

Not Enough

When All Goes Well

Three

Mountain Fireflies

Love Made Solid

Firefly Porches

Fried Chicken and Spoon Bread

Her Kitchen's Square of Sunlight

Dispersed Consanguine Fires

How the Wilderness Feeds Us

Loss and the Daily Biscuit

Closet Dark

Four

Pietà

Witness

Streaming Fire

Ephemera

Five

Aeolian

Finding Solace

Even in Heaven We Cannot Forget

Regional Oddities

So Many Gifts

They Show Me What I Know

See How Brave the Young Become

The Shaky High Wire between Subcultures

Saving What We Can

New Fathoms of Thirst

How to Live with Peace

God's Bearded Face

The Silver in My Beard

Six

Splitting Chestnut Oak

Bluestone Reservoir

Allen

West Virginia Towns

Lemon Cake

Tomato Stakes

Goldenrod Seeds

Digging Potatoes

Ramps

Turnip Greens

Creecy Greens

Chowchow

Dilly Beans

Civilization Comes to Summers County

Sawing, the Last Day of Winter

Walking in Night Fog

Weeds

The Harvest of Motes

Over Country-Fried Steak the Adulterer Retires

Ambush

Maple Syrup

Cornfield in March

Wild Magnolias

The Cosmopolite and the Convict

Mizz Alice

Sunday Sunlight

German Village

Helvetia

Dueling Feasts.

Bereft

Two Glasses of Wine

Homecoming.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

ISBN:

0-8214-4200-7

OCLC:

191953034