Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful and charming
Review: FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREAKDOWN is a short story collection of some of the
best works by Sharyn McCrumb. Most of the collection has been published
elsewhere, but never in one book. The stories vary as they include
suspense, relationship dramas, and deep characterizations that portray the
people and land of the Southern Appalachian chain.
All the stories are quite good, especially the who-done-its. The
relationship tales are also quite excellent. Tales like the honeymoon
couple returning to his mountain roots ("Telling the Bees") or the marriage
between a wannabe and a death row inmate ("Not All Brides Are Beautiful")
are entirely different stories that share two things in common (along with
some of the other stories): They are both extremely interesting and fun to
read. This is a very diverse short story anthology from one of the best
regional novelists today and is well worth reading.
Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and charming
Review: FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREAKDOWN is a short story collection of some of thebest works by Sharyn McCrumb. Most of the collection has been publishedelsewhere, but never in one book. The stories vary as they include suspense, relationship dramas, and deep characterizations that portray the people and land of the Southern Appalachian chain. All the stories are quite good, especially the who-done-its. The relationship tales are also quite excellent. Tales like the honeymoon couple returning to his mountain roots ("Telling the Bees") or the marriage between a wannabe and a death row inmate ("Not All Brides Are Beautiful") are entirely different stories that share two things in common (along with some of the other stories): They are both extremely interesting and fun to read. This is a very diverse short story anthology from one of the best regional novelists today and is well worth reading. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: a wonderful collection of stories
Review: For anyone who has read her novels, this is Sharyn McCrumb at her best. For anyone who hasn't, it's a fine introduction to her work. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A great introduction into the work of Ms McCrumb
Review: Having previously only sampled 'Highland Laddie Gone' I picked up this book by chance whilst travelling in New Hampshire. Being from the UK the stories which were specifically set within the Smokey Mountians and Apalacians which McCrumb so dearly loves I imagined would have less of a pull than some of the other more 'general' stories. I could not have been more wrong. These tales had a lyrical quality and even the saddest stories held a quite beautiful mysticism. I eagerly await reading more of the Sheriff Arrowood stories. It is hard to pick out a favourite, but if I have to make the choice I would chose 'Old Rattler' as the best of the bunch. It was one of those stories - a missing girl, distraut mother, wise old man and a sheriff prepared to take a slightly unorthadox route to the solution - which could have been crass, derivative and trodden a well worn path. Instead, I found myself wishing that the tale were longer, I wanted to know more about all involved, I was actually disappointed to reach the end. I hope the other Arrowood books have the same effect. Unfortunately, there has to be a bad apple in the barrel - there were two actually, but one 'The Monster of Glamis' was just plain silly, the other 'A Predatory Woman' I found disturbing for quite the wrong reasons. This is a very thinly disguised story of a notorious British child murderer, as they say, only the names have changed. I live in the hills not two miles from where this vile woman and her partner did their terrible deeds and the area still bares a significant mental scar. Virtually no-one from this area, or indeed the UK itself would have any problems in identifying the protagonist of this tale. One day she could be released and the ending, whilst it may be the fervent wish of most who know of these crimes, was a cop-out and I felt trivialised one of the most dispicable and memorable acts in recent British history. From the remainder of my review one can appreciate that I regard Sharyn McCrumb highly. I will certainly read as much of her work as is available in the UK. I truly feel that she has a gift of great storytelling with narrative that is often near perfect. It is perhaps the subject matter she should give a little more attention to.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I know that my heading isn't exactly distinctive, but "excellent" is really the best word to describe this collection of short stories. As a dedicated reader of the Eliz McPherson series, I loved the story about her early days. I also thought "The Monster of Glamis" was intriguing, although a bit fanciful. Anyone who has read her novel Paying the Piper will recognize elements of Cameron and Elizabeth's relationship in the story about the relationship between the American and the Scot. McCrumb's stories about Appalachia are also moving and sincere.Definitely a wonderful book from a great author whose works I will continue to await anxiously.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I know that my heading isn't exactly distinctive, but "excellent" is really the best word to describe this collection of short stories. As a dedicated reader of the Eliz McPherson series, I loved the story about her early days. I also thought "The Monster of Glamis" was intriguing, although a bit fanciful. Anyone who has read her novel Paying the Piper will recognize elements of Cameron and Elizabeth's relationship in the story about the relationship between the American and the Scot. McCrumb's stories about Appalachia are also moving and sincere.Definitely a wonderful book from a great author whose works I will continue to await anxiously.
Rating: 
Summary: Not McCrumb's best by far... :(
Review: Let me preface this review by saying that Ms. McCrumb is one of my favorite authors. I follow her Ballad novels avidly and purchase them as soon as they come out, being both interested in the folk music of Appalachia and having grown up in the area in which they are usually set, upper east Tennessee. That said, I was overall rather disappointed in this book. The author admits in the introduction that it is comprised of "almost all the short stories" she's ever written, including stories from highschool and writing exercises, and unfortunately, it reads that way. Based on the raving praise I'd read about it, I was all set to go through with a pen and mark in the contents stories that were particularly evocative of the places and people McCrumb often portrays so brilliantly. Instead, i found myself flipping from tale to tale, wondering when i'd get to "the good stuff." Some of the plot twists are cute, and a couple of the stories set in Appalachian settings ("Old Rattler," "Precious Jewel," and "A Snare as Old as Solomon" are examplary) come close to what i expected. As a fan of Ms. McCrumb, it's somewhat interesting on a scholarly level, since you *can* follow her development as a writer from youth to experienced in this book, and the glimpses of her initial sketchings of "canonical" characters like Sheriff Spencer Arrowood of the Ballad novels and detective-protagonist Elizabeth MacPherson of the eponymous mystery series are of interest to fans I'm sure. Otherwise, most of the stories are a bit too sappy and trite for me to recommend it to the general reader. Instead i'd encourage people to hunt down one of the Ballad novels: The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, She Walks These Hills, or The Ballad of Frankie Silver, perhaps.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful introduction to Sharon McCrumb.
Review: Quite by chance I picked up the audio version of Foggy Mountain Breakdown by Sharyn McCrumb and I was thoroughly delighted. Her characters seemed so alive and Sharon Gless's reading made it more so.
Rating:
Summary: Had to Write
Review: The books in Sharyn McCrumb's Appalachian Series are among my favorites, so I couldn't resist her collection of short stories. All are extremely well written. The stories are so varied that it's hard to believe the same person wrote them all. When I got to the end, I wanted to go back to the beginning and start all over again. The book fits my criterion for Superb; that is, I wish I could have written the stories. Even if you don't ordinarily like short stories, give this book a try.
Rating:
Summary: This is a wonderful collection of stories of a lifetime!
Review: The stories span a great part of the author's life and so some spin the tale better than others. Still, many display a wonderful gift of humor that is rarely found in the novels.
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