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Dec 01, 2008

Bill rated it:

I liked the main story of this book. The main story follows three brothers who are bootleggers and general shady characters in the early 1900s. They grew up as poor farmers in a region that became known for moonshine production during prohibition, and soon became involved themselves. Some of the more interesting pars of the book came from seeing how the three brothers were each differently suited (or unsuited in some cases,) to such a life.

However, the book really fell apart where it More...

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Feb 22, 2011

Evan rated it:

note: spoilers.
It's hard to say exactly how I feel about this book, except that in my view, everything it tries to do, it does very well. And I believe the bulk of what it is trying to do is create, from the red dirt up, a time and place that exists in relation to the rest of American history but that is entirely inscrutable.

There's plenty here both in plot and prose style to please a reader familiar with Cormac McCarthy or Flannery O'Conner, or William Faulkner. Bondurant is capa More...

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Dec 09, 2008

Ben rated it:

This is a wonderfully gritty tale about the home-spun moonshining business during the prohibition years in Franklin County, Virginia. The book tells the story of the Bondurant brothers, three men who lust for money, pine for love, or just yearn to get by. The writing was so lush that I felt as if I were in Franklin County as the events were happening.

Unfortunately, the book was divided (unevenly in my opinion) between past and further past, and it was difficult to determine what More...

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Aug 02, 2011

Anthony rated it:

An extremely entertaining book about moonshiners in depression era Southwestern Virginia. A page turner that I blew threw in one weekend. I am certainly biased as I grew and up and currently live in this area of the world and strangely take pride in our bootlegging history (and continued practice). The "Boundurant Boys" are great characters and you realize you are rooting for this violent group of men and admire their fight against corrupt officials as they try to make ends meet ply More...

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Feb 25, 2011

Paul rated it:

No, this is not about Hurricane Ike going through Texas. This is a story, based on fact, of a family growing up in Franklin County, Virginia. This county was the seat for White Mule, Firewater, Wild Cat, Stump Whiskey, Rotgut, White Lightning, Moonshine, or whatever you wanted to call it. It is claimed that 99 of 100 people in Franklin County were making, or had some connection with illegal liquor.

The Bondurant family played a major role in not only making moonshine, but also wer More...

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Nov 09, 2009

Bridget rated it:

I had an Advance Readers' Edition of this title, and I was looking forward to reading it. The story is that of the Bondurant brothers, who were involved in moonshine making and distribution during the Prohibition in Franklin County. I find this time in American history to be quite interesting, both from the temperance viewpoint and the viewpoint of those making/selling/smuggling liquor.

Maybe this is a good book, but if it is, I didn't read far enough into it to find out. The Prolo More...

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May 01, 2010

LeeAnn rated it:

I picked this novel up in an airport bookshop where it was being heavily promoted and it was alright. It got me through a 4 hour flight. But it wasn't anything great.

The novel tells two stories in parallel, the story of the 3 brothers told from the point of view of the youngest brother (and sometimes the oldest, particularly when he's drunk), and the story of a writer named Sherwood Anderson who came to cover a trial that involved the brothers. But it points to the weakness of th More...

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Jan 09, 2012

Hunter rated it:

This historical fiction explores the exciting and violent world of moonshine in southwest Virginia during Prohibition and the short period afterward. Specifically, the author writes about his grandfather and great uncles and their dominant moonshine empire in Franklin County, a county that author Sherwood Anderson labels "the wettest county in the world."

The author paints an extremely dark and earthy picture and uses extremely vivid imagery in his fiction. Bondurant weaves More...

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Jan 01, 2011

Teresa rated it:

This novel about three brothers who made and sold moonshine during the Prohibition era, may be set in the hills of southwestern Virginia, but it is very much a gangster story. It has as much in common with the great mobster tales as it does with any typical Southern literature. There are the family connections. The code of silence. The shady law enforcement officials. The strong, stoic women.

Early in the book, the youngest brother, Jack, is taken with the excitement of the moonshining More...

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Jun 16, 2011

Kevin rated it:

Well, it looks like I am in disagreement with others who have rated this book. The reason is two-fold. I am a fan of bourbon and whiskey; both historically and practically. I am also a fan of historical fiction that takes place in the southern US states - particularly Kentucky. How I got there is not important but this book speaks to me as though it was written for me.

