First published in 1940, this is one of a bare handful of true classics of Appalachian literature. James Still (1906-2001) was often called “The Dean of Appalachian Literature” not only because of his longevity, but because of his erudition and his unparalleled command of regional idiom. The "River of Earth" is an idiom used by a mountain preacher to describe how the Eastern Kentucky landscape folds into seemingly unending waves in the sermon that is quoted in this novel as heard through the eye of the book's young narrator.
Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, a 1978 paperback edition of a 1940 release. 245 pages. Trade paperback.