Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506190002
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: F-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Dennis Covington. Addison-Wesley. $20.
Those who think Dennis Covington has written another typical book on snake handlers could be no further from the truth. Covington, a college professor in Alabama and free-lance journalist, was sent to cover the trial of a prominent snake-handling minister in Scottsboro, Ala. The man had been charged with the attempted murder of his wife via a snake bite.
To better understand the personalities involved and the events surrounding the charge and pretrial investigation, the author set out to meet and witness the small but faithful group of snake-handling congregations which dot the Appalachian region from West Virginia to Alabama. Where Covington's work diverges from others' treatment of the same issue is that the author finds a connection between himself and his subjects, a connection so real that he eventually handles snakes himself.
What the reader is given, then, is not an outsider but an insider's view into the mythic world of this religious community.
``Salvation On Sand Mountain'' conveys in intimate and intense ways the beliefs, practices and central personalities of the snake-handling churches, which remain both distinct and connected. The reader is profoundly moved by the devotion, sense of community and simplicity of those within this religious circle, and simultaneously disturbed by the manner and sometimes fatal practices in which their belief system is expressed. All of this conflicting emotion is further exacerbated by the author's own experience, ambivalence and interactions with the Sand Mountain community.
Covington eventually leaves the faith community, ultimately realizing he does not belong there. His departure, which concludes ``Sand Mountain,'' finds the door is not completely closed as the author - and the reader - is left to struggle with and understand what has been experienced.
``Salvation On Sand Mountain'' is wonderfully written and is enhanced by photographs complementing the narrative.
NELSON HARRIS
Gainsboro: The Destruction of a Historic Community.
By Mary Campagna-Hamlin. (publisher and price not listed, trade paper.)
This 25-page book presents the highlights of interviews and research conducted by Mary Campagna-Hamlin. Her story is based on historical fact and current events. The book takes 30 minutes or less to read, but the story will remain in the thoughts and hearts of readers for a lifetime. This controversial story may very well plant the seed for a more humane approach to future development projects in the name of progress.
EARNESTINE H. WOODLIFF
Minding Your Body: One Hundred Ways to Live and Be Well.
By Joseph Sj. Rechtschaffen, M.D. and Robert Carola. Kodansha International. $18.
One hundred chapters (count `em!) on eating well, exercising moderately and reducing stress - all in one book. Who could pass up such a bargain, particularly when the author counts food writer Craig Claiborne among his patients and quotes Sophia Loren to make a point ("Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.")?
The 100 chapters are short, none longer than three pages. The advice is simple and sensible. The diet is well-balanced; no fads here. The prose is spare and direct. The tone is that of a trusted family physician. Most of us already know what Dr. Rechtschaffen has to say; the problem is doing it.
SIDNEY BARRITT
The Berdine Un-Theory of Evolution and Other Scientific Studies.
By William C. Berdine. McClain Printing Co. (price not listed.)
There's an Old Southern Saying: The Wit and Wisdom of Dan May.
Compiled by William May Stern. Crabby Keys Press. $13.95.
Each of these regional works offers an off-beat perspective on the human condition.
Bill Berdine is a Yankee re-born as a West Virginian and columnist for several newspapers. In this collection, he offers some observations on life in the hills which city folk will find beyond their comprehension, and those from towns without stoplights will see as common sense.
For example: Because nobody in West Virginia can walk a straight line, state police have native DUI suspects ``walk the dividing line on a sharp curve - to keep from arresting teetotalers, who are a genuine minority.''
Dan May, on the other hand, was a prominent Jewish merchant and civic leader in Nashville whose philanthropies will never be completely known and whose humor could be both acerbic and self-deprecating. On one hand he could say, ``That's the great thing about being Jewish - we don't have to do our Christian duty.'' And on the other, he would add, ``If, when the sun goes down, a Jew in Nashville doesn't have at least two meetings to go to, he's shirking his civic duty.''
- ROBERT HILLDRUP
Nelson Harris is pastor of Ridgewood Baptist Church.
Earnestine H. Woodliff lives in Salem.
Sidney Barritt is a Roanoke physician.
Robert Hilldrup is a Richmond writer and former newspaperman.
by CNB