"Where All Light Tends To Go" by David Joy, A Book Without Light Or Joy

 

Sometime in the summer of 2023, I saw a television documentary about writers in Appalachia in which David Joy was portrayed as one of the newer and most respected writers of Appalachian fiction and ordered this book and three more of his novels.  I read this book with my wife shortly after it arrived, still don't know why, and have never touched either of the other two novels which I actually received.  I have also been quite thankful that one of the four I ordered from a used book website had actually already been sold but not removed from the website by the seller/member. I rejoiced when I got my money back instead of another of this man's books. I doubt that I will ever touch either of the other two novels unless I am snowbound for an extended period of time and have nothing else to read which is very unlikely since I own somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 books of all types.  I could very likely also buy copies of both "War And Peace" and "Ulysses" to hold in reserve for just such a blizzard.  DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF BELIEVING THAT I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK BECAUSE I HAVE CHOSEN TO WRITE ABOUT IT!

This novel is set somewhere in the Carolinas in a fictitious town in which the protagonist (and I use that word very loosely), the teenage son of the local drug kingpin, is about to graduate from high school and has an ongoing relationship with the most desirable girl in the school and hopes to marry her someday.  They have grown up as best friends from babyhood and the girl hates the occupation of this boy's father.  The boy is making what initially appears to be a genuine effort to avoid becoming his father's right hand man in the drug trade which they disguise behind an owner operated mechanic business.  The boy's father is well connected in the area and has strong and well funded connections with the local law enforcement which protect him and his drug dealing from any law enforcement interventions.  The boy's mother, divorced from the father, lives in another house and is a drug addict with a mutually negative relationship with her ex-husband.  The boy works daily to maintain acceptable relationships with both his parents.  

As the novel progresses, the boy finds himself drawn into his father's drug operation due primarily to his dependence on his father for his daily existence.  He also becomes angry at a party because a local boy with connections to the sheriff's department is making a move on the girl he loves. He savagely assaults the boy and finds himself facing several criminal charges and must depend on his father's connections to dodge the penitentiary.  He eventually finds himself present at what he believes is the murder of another young man whom his father has ordered his son and two of his henchmen to take adverse action against.  They dump what they believe is the dead young man over a mountain and somehow he survives which intensifies the attention toward all of them by law enforcement.  Our hero, and I assure you that is a misnomer, finds himself deep in the drug business and appears to be trying to get out somehow after also helping the same two henchmen to dump a different body in the local lake in his father's favorite graveyard.  Just as the reader begins to develop hope that the boy will somehow find a way to testify against his father and escape the clutches of the drug trade, he goes completely off the deep end, shoots and kills the sheriff when they come to arrest him and the novel comes to a very undesirable end.  

It is abundantly clear that David Joy simply took his publisher's money and ran, has no commitment to supporting Appalachia or defending it in any venue, and is unworthy of the positive regard of any citizen of the greater Appalachian Region, especially if such a citizen has any positive regard for Appalachia, Appalachian Culture, or Appalachia's hopes for the future.  He is simply another writer who writes well enough to be published in the drug store novel trade, and likely has no ambition to become any better.  

What do I have to say further about this disgusting piece of work?  David Joy cannot be perceived, in my opinion, as a writer who is worthy of the respect of other natives of Appalachia.  This novel makes it abundantly clear that David Joy joined all the other detractors and defamers of Appalachia and Appalachian people, grabbed the easy money, and acquiesced to the commonly held belief outside the area that all Appalachia's best writers such as Thomas Wolfe, Pearl Buck, Marie Manilla, and a dozen others can either go to hell if living, and, if dead, can just roll over in their graves .  He has filled this novel with every negative, hateful, ignorant, and defamatory depiction he could envision of Appalachia; Appalachian people; the drug problem in America which is not just an Appalachian problem but a national problem; and has clearly chosen to produce the kind of writing which those other detractors of Appalachia love to produce, read, and spread as far around the world as they can.  This is a totally detestable novel and unworthy of anyone's time to read.  DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF BELIEVING THAT I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK BECAUSE I HAVE CHOSEN TO WRITE ABOUT IT! DON'T BOTHER WITH IT!  IF NECESSARY, GO TO YOUR BATHROOM WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF READING MATERIAL AND READ THE BACK OF THE AIR FRESHER CAN WHILE YOU TAKE A CRAP! 

