Foggy Mountain Breakdown: Chilling Tales of Suspense [Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

Sharyn McCrumb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009

Foggy Mountain Breakdown, the first-ever collection of Sharyn McCrumb's short fiction, is a literary quilting of old and new, humorous and heartfelt, offering award-winning works - and two stories never before published - contrasting mountain childhoods past and present. Chilling tales of suspense alternate with evocative character portraits and compelling narratives that embrace the southern Appalachian locales and themes of McCrumb's acclaimed Ballad Novels. Within this cornucopia of two dozen stories, Old Rattler, a mountain healer, skirmishes with a serial killer...Princess Di investigates long-kept secrets within the House of Windsor...a reincarnated murder victim seeks delicious revenge...and while honeymooning in the bridegroom's ancestral hilltop homeplace, two newlyweds harbor second thoughts.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"I come from a race of stortytellers," writes Sharyn McCrumb in her introduction to the first complete collection of her wonderfully rich and mordant short stories. "My father's family--the Arrowoods and the McCourys--settled in the Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina when the wilderness was still Indian country." Like McCrumb's fine novels (She Walks These Hills and a dozen others), these 24 stories link the mysteries of the past with life in present-day Appalachia, using chains of words stronger than any steel. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This is the first story collection from best-selling mystery writer McCrumb (e.g., She Walks These Hills and If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him, both LJ 5/1/95). With settings, tone, diction, and characters varying so widely, the 25 stories might have been written by 15 different writers. The one theme common to many of the stories is the desire for?and usually accomplishment of?revenge. Some stories, especially the first one, "Precious Jewel," are very fine, subtle, and moving. In others, however, a distancing irony prevents the reader's involvement with the characters. Some nicely convey a feeling for the rural South ("The Witness") and others the often-fraught relationship between men and women that is not limited to any region ("A Snare As Old as Solomon," "John Knox in Paradise"). The length of the stories does not allow much plot, and McCrumb sometimes attempts to compensate by winding up with an obvious metaphor or startling action to provide a punch. Buy where there is demand for her novels, which are clearly McCrumb's strong suit.?Judith Kicinski, Sarah Lawrence Coll., Bronxville, N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Phoenix Audio; Unabridged edition (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597772372
• ISBN-13: 978-1597772372
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,088,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an award-winning Southern writer. I am probably best known for my
Appalachian "Ballad" novels, set in the North Carolina/Tennessee mountains. These books include New York Times Best Sellers She Walks These Hills and The Rosewood Casket, which deal with the issue of the vanishing wilderness, and The Ballad of Frankie Silver, the story of the first woman hanged for murder in the state of North Carolina; The Songcatcher, a genealogy in music; and Ghost Riders, an account of the Civil War in the Appalachians.

My newest novel St. Dale, the Canterbury Tales set in NASCAR, was published by Kensington Books of New York in 2005, and is currently a nominee for the Library of Virginia Literary Award in Fiction and a finalist for its People's Choice Award.

Honors include: the 2003 Award for Literature given by the
East Tennessee Historical Society; AWA Outstanding Contribution to
Appalachian Literature Award; Chaffin Award for Achievement in Southern
Literature; Plattner Award for Short Story; and AWA's Best Appalachian
Novel.

I was the first writer-in-residence at King College in Tennessee. In 2001 I
served as fiction writer-in-residence at the WICE Conference in Paris, and
in 2005 I was honored as the writer of the year at the annual literary
celebration at Emory and Henry College. (And I was the first Southern writer to take along a NASCAR driver to that literary seminar. Thank you, Ward Burton!)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, July 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Mass Market Paperback)

I know that my heading isn't exactly distinctive, but "excellent" is really the best word to describe this collection of short stories. As a dedicated reader of the Eliz McPherson series, I loved the story about her early days. I also thought "The Monster of Glamis" was intriguing, although a bit fanciful. Anyone who has read her novel Paying the Piper will recognize elements of Cameron and Elizabeth's relationship in the story about the relationship between the American and the Scot. McCrumb's stories about Appalachia are also moving and sincere.Definitely a wonderful book from a great author whose works I will continue to await anxiously.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction into the work of Ms McCrumb, May 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Mass Market Paperback)

Having previously only sampled 'Highland Laddie Gone' I picked up this book by chance whilst travelling in New Hampshire. Being from the UK the stories which were specifically set within the Smokey Mountians and Apalacians which McCrumb so dearly loves I imagined would have less of a pull than some of the other more 'general' stories. I could not have been more wrong. These tales had a lyrical quality and even the saddest stories held a quite beautiful mysticism. I eagerly await reading more of the Sheriff Arrowood stories.

It is hard to pick out a favourite, but if I have to make the choice I would chose 'Old Rattler' as the best of the bunch. It was one of those stories - a missing girl, distraut mother, wise old man and a sheriff prepared to take a slightly unorthadox route to the solution - which could have been crass, derivative and trodden a well worn path. Instead, I found myself wishing that the tale were longer, I wanted to know more about all involved, I was actually disappointed to reach the end. I hope the other Arrowood books have the same effect.

Unfortunately, there has to be a bad apple in the barrel - there were two actually, but one 'The Monster of Glamis' was just plain silly, the other 'A Predatory Woman' I found disturbing for quite the wrong reasons. This is a very thinly disguised story of a notorious British child murderer, as they say, only the names have changed. I live in the hills not two miles from where this vile woman and her partner did their terrible deeds and the area still bares a significant mental scar. Virtually no-one from this area, or indeed the UK itself would have any problems in identifying the protagonist of this tale. One day she could be released and the ending, whilst it may be the fervent wish of most who know of these crimes, was a cop-out and I felt trivialised one of the most dispicable and memorable acts in recent British history.

From the remainder of my review one can appreciate that I regard Sharyn McCrumb highly. I will certainly read as much of her work as is available in the UK. I truly feel that she has a gift of great storytelling with narrative that is often near perfect. It is perhaps the subject matter she should give a little more attention to.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing, don't waste your money!, July 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Mass Market Paperback)

Usually I love Sharon McCrumb. This book of short stories, however, is a major disappointment. The short story is not is not McCrumb's forte. Short stories should involve the reader quickly and tell a story completely. These have little plot, no character development and end abruptly. They are more like college writing exercises, but because McCrumb is a popular writer the publisher is trying to foist this off on the reader as a collection of polished works. Don't be fooled. There are a lot of McCrumb books out there worth buying, don't waste your money on this one.