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Fire Ant Books
Gone to the Swamp: Raw Materials for the Good Life in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta
To make a living here, one had to be capable, confident, clever and inventive, know a lot about survival, be able to fashion and repair tools, navigate a boat, fell a tree, treat a snakebite, make a meal from whatever was handy without asking too many questions about it, and get along with folks.
This fascinating and instructive book is the careful and unpretentious account of a man who was artful in all the skills needed to survive and raise a family in an area where most people would be lost or helpless. Smith’s story is an important record of a way of life beginning to disappear, a loss not fully yet realized. We are lucky to have a work that is both instructive and warm-hearted and that preserves so much hard-won knowledge.
This fascinating and instructive book is the careful and unpretentious account of a man who was artful in all the skills needed to survive and raise a family in an area where most people would be lost or helpless. Smith’s story is an important record of a way of life beginning to disappear, a loss not fully yet realized. We are lucky to have a work that is both instructive and warm-hearted and that preserves so much hard-won knowledge.
288 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 2, 2010
An entertaining and informative primary document of occupational and cultural history from the constantly-evolving lower-Alabama river delta. Contains everything you need to know about the life and work of its fiercely independent and grizzled loggers. Highly recommended.
March 16, 2009
Lots of good info about how daily life and industry worked in lower Alabama in the 19th century.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews