"Thomas Burton's edition of what amounts to an autobiography of
Ronda Lee Hicks-fighter, drinker, womanizer, and
storyteller-represents a wiff of late-night honky-tonk whiskey and
tobacco in its realism. . . . Hicks is a talented raconteur, whose
gifts are well displayed in Burton's careful editing." --Erika
Brady, Western Kentucky University
Ronda Lee Hicks, as the traditional song goes, is "a man you don't
meet every day." Hailing from the Beech Mountain area of western
North Carolina, Ronda is the offspring of the two families of great
storytellers who are largely responsible for the area's strong
storytelling tradition of the International Wonder Tales of Jack.
And his late cousin Ray Hicks was the famed "keeper" of the
International Wonder Tales of Jack that have proven so popular in
the Appalachian region for more than two centuries.
Like Ray, Ronda is a gifted storyteller, but not of Jack Tales.
Even so, Ronda's stories about himself, his family, friends, and
acquaintances are wonder tales no less. With great candor and
sometimes jarring humor, Hicks recounts his life's highs and lows.
These events, ranging from drunken debauchery to brutality, are
often shocking. He has had many close encounters with "the law" and
was twice sent to prison. His relationships with women, including
his two wives, have been tumultuous at best. This is the story of a
violent, sometimes dissolute life--one that sounds more like it was
lived in the mountains a hundred years ago than in contemporary
Appalachia.
Embedded in all of Ronda's stories are numerous details of mountain
life, work, entertainment, behavior, beliefs, values, and codes.
Thus, through Ronda's memoirs and interviews with noted Appalachian
scholar Thomas Burton, readers will not only meet a truly singular
individual but will also learn of many obscure features of southern
Appalachian mountain culture, including its darker aspects. At the
very least, the reader will wonder how Ronda Hicks lived to tell
his fascinating tales at all.
Thomas Burton is professor emeritus of English at East Tennessee
State University. He is the author of Serpent-Handling Believers
and The Serpent and the Spirit: Glenn Summerford's Story.
"Together, Hicks, the storyteller, and the author give the reader
an authentic view of Appalachian life, one that often disputes the
beauty of the Blue Ridge and the quaintness of old-fashioned ways
that tourists find endearing." --H-Net Reviews
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