Charles Lytton's first understanding and appreciation of cooking food came from his grandmother. Her house was cold and drafty in the winter. As he puts it, "You could throw a cat through the cracks around the closed windows." With characteristic language that is at once simple and colorful he creates a scene that retells the true Appalachian way of life: "In the morning, the water dipper was often frozen in the drinking water bucket. Once she started the fire in the cook stove, she put the water bucket to melt the ice and make coffee. The remainder of the hot water got a chip or two of lye...

Charles Lytton's ability to capture memories from his childhood and enrich them with spellbinding storytelling is back His first book featured not only tales of growing up along the New River in Southwest Virginia, but recipes that evinced the sights and smells of rural life in the mid 20th century. Readers clamored for more, and in this new book, this professional storyteller is at the top of his game. No recipes, just adventures, and a heartfelt love of the river he calls home.

The third in a series of books by Virginia Storyteller Charles Lytton, this is a series of heartwarming -- but by no means syrupy -- stories of Appalachia at its best. Lytton grew up fishing and gigging the New River, has a love for the characters who populated his childhood (from elementary school teachers to moonshiners), and has not let advanced degrees strip away the lingo that makes his narration so authentic. A treasures of tales to be read alone or aloud.

The fourth in a series of books by a master storyteller, whose childhood and the people who moved through it come alive in words and images that speak with boundless authenticity of Appalachia.

Appalachian cuisine from the kitchen of Southwest Virginia's favorite storyteller and treasured grandpa