It is a well written story about brothers who made moonshine whiskey in Kentucky and were feared by both their competit More...

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Aug 06, 2011

Kris rated it:

You will want to take your time reading this novel, it's that good. Mr. Bondurant has a gift of painting sublte, yet vivid mental pictures through his storytelling. He will take you by the arm and lead you through a world in the early 30's when America was in the process of Prohibition. This world is both violent & romantic and just happens to sit in the deep forest mountains of Franklin County, Virginia.

This time gone by setting that "The Wettest County In the World" takes place in More...

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Mar 27, 2011

Donna rated it:

A very easy, smooth read. Really takes you into the Prohibition era of the south. Many a movie has been made of the Italian Mafia thru the years, written with almost healthy respect for these types of people and this book brought to light for me the truth of just how hard and dangerous life was for the southern business man (the moonshiner). There isn't very much information on just how tough it was "back in the day" in the life of liquor manufactures and the core of how it began. Mo More...

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Sep 15, 2011

Hailey rated it:

Ok, first and foremost, I am a gigantic nerd. I love history-especially 1920's Americana, which is pretty much this book cover to cover. It details a family of bootleggers living in Appalachia during prohibition and therefore contains all of the key components of cool: substance abuse and violence. It is also based on a true story, as the "Bondurant Boys" were the author's grandfather and great-uncles, although he admits that many of the details are poetic retellings birthed of his own More...

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Jul 17, 2011

Emily rated it:

The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant is a book that straddles the line between history and fiction. It's the book that my husband asked me to read for Christmas this past year, so it was the one book that guaranteed a coveted spot in my luggage for vacation. (NB: every year for Christmas, my husband and I give the gift to each other of reading one book of the other's choosing. It started out as a way for me to get him to read Harry Potter many years ago, but it has since bec More...

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Oct 30, 2009

Beth rated it:

I listened to this novel that is loosely based on the author's grandfather and granduncles. Three Bondurant brothers in Franklin County, Virginia make ends meet during the Great Depression by moonshining (or blockading, as it was called in that area). After losing almost half their family during the flu epidemic of 1918, the brothers turn to making a living however they are able.

I liked the writing style very much. The author paints a picture of a stoic southern people who don't let More...

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Mar 11, 2009

Robyn rated it:

I enjoyed this memoir, novel-based-on-a-true-story (most authors aren't that honest). If you expect straightforward biographical or historical writing, you'll be disappointed. Because it is comprised of family folklore, remembrances, and a few historical references through the writing of Sherwood Anderson, the author instead makes time jumps and conjecture about what was happening in Franklin County at the time. It's very novelistic in its structure. Moreover, it does a little historigraphi More...

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Aug 06, 2010

Kocart rated it:

Just about my favorite book in a long time. By writing this book as a novel, the author imagined the details of the lives of his own family during prohibition. He went to the the source of the moonshine liquor, avoiding the cliche of the old film noir films with their city gangsters. This book was a little more down home, in a sinister way. The description of the effects of hard liquor on the mind of one of the characters was among the best word pictures I can remember. The reporter who tried t More...

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Dec 14, 2010

Amanda rated it:

This was a novel of the depression in the south. Based on the exploits of his family, Bondurant writes a novel of bootlegging and mayhem in a tiny corner of Virginia. He does a good job at painting the scene, you can see the place as a character in the book. I'm not sure the dual narrative worked though. Using an author to anchor the slightly later setting just kind of took me out of the narrative, and I didn't care much for the use of that convention.

I really wish I could give t More...

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Jul 26, 2011

Kristen rated it:

A classic tale about America during the end of Prohibition. The two intertwining stories are told in a way that you have to keep reading and really delve into the story to figure out the meaning. The story of the three Bondurant brothers coinciding with a defeated Sherwood Anderson show the group as victims of a time gone-by as well as being misunderstood. There's gritty drama and a great gangster story that I'm sure has been translated into the upcoming movie adaptation. The only issues I h More...

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Sep 14, 2009

David rated it:

Personally I loved the setting and story of the book but felt that it could have been delivered in a more coherent fashion. The characters were well developed and very compelling but weren’t fully used in what should have been the climax. Unfortunately the tempo was uneven and often stilted with unnecessary detail that didn’t seem to add anything to the basic storyline. I wanted to see more from Sherwood Anderson who unfortunately was destined to the role of providing a sort of literary wallpap More...

