Arts in Earnest explores the unique folklife of North Carolina from ruddy ducks to pranks in the mill. Traversing from Murphy to Manteo, these fifteen essays demonstrate the importance of North Carolina’s continually changing folklife. From decoy carving along the coast, to the music of tobacco chants and the blues of the Piedmont, to the Jack tales of the mountains, Arts in Earnest reflects the story of a people negotiating their rapidly changing social and economic envi...

On a wintry night in 1831, a man named Charlie Silver was murdered with an axe and his body burned in a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. His young wife, Frankie Silver, was tried and hanged for the crime. In later years people claimed that a tree growing near the ruins of the old cabin was cursed — that anyone who climbed into it would be unable to get out. Daniel Patterson uses this “accurst” tree as a metaphor for the grip the story of the murder has had on the imaginations of t...

A thousand unique gravestones cluster around old Presbyterian churches in the piedmont of the two Carolinas and in central Pennsylvania. Most are the vulnerable legacy of three generations of the Bigham family, Scotch Irish stonecutters whose workshop near Charlotte created the earliest surviving art of British settlers in the region. In The True Image, Daniel Patterson documents the craftsmanship of this group and the current appearance of the stones. In two hundred of his photog...

Beyond the familiar forms of Mississippi Delta Blues and mainstream country music, the vernacular music of the South also ranges from the ceremonial music of Native Americans, to "shout" singing in South Carolina sea islands, Cajun fiddling, and Mexican-American conjunto music. Sounds of the South assesses past efforts to document these richly varied musical forms and the challenges facing future work."Sounds of the South"—a 1989 conference that gathered record collectors, ...

The author of Witches of Pennsylvania and "Pittsburgh's Historian of the Supernatural" takes on the region's folklore, ghost stories, and urban legends (Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership).The ghostly woman of Summit Cut Bridge, a black hound that guards the Gates of Hell and the whispering dead entombed beneath the Black Cross—these are the spirits of southwestern Pennsylvania. Join local author Thomas White as he recounts such chilling stories as that of Re...

The #1 New York Times BestsellerAs Taylor releases her 11th album, THE TORTURED POET’S DEPARTMENT, catch up on the full story of Taylor Swift’s stratospheric rise to fame; all any dedicated Swifty needs to know about the pop superstar who’s taking over the worldA small-town girl with incredible talent – and the strength and determination to realise her dream – Taylor Swift has gone from America’s sweetheart to global megastar. But how did she get t...

A folklorist chronicles the history and lore of witchcraft in the Keystone State from William Penn's 17th century witch trial to 20th century occultism.As English and German settlers migrated to Pennsylvania, they brought their beliefs in magic with them from the Old World—sometimes with dangerous consequences. In 1802, for example, an Allegheny County judge helped an accused witch escape an angry mob. But Susan Mummey was not so fortunate. In 1934, she was killed ...

This labyrinthine and extraordinary book, first published more than fifty years ago, was the outcome of Graves's vast reading and curious research into strange territories of folklore, mythology, religion and magic. Erudite and impassioned, it is a scholar-poet's quest for the meaning of European myths, a polemic about the relations between man and woman, and also an intensely personal document in which Graves explored the sources of his own inspiration and, as he believed, all true poetry...

The surprising history of the Gowanus Canal and its role in the building of BrooklynFor more than 150 years, Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal has been called a cesspool, an industrial dumping ground, and a blemish on the face of the populous borough—as well as one of the most important waterways in the history of New York harbor. Yet its true origins, man-made character, and importance to the city have been largely forgotten.Now, New York writer and guide Joseph Al...

In this compelling biography, Christopher Sandford explores the full, inside story of Kurt Cobain.From the disruptive childhood which had such a crucial impact on Cobain's personality to the ambitious career musician who, as a friend said, "lunged for success", and the worldwide breakthrough of Nirvana's Nevermind, Sandford also writes about Cobain's stormy marriage to Courtney Love, his heroin addiction, and how he became more and more of a recluse. Finally, he wr...

Activism for the Modern Day ArtemisFrom the author dubbed “an Artemis,” by Gloria Steinem, comes Artemis: The Indomitable Spirit in Everywoman, a book dedicated to women with the courage and passion to change the world.Myths come to life. Worshiped in Ancient Greece as a protectress of young girls, Artemis was the goddess of hunting, nature, and chastity—the original “wild woman.” In Artemis, Jungian ana...

"A fascinating account of Apache history and ethnography. All the narratives have been carefully chosen to illustrate important facets of the Apache experience. Moreover, they make very interesting reading....This is a major contribution to both Apache history and to the history of the Southwest....The book should appeal to a very wide audience. It also should be well received by the Native American community. Indeh is oral history at its best."---R. David Edmunds, Uta...