Way Out in West Virginia: A Must Have Guide to the Oddities & Wonders of the Mountain [Paperback]

Jeanne Mozier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1999

Way Out , as the subtitle states, is a must have for anyone interested in exploring the numerous nooks and crannies that make up West Virginia. Mozier describes with wit and detail nearly 600 of the state's really wild and wacky offerings. Get the scoop on moldy mummies, the state food ( the pepperoni roll), great plumbing, Cornstalk's Curse, the only town in the country you enter through a parking garage, and tons more. Mozier will delight both the adventurer and armchair traveler alike.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

We say: buy this book. It's Jeanne Mozier's Way Out in West Virginia: A Must-have Guide to the Oddities and Wonders of the Mountain State. The title says it all. If you want to be in the know -- or to see for yourself - most, if not all, of the quirky, wacky, and unbelievable things West Virginia can lay claim to, this book has your name on it.

Author Jeanne Mozier is known throughout the state as an astrologer and arts patron. She is also the founder and owner of The Star Theater in Berkeley Springs, and a frequent judge at the Annual West Virginia Water Tasting Festival. If you've met her, you know she knows all about quirky. . . Like when she hoped to identify Kirk Douglas' water, rumored to be at the Festival:

" . . . I had no idea which of the identical looking fluids was the one Kirk Douglas used to brush his teeth every morning. I searched for a clue. None of them seemed to have even the slightest hint of a cleft chin, piercing eyes or the square jawed look of Spartacus."

The chapter topics are great. In "Adventure Driving", read about the wild and wooly curves in the state, as well as "The Badlands", the X-rated part of Route 60. In "Local Foods", get clued in about more than just ramps, but also West Virginia's "state food": " . . . Generally available for a dollar, it's a primary food group for struggling artists and students, and the only food I found worthy of a quest." Figured it out yet? It's the pepperoni roll.

Parts of the book are a little less quirky, some are amazing and superlative. Way Out takes a gander at West Virginia's:

The Greenbrier, which was paid well for being the only hotel in the world with a contingency plan for the destruction of civilization;

State forests, with trees covering 75% of the state, maybe West Virginia should be called "The Tree State";

Great shopping, which for some West Virginians, the hand painted sign on a roadside market in the mountains announcing COLD BEER - TANNING - LOTTERY covers all the bases.

Historic heritage, with George Washington America's first big land developer, and today's West Virginia his favorite piece of 18th century real estate.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From the description of the tour of the prison at Moundsville: "... West Virginia couldn't afford to buy an electric chair, so prison officials took two inmates to Ohio to inspect theirs. When they returned, the inmates built Old Sparky, the deceptively flimsy looking mechanism that killed nine men before retiring in 1965."

Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: Pictorial Histories; 1st edition (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891852027
• ISBN-13: 978-1891852022
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #497,275 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Travel > United States > States > West Virginia

More About the Author

JEANNE MOZIER -- BIO

Jeanne Mozier is an award-winning writer of both fiction and non-fiction. She is the author of Way Out in West Virginia, a Must-have Guide to the Oddities and Wonders of the Mountain State, now in its third edition. In 2006 it was voted Best Book about West Virginia and Mozier as Best West Virginia author by readers of Graffiti. She wrote the text for a book with photographer Steve Shaluta: West Virginia Beauty, released in April 2010. This is the pair's second collaboration. She also wrote the only guide to West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, Panhandle Paradise, currently out of print. Her short stories are included in three volumes of Tales from the Springs and she has three plays that have been staged. Jeanne was a contributor to the West Virginia Encyclopedia as well as a regular contributor of travel and lifestyle articles to a variety of regional and national publications.

Upcoming books include Images of Berkeley Springs for Arcadia Publishing.

Jeanne lives in Berkeley Springs, WV where she has been a well-known figure for more than three decades, promoting tourism,, local business and the arts. One of her favorite tasks is serving as the Voice of the Apple Butter Festival. Together with her husband Jack Soronen, Jeanne owns and operates the vintage Star Theatre, a neighborhood movie house. Jeanne serves on several regional and local non-profit boards.

In February 2011, she added the title of WV History Hero to her many awards which also include Governor's Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts, Distinguished West Virginian, a national award as a Classic Woman from Traditional Home magazine and the Mid-Atlantic region and West Virginia Small Business Administration's Women in Business Champion.

Jeanne holds degrees from Cornell and Columbia universities.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Your Usual Sightseeing Guide, July 6, 2000

By 

Judy E. Coughlin "Loudoun reader" (Leesburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Way Out in West Virginia: A Must Have Guide to the Oddities & Wonders of the Mountain (Paperback)

Jeanne Mozier came up with a great idea when she started collecting information for this book. There are so many guides to natural wonders, historical and educational sites, monuments, and so on. This is really something different for people who have a lot of imagination and curiosity. I live right next to West Virginia, but now I can't wait to get out and explore some of the more "way out" aspects of the state.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book for a West Virginia explorer, August 22, 1999

By 

John L. Peterson (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Way Out in West Virginia: A Must Have Guide to the Oddities & Wonders of the Mountain (Paperback)

If you are at all interested in knowing about or exploring West Virginia, this book is for you. I have never read a better example of an interesting, comprehensive, intelligent and knowledgeable guide to a U.S. state. Mozier and her husband flew around the state in a small plane stopping and gathering interesting and important information about every place you can think about. Don't head to WV without it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A delightfully demented view of WV's tourism oddities!, August 7, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Way Out in West Virginia: A Must Have Guide to the Oddities & Wonders of the Mountain (Paperback)

Jeanne Mozier's witty book of West Virginia's more unique tourist sites is a must for those who have outgrown Disney but maintained a passion for adventure with high camp entertainment. Mozier's wonderful dry humor, combined with some fascinating discoveries gives "Way Out" a "Way In" for both the jaded traveler and the modern reader. Lizabeth White, former Director of Tourism Advertising, State of West Virginia.