Upheaval

Stories

By Chris Holbrook

2009

First Published

4.17

Average Rating

166

Number of Pages

5H04M

Audio Length

In 1995, Chris Holbrook burst onto the southern literary scene with Hell and Stories of Southern Appalachia, stories that Robert Morgan described as "elegies for land and lives disappearing under mudslides from strip mines and new trailer parks and highways." Now, with the publication of Upheaval, Holbrook more than answers the promise of that auspicious debut. In eight interrelated stories set in Eastern Kentucky, Holbrook again captures a region and its people as they struggle in the face of poverty, isolation, change, and the devastation of land and resources at the hands of the coal and timber industries. In the title story, Haskell sees signs of disaster all around him, from the dangers inherent in the strip-mining machinery he and his coworkers operate to the accident waiting to happen when his son plays with a socket wrench. Holbrook employs a native's ear for dialect and turns of phrase to reveal his characters' complex interior lives. In "The Timber Deal," two brothers―Russell, a recovering addict recently released from prison, and Dwight, who hasn't worked since being injured in a coal truck accident―try to convince their upwardly mobile sister, Helen, to agree to lease out timber rights to the family land. Dwight is unable to communicate his feelings, even as he seethes with "Helen can't see past herself, is what it is. If John James had fractured his back in two places, it'd be a different story. If he'd broke his neck, it'd be a different story told." Written with a gritty, unflinching realism reminiscent of the work of Larry Brown and Cormac McCarthy, the stories in Upheaval prove that Holbrook is not only a faithful chronicler and champion of Appalachia's working poor but also one of the most gifted writers of his generation.

Avg Rating

4.17

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

47%

4 STARS

34%

3 STARS

13%

2 STARS

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

Chris Holbrook

Author · 3 books

Chris Holbrook’s first book, Hell and Ohio: Stories of Southern Appalachia, was published in 1995 by Gnomon Press. His stories have appeared in a variety of literary journals; have been included in the anthologies Groundwater, Kentucky Voices, Home and Beyond, and A Kentucky Christmas; and have received first-place awards in contests sponsored by Now and Then magazine (1994) and Louisville magazine (1995 and 1997). Chris has held residency fellowships at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA and at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, NY. In 1988 and again in 1998, he received Al Smith Fellowships from the Kentucky Arts Council. In 1997, Chris was presented the Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Celebration of Appalachian Writing. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Chris earned an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. He is an assistant professor of creative writing at Morehead State University and has taught at Alice Lloyd College. He grew up in Soft Shell, KY, in Knott County.