This is a collection of eleven essays from writers with a wide variety of perspectives, but who all share dealing with homophobia in Appalachia. Storytelling is central to this book in a very contemporary way. It is not an analysis of fiction with gay and lesbian characters. Rather it includes lots of personal stories about being “queer” in a region that has not only been deemed different, but also has tended to regard those locals who are different as “quare.” Along with those chapters that relate personal stories are articles that, often beginning with first person narratives, transition into analysis and academic discourse especially about regional gay and lesbian rhetoric and autobiography. The editors, unlike the contributors, are all academics. Hillery Glasby has recently moved from Ohio University to Michigan State while Sherrie Gradin and Rachael Ryerson are still professors there.
Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2020. 251 pages. Trade paperback.