Bound for Shady Grove

In Bound for Shady Grove, essayist Steven Harvey celebrates the spirit of the music of his adopted home in the southern Appalachian mountains. There, at the wellspring of mountain music, he took up his guitar and assumed the journey that culminated in this book.

Harvey's essays measure out in words the four seasons of a life in music. Springtime pieces describe playing music in the log house of friends born and raised in the mountains or entering a banjo contest and losing with style. There are essays about fiddles and the devil, homemade instruments and homemade weapons, and a trip to England to trace mountain songs back to their elusive sources. As the book progresses into winter, the mood darkens, with pieces exploring the connection between music and resentment, loss, and death.

Descriptions of music, hills, and people blend into a rich harmony as Harvey explores where music has taken him--where, in fact, music can take any of us.

Author: Steven Harvey
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Published: 06/29/2000
Pages: 184
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.86lbs
Size: 8.20h x 6.22w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780820321974

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2000 pg. 611

About the Author
Steven Harvey is the author of three collections of personal essays: "Lost in Translation," "Bound for Shady Grove," (both Georgia), and "A Geometry of Lilies." He lives in North Georgia, where he teaches English at Young Harris College.