"The Scummers" by Lee Maynard--Book Review

Maynard, Lee. The Scummers (Morgantown, WV, Vandalia Press 2012)

For several months, I have focused my blogging mainly on political posts due to the nature of the ongoing constitutional crisis from which the country suffers due to the illegitimate, Russian manipulated seizure of the US White House.  During that time, I have managed to read several books of an Appalachian nature but postponed writing about them on this blog.  In late November 2017, I had posted my review of "Crum", the first volume in the Crum Trilogy by Lee Maynard but I refrained since that time from writing reviews of other books within his sizable body of work. I did manage to write and post a review of "Screaming With The Cannibals", the second volume in the Crum Trilogy.  That review had been posted in late December 2017.  During the intervening time since I had posted my first review of Lee Maynard's work, I had also read, but not written about "Magnetic North" and "Cinco Becknell", his last two published works.  I have managed to actually read every published book written by Maynard except his first, "Outdoor Speak: A Humorous Guide To Talking About The Outdoors" of which I have never been able to find an affordable copy.  I suspect that book was a vehicle by which Maynard managed to obtain his first book publication and not much more so I have been unwilling to pay several hundred dollars for a copy of the relatively small edition in which it was published.  Despite my misgivings about its literary quality, I do believe that "Outdoor Speak..." would be a highly humorous piece of work based on the consistently funny material which can be found in his other published works.  But, enough asides about these issues, let's talk about "The Scummers", the real subject of this review.

Lee Maynard

"The Scummers" is the third and last book in the Crum Trilogy which includes the aforementioned "Crum" and "Screaming With The Cannibals".  Like nearly every other published word from Lee Maynard, "The Scummers" is generally believed to be a loosely autobiographical novel or, if you prefer, fictionalized autobiography.  The book begins with Maynard's protagonist, Jesse Stone, being run out of Horry County South Carolina by the local version of a brutal sheriff's deputy.   The character travels first to Wyoming where he works for a time on a cattle ranch, reads the classics by night, and survives in the world of the cowboys.  He then travels to San Francisco where he and a friend are drummed into the Army by a judge after setting a police cruiser on fire.  As the novel progresses, he manages to stay in the Army and become an MP along with a fellow solder who is also a deeply damaged and generally evil son of general which means that no matter what he does he cannot be shipped out of the military.  This character serves as a counterpoint, committed enemy, and persistent problem for the Jesse Stone character who is presumably based on Maynard himself.

Lee Maynard Photo by WVU Press

The character eventually becomes attached to another MP who is also his supervisor and coworker and manages to save Jesse Stone from both himself and the US Army.  The book rambles around the globe much as Lee Maynard himself was prone to do.  It is an entertaining read but is the least Appalachian of the Crum Trilogy.  It is worth reading if you are in the mood for mild adventure literature spiced with an occasional major crime and a few random references to West Virginia.  It tends to point out that the Crum Trilogy is not primarily about Crum, West Virginia, but more about Lee Maynard and his peripatetic lifestyle.  As with everything else Lee Maynard wrote, the book does intermittently and briefly address the author's love hate relationship with his home state and home town.  But, in the conclusion, Jesse Stone returns to Crum, West Virginia, as Lee Maynard himself often did.  

Lee Maynard Photo by Herald Dispatch

A Quarter Million Page Views!

Map Of Southern And Central Appalachia

When I began this blog with the first post on April 15, 2011, I had no idea exactly where it would go or what it might become.  I had some rough ideas of what I wanted to do.  The primary goal was, and still is, expressed in the masthead: To write about Appalachian Culture and how to keep it alive.  On some levels, I have helped to do that to the degree that is possible in today's world where any minority culture is in severe danger of being assimilated out of existence.  Today, March 22, 2018, nearly seven years after I began the blog, it has achieved a quarter million lifetime page views.  In 83 months of life, that amounts to an average of only about 300 page views a month. I freely admit that is not setting the world on fire.  But on a couple of occasions, for reasons I still don't understand, it has achieved in the neighborhood of 20,000 page views in a month, once slightly over 20,000 and once slightly under 20,000.  Some posts or articles have achieved nearly 50,000 lifetime page views each.  A couple more are nearing the 25,000 page view mark. The blog has 56 registered followers although it is not possible to speculate as to whether or not any of them, with one known exception, are actually following the blog regularly and reading most posts. I suspect, based on my own blog reading, that a few of those followers might not look at this blog even as often as once a month.  But, for me, this has never been about page views or listed followers.  It is about writing for personal satisfaction, speaking out and educating some portion of the general public about life and culture in Appalachia, and helping to preserve my native culture for as long as possible, and leaving some written evidence of that culture in the event it does not survive. 

