Customer Reviews

Stories I Ain't Told Nobody Yet: Selections from the People Pieces

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jo Carson lives and works in East Tennessee, and her work, in this book, has been taking overhard conversations around her, modifying the language into something that approximates folk poetry, and writing it down. Normally, this is a recipe for disaster. However, Carson's ear is finely-tuned enough that what comes out more often than not does resemble both rural dialect and poetry. And that in itself is more than enough reason to consider this a noteworthy book. But every once in a while, the stories she tells are the kind that tug at the heart without the naked appeal of obvious emotional manipulation (though there's certainly some of that here, too; if you go into this not expecting to find the cliched "boy, I wish people wouldn't treat East Tennessee folk like hicks," you're going to be disappointed-- but Carson does amnage to keep it to a minimum). A good, solid volume that's worth a quick read. ***

Jo Carson's poetry is funny, touching and thought provoking, honoring folks that are too frequently overlooked. She refines our humanity into succinct poetry and that is a priceless gift. Within this book you'll find the voices of friends and relatives that you never knew before but will never soon forget.

I am so glad to have discovered this author. This one and several more of her books and stories will be used in our volunteer senior story telling group. We're from the South, so the accent is not difficult for us!

This has been my favorite book of poems ever since I heard the author read from it, 18 years ago. I keep giving away my own treasured copy and buying another.