false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171959508m/128592.jpg 128592 3 <I>Salvation on Sand Mountain</I> is a story of snake handling and strychnine drinking, of faith healing and speaking in tongues. It is also the story of one man's search for his roots--and, in the end, of his spiritual renewal. Writer Dennis Covington came to this ecstatic form of Christianity as a reporter covering a sensational murder case; Glen Summerford, pastor of the Church of Jesus with Signs Following, had been accused of attempting to kill his wife with rattlesnakes. There, in a courtroom filled with journalists and gawking spectators, Covington felt the pull of a spirituality that was to dominate his life for the next several years. Attending Summerford's church out of curiosity, he soon forged close friendships with some of the worshippers, began attending snake-handling services throughout the South, and eventually took up snakes himself. <p> With subject matter this lurid, <I>Salvation on Sand Mountain</I> could have been a Southern-fried curiosity and little more. Covington goes far deeper. Tracing the snake handlers' roots in regional history, in the deep spiritual alienation of mountain people from the secular modern world they have so recently joined, Covington is more than just sympathetic to the snake handlers; in a profound way, he considers himself one of them. His reasoning is sometimes flawed--when he attempts to find snake handlers in his own family's past, for instance, the result is belabored and unconvincing--but there's no doubt that Covington's heart is in the right place. He's also not without his own brand of sly gallows humor, as in this conversation with the elderly Gracie McAllister: "She'd swore she'd never handle rattlesnakes in July again. She'd been bit the previous two Julys. 'I decided I'd just handle fire and drink strychnine that night,' she said. <I>Good idea</I>, I thought. It always pays to be on the safe side." <p> Covington eventually breaks with the snake handlers, but comes away from the experience a changed man. "Knowing where you come from is one thing, but it's suicide to stay there," he writes. An American Book Award winner and finalist for the National Book Award, <I>Salvation on Sand Mountain</I> is a nuanced, compassionate portrait of an unforgettable spiritual journey. <I>--Mary Park</I> 1209894 1995 Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia total:476|5:131|4:222|3:105|2:16|1:2| 476 1892 647 104 4 4 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 21:18:30 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 21:18:30 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 6 false false Thu Mar 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 06 04:11:47 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 06 04:27:58 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue Sep 18 14:15:50 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 18 14:42:54 -0700 2007
He came to the small community and began to learn about the preacher and his wife and the snake-h...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 31 10:49:37 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 31 10:50:05 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Apr 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Feb 21 07:06:37 -0800 2008 Tue Apr 29 12:57:17 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Mar 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 08:44:49 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 08:44:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Aug 08 07:51:05 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 07:51:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jun 24 11:48:36 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 11:49:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 3 false false Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 07:24:45 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 08:26:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 1996 Fri Jul 27 07:32:22 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 27 09:56:29 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Mar 15 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Jan 28 07:54:37 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 07:57:14 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Mar 01 16:37:24 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 01 16:39:27 -0800 2008 5 1 false false Sun Aug 19 15:29:06 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 19 15:46:09 -0700 2007 5 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Tue Oct 23 21:34:05 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 23 21:45:46 -0700 2007 5 1 false false Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon Dec 17 11:57:43 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 17 11:59:08 -0800 2007 3 1 false false Thu Jul 19 15:25:04 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 19 15:25:04 -0700 2007 ]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 15 11:53:37 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 11:53:42 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Sep 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 11:04:08 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 15:52:03 -0700 2009
And so we go, with Dennis Covington into the heart of Southern Appalachia to try and catch a glimpse of that furious and awesome Holy Spirit th...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 13:09:16 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 13:09:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 12 08:28:58 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 08:24:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=128592