Right Side of the River, The [Hardcover]

Roger Pinckney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

This rollicking chronicle of life on Daufuskie Island, one of the sea islands of coastal South Carolina, portrays a distinct culture shaped by the physical geography of place, the historic environment of the antebellum South, and the encroachment of modern golf resorts. The unique landscape of sandy beaches, marshes, and woods of pine and oak is inhabited by the fiercely independent locals who've lived on the island for generations. This book captures an island in transition as the native islanders watch the expanding battle between environmentalists and developers eager to claim the lush land for exclusive resorts. Tender, bawdy, sacred, and profane, this poignant rendering of this unique island includes tales of voodooists, smugglers, poets, shrimpers, and Fortune 500 executives.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The Right Side of the River Journey to "the right side of the river" with author and waterman Roger Pinckney to Daufuskie Island, one of the last of the undeveloped sea islands off the South Carolina/Georgia Coast. Lying southwest of Hilton Head Island on Calibogue Sound, the island is approached only by boat and is home to islanders whose fiercely independent life styles and temperaments are products of a physical environment and spiritual culture of rare dimensions. In this debut collection of essays, Pinckney masterfully capyures the cadence of life on the once pristine island that is still home to the Gullah people, descendents of former slaves. Islanders refer to the rest of North America as "The Other Side" and don't especially like to go there. Pinckney's poignant and occasionally raucous tales are filled with wonder, rage and romance of a man on a personal mission to save an island and its people. Back Flap Copy Roger Pinckney was born and raised in Beaufort, South Carolina, and is a gradute of the University of South Carolina and the Iowa Writer's Workshop. He is the author of The Beaufort Chronicles and Blue Roots: The African American Folk Magic of the Gullah People. He currently lives on Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, where he writes and works diligently to preserve the island culture. Jacket design by Sally Heineman Cover photo by Jason Hawkes Author photo by Lauren Preller Chambers

From the Back Cover

Experts from The Right Side of the River
There are special times and special places and sometimes they come together in special ways, like God himself was doing the arranging, pulling light and weaving air and moving earth and sky and sea just to make you weep from wonder.
Like when the tide rises to brimming full and the moon comes up over Grenadier Shoals and the wind drops of to a whisper and the sea flattens and you can hear the gong-gong of the bell buoys way out in the mouth of Port Royal Sound. Or when you're hard aground in a little side creek and you wait and wait on the tide to turn you loose and all at once the barnacles pop and the marsh hens crackle and you see the water swap directions and your soul sings and your blood swaps directions, too...
I will tell you as much as I can in the time that I have. How I was born to this river, this mon, this porpoise and this lonesome bird, this sucking ebbtide beneath me, this evening like the ones that come to you in dreams. I can tell you about growing up here in glory of sand and wind and rolling surf. And about running away after I knew pulling up survey stakes would not stop what was going to happen. But that hurts too much, so I will not tell you about that, nor of the women I loved but cut loose, nor of the thirty years it took me to get back to where I started...
I got struck by lightning, fell overboard, swam with sharks and gators. I was lacerated, burned, swamped, marooned and cast ashore, a hundred times scared-to-Jesus death and shot at but never hit.
The river did not take my life, but the shimmering blue floodtide took my heart. The gurgling green suck in the low water creeks took my soul. If that were not enough, there was the glint of dawn upon the antlers of the rag-horned hummock bucks, the marsh hens cackling the tide change, the glory across the high marsh when the sun slips off toward Savannah.
The river took my heart and my soul but not my breath and I want to tell you all of it...

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 124 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941711625
• ISBN-13: 978-0941711623
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lowcountry Characters, June 26, 2007

By 

S. Johnson "Bonefisher" (Charleston, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Right Side of the River, The (Hardcover)

Pinckney is a master of character development, making his anacdotes of local residents more humorous than just the incident alone. He delves into the mindset and lifestyle of the island residents; rednecks, slave decendants, half-breeds, and transplanted outsiders; their Gullah roots, religion and superstitions (voodoo), politics, social structure, and lifestyle. There is a lot of lowcountry history to be learned in a series of funny and amusing stories. I liked this book so much I purchased a second copy for a friend's birthday and two more of Pinckney's titles for myself.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars poolside promise, March 17, 2010

By 

Laura Wray "Bea Wray" (Daufuskie, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Right Side of the River, The (Kindle Edition)

Pinckney's tongue drips with imagery and imagination bringing to life a vibrant, eventful yet unique South Carolina island. He brings out personalities who could and do only live on a remote bridgeless island yet they survive thanks to the development that has brought jobs and revenue to the Gullah and artisan community. This book will be enjoyed by hundreds at the pool as they dip their toes into the historically rich Daufuskie Island for vacation.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Right Side of the River, December 12, 2009

By 

J. J "justjulia01" (Tybee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Right Side of the River (Paperback)

This book is a fantastic journey into the lives of the people still lucky enough to live on an Island called Daufuskie, unfortunately "Developers" thought It was a good idea to build a gated community and a golf course, hopefully the good Doctor B will work his magic and keep them away! Once again a great book by Roger Pickney.