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Oct 11, 2009

Sara rated it:

The unconventional timeline of this book was confusing at first, but worth it in the end. It seemed experimental from the get-go, and I loved that. This book was fun. Who doesn't want to know more about the "bad" guys? The historical sources that Bondurant drew from were worked in really well. It wasn't a problem at all that he filled in the gray spaces with his own imagination.
I enjoyed spending time in Franklin County, and getting to know all the brothers. Really rewar More...

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Jan 30, 2012

Liana rated it:

This method is one I plan on using when writing my own historical novel. The author based his book on true events, but of course took creative liberties when fact was not enough or when facts were insufficient. The author mentions that he had scarce amounts on information about his grandfather and his granduncles, relying on family lore, newspaper articles, and court transcripts. How he fleshes out the story is really remarkable. He has a powerful way with words and symbolism.

Howard, F More...

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Aug 27, 2011

Matt rated it:

A bloody, vivid illustration of Proverbs 1 - "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." For the most part, Bondurant does an admirable job of writing about crime and violence in an exciting way without glorifying them or making the lives of criminals appealing. I really enjoyed this book, and I wanted to give it a higher score. I try not to judge literature too prudishly, but I was ultimately bothered by the lack of "moral resolution." Nobody seems to learn anyth More...

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Jan 04, 2009

Su rated it:

I debated between giving this novel a 3 or 4 star...I think it could go either way. It is a story based on historical fact and sometimes it was difficult to discern what was true and what was made up by the author. A fascinating look into the lives of moonshiners in Franklin County Virginia in the 1920s and 1930s. These people had laws unto themselves and violence was a daily part of their lives. Sometimes the craft of moonshining is glorified, but this book shows it for all its pain and suf More...

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Jun 12, 2009

Diane rated it:

What an odd book. Rarely have I read a book with characters that I cared so little about - they were not only one dimensional and boring but pretty much unlikable. All that action and violence and the book was just boring. I don't particularly like to read about violence but this was such uncalled for, self induced violence that it was boring rather than upsetting. (That's THREE borings to describe one book!) The social problems as symptoms of the Depression and the environment simply did not More...

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May 09, 2011

Becky rated it:

The story itself is a reasonably accurate depiction of Franklin County and the surrounding areas, but the story is very jerky, jumps around a lot, and could have been better organized. Still, if someone has relatives or friends from this area and is interested in learning a little about the history of moonshining among Appalachian families, it's not a bad read. Just don't expect to be blown away by the writer's skill because it is lacking. He makes up for that, though, by making the story not More...

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May 20, 2011

Rose rated it:

Matt Bondurant tried, he really tried. I just didn't quite get it. I thought the story was good: 3 brothers in Depression-era, rural Virginia. The 3 men are the author's grandfather and granduncles. The Bondurant brothers ran a crime ring that involves passing homemade liquor back and forth between county lines during Prohibition. Again, it was a good start and good foundation. Where the book fell apart for me was the author's style. The story was constantly going back and forth between y More...

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Jan 24, 2012

Kathy rated it:

The Wettest County in the World is based on the true story about three brothers who prepared and sold moonshine during the Prohibition era. The story though set in the hills of Virginia is an out and out gangster story. I wish I could say I loved the book and could recommend it without reservations but honestly the book just wasn’t for me. BUT if rural Southern gangsters have any sort of appeal to you this may just be worth checking out if not put it down and run away.
2 Stars

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Feb 28, 2011

Motorcycle rated it:

I liked this one. It was interesting reading this after watching Winter's Bone. I can see how these country guys who made illegal liquor could move quite naturally on to meth. I enjoyed all the narration by Sherwood Anderson. I like Sherwood Anderson a lot and have taught him to my kids before, so I knew a little about his life. It made me feel like an insider, reading his thoughts and feelings. Anyway, the book was definitely worth the read.

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Jan 16, 2010

Lara rated it:

The vivid writing kept this book alive long after the plot and character arcs stumbled. I wanted to love this book, but found myself wishing the author would have focused his story on one protagonist instead of four (three brothers, plus a journalist). I appreciated the authentic setting, the accounts of bootlegging, and the struggles of very real-feeling people. But ultimately the diluted story, spread too thin over too many characters, lost me.

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