But over the last two years, it has become necessary for me to focus more of my attention on national politics in America as we face the greatest threat to American Democracy since 1865.  I will continue to write as often as possible about the crimes of TRAITOR and International Terrorist Trump and his Russian Owned Criminal Syndicate until such time as America actually has a real, duly elected President who is committed to actually protecting and preserving the US Constitution, the nation, and American Democracy.  If you, as a reader of this blog, choose to stick your head in the sand and ignore the constitutional crisis in which the country is embroiled you do not have my sympathy, support, or pity.  You need to join the Resistance and make an active effort to work to guarantee the successful completion of the Robert Mueller investigation and the indictment, conviction, impeachment, and imprisonment of the TRAITOR and International Terrorist Donald Trump.  That is the most important effort going on in America today and will be until the job is complete and the entire band of criminals now occupying the White House are imprisoned as they should have already been. 

As I have time, I will continue to read books, both new and old, which are pertinent to Appalachian Culture and review them on this blog.  I will continue to attempt to write about heroes who are natives of Appalachia, historical subjects in Appalachia, and Bluegrass and Mountain Music.  I would also love to eventually begin to write individual blog posts about the individual counties, cities, and rivers in the region.  I hope you find it interesting enough to return from time to time.  Even more so, I hope that you choose to actively support America and American Democracy and join the Resistance to fight for the nation. 

Banner Brand Sausage, Breakfast Of Appalachian Champions

Recently, I strayed into a post about Spam on a Facebook group I follow called Appalachian Mountain Folk.  That post generated a lengthy and interactive string of comments from dozens of members of the group.  I commented that as much as I love Spam for breakfast I love Banner Brand Sausage better.  That naturally generated a plethora of comments about Banner Brand Sausage from people who both loved it and hated it.  I am betting that this post will do the same.  Banner Brand Sausage is made by Pinnacle Foods Corporation in Cherry Hill, NJ.  They also own Armour which makes things like potted meat, vienna sausage, and other canned meat products.  But neither the Pinnacle Foods or Armour websites even mention Banner Brand Sausage.  

When I was growing up in a country store, we sold a ton of Banner Brand Sausage and also ate it regularly in our own home.  Banner Brand Sausage is a canned meat product which is sold under the misnomer of sausage.  But it never takes the traditional shape and consistency of sausage as most of us know sausage. It comes out of the pop top can in a gelatinous round cake and quickly liquefies under heat.  No matter how long or how hot you cook it the liquid state remains unless you burn it to a dried out crisp.  The photographic serving suggestion on the can shows sunny side up eggs residing on a plate beside some sausage patties.  Rest assured that Banner Brand sausage never suffered the embarrassment of becoming a patty.  The printed serving suggestion on the can which is labeled "Sausage 'N Eggs" tells you to "Heat sausage; add slightly beaten eggs, and continue heating, stirring occasionally until eggs are set.  Season to taste."  I suppose some people actually eat Banner Brand Sausage this way and I did get a few comments on the Appalachian Mountain Folk group to that effect.  But in our house when I was a child, and in my house today more than fifty years later, we cook it simply by putting that aforementioned gelatinous mass in a skillet, heating it until it liquefies, and simmering it until the consistency and color suit our taste.  It is also appropriate here to say that the "season to taste" suggestion never came from a regular fan of Banner Brand Sausage.  It is spiced with a variety of seasonings at the factory which are more than sufficient to make it down the hatch with glee and a bit of warm, spicy zest.  Some novices will say that it is actually a bit hot in seasoning.  I love it just as it is.  But the real piece 'de resistance of the meal comes when you plate it with the other elements of a Hicks family breakfast.  I like to fry two sunny side up eggs in a separate skillet, heat a can of store bought cream gravy, and bake biscuits.  I place two open faced biscuits on the plate, throw the eggs on next, top that with the Banner Brand Sausage, and then hide it all under the gravy.  That, my friends, is breakfast for an Appalachian champion who intends to go to the log woods, the cow barn, the hay field, or a mule breaking where they will be expected to work until the sun is over the yardarm before eating another bite.  That breakfast will stick to your ribs all day long no matter how hard you work. 

