Rating: 
Summary: The Truth of the South
Review: "When we got tired of chasing, we decided to play preacher awhile, climbing the sheet metal steps of the breached school bus finding seats in the nave. Today Dell would be preacher and Steve would be baptized." Such was an example of Janisse Rays childhood. "The Ecology of a Cracker Childhood" is by Janisse Ray. The book is about her and her surroundings growing up. This book bored me. One of the criteria I look for in a book is writing that paints a picture. This book did paint a picture. For example, "From the grave I can see a hardwood drain, hung with Spanish moss, and beyond to a cypress swamp, and almost to the river, but beyond that, there is only sky. This sentence gives you an idea of what the land looks like. It really gives you an image of where she is. Another quality of a book that I look for in a is a plot that makes sense and makes me want to read more. This book failed to do this. It would go from one subject to another without even really ending the first subject. For example, (end of first paragraph) "Bladderworts grow in water, smothering shallow ponds and ditches with lavender or gold blooms. They trap aquatic microorganisms and minute insects in translucent pinhead-sized bladders, really modified leaves, underwater." (Beginning of second paragraph.) "Savannas are magnificent wildflower gardens." This is just to much information jammed into one paragraph, and the subjects went from one to another. Another quality I look for in a book are ideas that make me think. This book made me think about many things. For example, "When I was young, religion was the rock foundation on which our lives were solidly constructed. I wasn't allowed to wear pants or cut my hair, wear jewelry or makeup." Those two sentences really make you stop and think about what her life must have been like. It really makes you wonder what else she couldn't do. Another quality I like in a book is a good title. That will usually make me want to read the book more if it has a better title. "The Ecology of a Cracker Childhood" sounds boring and uneventful. It sounds like the title of a lecture. "Forgive this man for his sins, and let him do good in the world. Then Dell knocked Steve back on the hard , dusty bench. Steve came up spluttering and coughing. Preacher you nearly drowned me." This was the result of the baptizing event and just a little example of what Janisse Rays life must have been like.
Rating: 
Summary: Praise for Ecology of a Cracker Childhood
Review: Eugene Weekly, June, 7, 2001; "Ray uses simple language to render the human and ecological history that moves straight to one's astonished heart."
Rating: 
Summary: Georgia Book of the Year is a Loser
Review: I find it hard to believe that Georgia chose Ecology of a Cracker Childhood as its book of the year. The point of a book of the year is to encourage people to read; I am an avid reader, yet if I had to read books like this one, I'd quit reading. Not only is it poorly written, it lacks organization with information about one topic being scattered throughout other chapters. Most of the characters are flat, and the ecology chapters are, frankly, boring. Clearly the editing and proofreading jobs were minimal; there are even two mistyped (or misspelled) words on facing pages.After the information was made public that all of Georgia would be reading the same book this spring, I was so excited; now I am disappointed and disgusted that I spent money for this book.
Rating:
Summary: Georgia Book of the Year is a Loser
Review: I find it hard to believe that Georgia chose Ecology of a Cracker Childhood as its book of the year. The point of a book of the year is to encourage people to read; I am an avid reader, yet if I had to read books like this one, I'd quit reading. Not only is it poorly written, it lacks organization with information about one topic being scattered throughout other chapters. Most of the characters are flat, and the ecology chapters are, frankly, boring. Clearly the editing and proofreading jobs were minimal; there are even two mistyped (or misspelled) words on facing pages. After the information was made public that all of Georgia would be reading the same book this spring, I was so excited; now I am disappointed and disgusted that I spent money for this book.
Rating:
Summary: Siren Song of the South
Review: I left rural Georgia 25 years ago. This book has filled me with longings for what I left behind, and an insatiable desire to discover what I naively overlooked - namely, the rich and tragic ecological history of southern Georgia.
