Miss Squidling's review
Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia
by Dennis Covington
Miss Squidling's review
Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia by Dennis Covington
Miss Squidling's review
rating:
The irrational mystery of speaking in tongues, drinking strychnine, and handling deadly venomous snakes is revealed with startling realism and tenderness in Covington's lyrical autobiography, "Salvation on Sand Mountain". The question of how an educated journalist could get caught up in backwoods religious mania is explored through history, remembered experience, and a yearning for unbounded spiritual renewal. Initially drawn to the rural hills of Alabama while covering the trial of a preacher charged with attempted murder of his wife, Covington was drawn in by the charismatic members of the snake-handling community and found himself pursuing an ultimately destructive path towards self-discovery. The writing is clear and poetic; the short length of this book makes for a quick read, but provokes ample contemplation.
