A worldview dark as West Virginia coal dust.
A few years ago I came across a skinny book at the resale shop written by an author with an intriguing name. It was an example of why browsing resale shops is fun: every now and then you find a treasure. This Pancake could write!
Breece D'J Pancake grew up in West Virginia; its bleak, haunting history leavens his writing. One local describes Milton - Pancake's hometown - thus: "It stinks. It's beyond stink. It smells dangerous, and it stays with you." Pancake's stories and poems reflect the danger he felt from the hills and people of his home mixed with an unaccountable, aching love for those same things. In essence, his words beautifully capture the discord and incongruity of life. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize posthumously, after escaping the dissonance by a bullet through the brain in 1979. Author and University of Virginia professor John Casey (Spartina), Pancake's teacher and mentor received a letter from Kurt Vonnegut (another of my favorite authors - Slaughterhouse Five, The Piano Player) after Pancake's death. Vonnegut wrote of Pancake: "I give you my word of honor that he is merely the best writer, the most sincere writer I've ever read. What I suspect is that it hurt too much, was no fun to be that good. You and I will never know."
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