Crapalachia: A Biography Of Place - Plot & Excerpts
Grandma said it was pretty. Ruby walked over and took it off the wall because she wanted it for herself. Shirley said: “Ruby, you can’t take that with you. That’s mine.” Ruby said: “Oh but you have so much stuff.” Then she put it under her arm and we left. Aunt Shirley just stood there. I looked at Ruby now and I saw all of the things she knew. She knew how to do all kinds of things no one else knew how to do. She knew how to render lard and make soap. She knew how to make biscuits from scratch and slaughter a hawg if she had to. And she knew how to do things that are all forgotten now—things that people from Ohio buy because it says homemade on the tag. I looked at the quilt she was working on. The quilt wasn’t a fucking symbol of anything. It was something she made to keep her children warm. Remember that. Fuck symbols. Then she said: “Okay, I think it’s ready.” …We all sat down and started eating the chicken and gravy and I did it like this. I took a giant spoon and started scooping out all kinds of gravy all over my plate and plopped out a spoonful of mashed potatoes.
What do You think about Crapalachia: A Biography Of Place?