Naturally, every time I mention Banner Brand Sausage some neophyte wants to know what it is made from.  Here is the ingredients list verbatim from the can: "Partially defatted pork fatty tissue, beef tripe, mechanically separated chicken, water, wheat flour, salt, less than 2% vinegar, natural flavorings, sodium nitrite."  Of course, every person who ever read the can wants to know exactly what "Partially defatted pork fatty tissue" is.  I am not sure myself and I have eaten many cases of Banner Brand Sausage in my time.  But I figure that if you have ever been present at even one Appalachian hog killing you have seen the fatty innards of a large hog.  Now just imagine that somebody took part of that out to eat instead of making lard with it.  God, I love to eat that stuff!!!  If you ever eat it, you will too!  It grows on you!  

Getting back to the post on the Appalachian Mountain Folk group, there were numerous comments which were pretty evenly split into two categories, those who love it and those who hate it.  But more interestingly, the comments seemed to be concentrated among a group of people primarily from Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and Western North Carolina.  This region seems to be the area where Banner Brand Sausage has been most commonly eaten.  The whole Facebook group thing and my own very fond memories of many warm mountain mornings eating Banner Brand Sausage led me to do some Google research and I found more than one or two comments and full posts about this delicacy.  I found one post on a blog called Dave's Cupboard which had the title Unspeakable Banner Brand Sausage.  In general, I like Dave's blog a lot but he is dead wrong on this one.  Dave is a man who has and will try anything purported to be edible but I have to assume, based on his post about Banner Brand Sausage, that he is sometimes a finicky eater.  I also found a post called "Canned Meat Review" on a blog called "The Ultimate Answer To Kings" which had this highly negative review: 

"All I can say about Banner canned sausage is Oh. Dear. God. This is the worst canned food product I’ve ever tried, and I’ve tried canned corn beef hash. I’ve tried canned menudo. I’ve seen (but never tried) canned haggis. None of those things are as horrible as Banner canned sausage, which (guessing here) consists of 99.736% recycled fat, some wheat, and a homeopathic dose of …never mind, let me just go ahead and print the ingredients:" 

Once again, I suspect that this writer is also sometimes known to kick his feet, throw food off the tray of his high chair, and scream "No, mommy!" at the top of his lungs.  I also found a You Tube video under the title of "Ewwwwm, They Call That Food: Banner Sausage Commentary". I have no idea how three people as spoiled and uncultured as these can still consider themselves to be qualified to critique food.  Actually, I just realized that the person frying the sausage in the You Tube video is wearing a South Carolina Gamecocks shirt.  How could we expect anyone who isn't a Kentucky Wildcats supporter to know anything about food or basketball?   

I also found an online recipe which calls for bacon grease to be added to fry it in after it has been mixed with flour and an egg.  Rest assured that Banner Brand Sausage does not ever need bacon grease or any other form of grease to be added.  The partially defatted pork fatty tissue will guarantee you that it will never stick to your skillet.  

I am certain that those of you who know and love Banner Brand Sausage have appreciated this post about one of our favorite foods.  I am also certain that many of you who have never had it might have stopped in the middle of this post and run whimpering from the room.  But if you have any sense of culinary adventure whatever, go to your local southern grocery store or the internet, buy a couple of cans and try Banner Brand Sausage.  You will thank me for it after you wipe your mouth and rub your belly.  

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Addendum: August 23, 2021

This blog post has consistently been one of the most often read posts on this entire blog and is actually Number 10 overall from 378 posts over about a ten and a half year period with more than 4,300 page views.  We just had one of the most unusual comments on the post that I have ever seen or heard.  A woman named B. J., in the comments below, posted that she had bought a can of Banner Brand Sausage at a Save A Lot store, took it home, and her husband made a sandwich from it straight out of the can, loved it, and they are going back to the store to buy an entire case.  I have never known anyone, in more than 60 years of eating and writing about Banner Brand Sausage who ever ate it cold straight out of the can.   I would love to hear from any of you about what you think about that possibility especially if you also ate it straight out of the can cold.  The only way I could imagine doing that would be if I was on a camping trip miles from anywhere with only a can of Banner Brand Sausage and no way to start a fire.   

The discussion on several Facebook groups which my re-posting of this blog post today, August 24, 2021, has been interesting, funny, and informative, and we all have B. J. to thank for that.  It prompted me to go to Amazon, which sells Banner Brand Sausage, and to read some of the 830+ reviews.  For those of you who have actually eaten and enjoyed Banner Brand Sausage, I would suggest that the next time you need a laugh that you go to Amazon and read a few of those reviews.  It is hilarious at times, especially when the comments are from a person who ordered it, knew nothing about, and still knew little more after they either ate it or refused to do so.  Bon Appetit!