Rating:
Summary: Theological Reflections
Review: I only wish Ms. Ray had reflected more from a theological perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Into the Woods, Out of the Junkyard
Review: I originally read Janisse Ray's memoirs and essay collection, "Ecology of a Cracker Childhood", for a class in college. To be honest, I hated it at first and told two of my classmates that if Janisse was so conscious of the environment, then why had the trees died to print this book. I ate those words before I was half way through. Janisse Ray has an immaculate voice and breathtaking experiences to share with us about her childhood, spent living with her family in a junkyard. The book alternates each chapter between memoirs and essays on the natural forests of Georgia. My preference was on Ray's childhood - where she describes in rich detail about the family bonds that arise out of poverty. There is a certain mystical fantasy about her childhood playgrounds, as she talks about being in a family with money prolbems and numerous mouths to feed. Ray exposes the dark sides of her father's religious fanaticism and mental instability. These stories are honest and refrain from sentimentality. Ray tells talks about her life with simple facts and observations. We experience with her a full view of her introducing a college boyfriend to the wreckage that has been transformed into a home. "Ecology of a Crack Childhood" is a powerful read that everyone should have the opportunity to experience. I, myself, have spent most of my life growing up in cities, but at least now I have a taste of what the rural world has to offer.
Rating:
Summary: Into the Woods, Out of the Junkyard
Review: I originally read Janisse Ray's memoirs and essay collection, "Ecology of a Cracker Childhood", for a class in college. To be honest, I hated it at first and told two of my classmates that if Janisse was so conscious of the environment, then why had the trees died to print this book. I ate those words before I was half way through. Janisse Ray has an immaculate voice and breathtaking experiences to share with us about her childhood, spent living with her family in a junkyard. The book alternates each chapter between memoirs and essays on the natural forests of Georgia. My preference was on Ray's childhood - where she describes in rich detail about the family bonds that arise out of poverty. There is a certain mystical fantasy about her childhood playgrounds, as she talks about being in a family with money prolbems and numerous mouths to feed. Ray exposes the dark sides of her father's religious fanaticism and mental instability. These stories are honest and refrain from sentimentality. Ray tells talks about her life with simple facts and observations. We experience with her a full view of her introducing a college boyfriend to the wreckage that has been transformed into a home. "Ecology of a Crack Childhood" is a powerful read that everyone should have the opportunity to experience. I, myself, have spent most of my life growing up in cities, but at least now I have a taste of what the rural world has to offer.
Rating:
Summary: Into the Woods, Out of the Junkyard
Review: I originally read Janisse Ray's memoirs and essay collection, "Ecology of a Cracker Childhood", for a class in college. To be honest, I hated it at first and told two of my classmates that if Janisse was so conscious of the environment, then why had the trees died to print this book. I ate those words before I was half way through. Janisse Ray has an immaculate voice and breathtaking experiences to share with us about her childhood, spent living with her family in a junkyard. The book alternates each chapter between memoirs and essays on the natural forests of Georgia. My preference was on Ray's childhood - where she describes in rich detail about the family bonds that arise out of poverty. There is a certain mystical fantasy about her childhood playgrounds, as she talks about being in a family with money prolbems and numerous mouths to feed. Ray exposes the dark sides of her father's religious fanaticism and mental instability. These stories are honest and refrain from sentimentality. Ray tells talks about her life with simple facts and observations. We experience with her a full view of her introducing a college boyfriend to the wreckage that has been transformed into a home. "Ecology of a Crack Childhood" is a powerful read that everyone should have the opportunity to experience. I, myself, have spent most of my life growing up in cities, but at least now I have a taste of what the rural world has to offer.
Rating:
Summary: Ray of Hope
Review: I was so enamored of this book, I obtained the "sequel" (Wild Card Quilt), as soon as I knew it was available. I have only one relative who describes herself as a "cracker" and, wanting to know more about just what she meant, purchased this book.
This extremely candid account of Ms. Ray's childhood and coming-of-age in poverty and the obscurity of southern Georgia resonated
(sometimes, too much), with my youth. This is NOT Mayberry, RFD.
It is a marvelous quilt of stories, often funny, often sad, but
always compelling. The people in her narrative(s) are rather larger than life - making a living for their families in the 50's
and 60's in this part of America - truly took the work of some
"Giants in the Earth". Perhaps my closest association with the
book, was her narrative of her father's illness. I, too, had
experienced the uncertainty of growing up poor, with our family
breadwinner often unable to work.
Ms. Ray also has an environmental axe to grind - and I am in sympathy - as I worry for the future of my own Adirondacks - just
as she fights to preserve what is left of the pine forests unique to her part of Georgia.
Read the stories. Enjoy the unique folks. Savor the wonderful
writing. No matter how or where you grew to adulthood, share the
lives of these unique people and I will bet you get an urge to chronicle your own childhood memories for the generations who follow you. Hopefully you will provide them with an insight of their own roots and give them reasons to look backward and reflect.
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