The Wars of Heaven

Received this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers - a book of short stories (and one novella) of everyday people of West Virginia during the Great Depression.

Be it a farmer, a coal miner, or a clown, each has his own story to tell and they kind of helped filled my imagination of what it must have been like there in the 1900's. Coupled with Currey's great choices of words, the stories were almost poetry-like and lyrical.

The novella, The Love of a Good Woman, was thought provoking. Is it heroic or just plain crazy to go all out to help a woman with a sick baby? Borrowing a car without permission, and taking money straight out of a bank's cash drawer in the name of a loan. All while made up with a clown-painted face...

Truly, is our society today as forgiving when it comes to peculiar individuals?

Overall well-written, easy-to-read stories.

My Rating: 


P/S: Aside to the book, I would also like to particularly note the accompanying reprint of an article that appeared in the Washington Post in 2008. This seven and a half pages of A4 papers came together along with the book and it detailed the history of the publishing company (which published this same book) and how one individual went the extra mile to do something extraordinary in founding and funding the literary press from his own salary even while he himself suffered from Trigeminal Neuralgia, the worst painful condition known to humankind. He also happened to come from a family with a dramatic history, going from "riches to rags" almost overnight. I must applaud his passion and devotion. A well-written article of a true story of an admirable individual.