Run for the Elbertas

“A great storyteller . . . These vignettes of life in the southern Appalachians are an important contribution to the literature of the region.” —Chattanooga Times

In language both spare and colorful, sure in its command of Appalachian dialect and poetic in its evocation of mountain settings, James Still’s stories reveal the lives of his people—lives of privation and struggle, lived with honesty as well as humor. With a foreword by Cleanth Brooks and an afterword by the author, The Run for the Elbertas features thirteen stories from one of America’s masters of the short story. Enjoyable and enriching, Still’s stories sparkle with wisdom and joy.

“Still is an eavesdropper on the human heart. He doesn’t create ‘characters’ in a story; he is a bright-eyed, keen-eared owl in a thicket, reporting on the human beings he sees and hears . . . A marvelous book.” —Lexington Herald-Leader

“James Still offers us the rhythm of the poet’s phrasing, the excitement of the word, the expression, that strikes like a little silver hammer, along with an uproarious humor and the lustiness of living of the common man.” —Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of The Yearling

“The unprogressive enclaves of Troublesome Creek and Shoal Creek cry out to us what is fundamental about life, and what superfluous . . . The marvels here are truly those of art.” —The Louisville Courier-Journal