Rating: 
Summary: A quick trip down a fast river
Review: As you read this book, you can hear Adams talking: slowly and carefully, stopping here and there to dwell on a minor detail that focuses on the essence of a place. This is a good place to start if all you know about Appalachia and its people is what you learned from seeing "Deliverance", but it's also fine reading if you're from the hills or have spent some time on the New River. As a native son of the Mountain State, whose ancestors settled on the Bluestone River in 1790, I was amused to discover that some folks still regard West Virginia as a scary place populated by violent, barefoot hillbillies (only the guides on the river are barefoot here). One small quibble: Adams doesn't devote any time at all to the geological history of the river itself. Given that it's generally regarded as the oldest river in North America, I thought this was surprising. My only complaint is that, just like a rafting trip down the New in Spring, it's over way too soon.
Rating:
Summary: I can't believe I loved this book
Review: But I did. It is not at all the typical stuff I usually read. It was such an entertaining and gentle read. Adams is such a wonderful story teller. I felt as if I took that journey right beside him. As far as I am concerned, I have floated down "The New" myself now. I borrowed the book I read from my library but I am purchasing two for my Mom and my sister.
Rating:
Summary: I can't believe I loved this book
Review: But I did. It is not at all the typical stuff I usually read. It was such an entertaining and gentle read. Adams is such a wonderful story teller. I felt as if I took that journey right beside him. As far as I am concerned, I have floated down "The New" myself now. I borrowed the book I read from my library but I am purchasing two for my Mom and my sister.
Rating:
Summary: Great adventure
Review: I thought this book was a great adventure down the New River. I enjoyed the descriptions of appalachia people he encountered along the way, and had a great time as he meandered through the valleys of the New.
Rating:
Summary: Great adventure
Review: I thought this book was a great adventure down the New River. I enjoyed the descriptions of appalachia people he encountered along the way, and had a great time as he meandered through the valleys of the New.
Rating:
Summary: What an experience!!!...
Review: I used to live near the New and Noah Adams describes it wonderfully. While on a quest to learn more about his family from the area, he also spends most of his Spring, Summer, and Fall in and around the New River. He bikes, hikes, canoes, and whitewater rafts in and around the New while telling about the history of all 350 miles of it. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific location on the river and he even gives the Latitude/ Longitude so you can visit the places he was. I highly reccomend this book!!
Rating:
Summary: What an experience!!!...
Review: I used to live near the New and Noah Adams describes it wonderfully. While on a quest to learn more about his family from the area, he also spends most of his Spring, Summer, and Fall in and around the New River. He bikes, hikes, canoes, and whitewater rafts in and around the New while telling about the history of all 350 miles of it. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific location on the river and he even gives the Latitude/ Longitude so you can visit the places he was. I highly reccomend this book!!
Rating: 
Summary: Wrong Book
Review: If you caught Noah Adams talking about his book recently on NPR, you might think, as I did, that it talks about the early settlers who followed the New River from North Carolina into Virginia and what is now West Virginia (and then onward to Kentucky and Ohio and beyond, as his ancestors did, and mine; we grew up about 10 miles from each other). About their subsistence farming and forestry and mining. It does not. Much of it is about touristy white water rafting and canoeing, which has nothing to do with the people of that region. In the final chapter, in a couple of sentences, he says he "wondered" about those early settlers. So did I. That's why I bought the book. I was disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Fun and fascinating adventure reading
Review: In Far Appalachia, Noah Adams captured the essence of the New River and the surrounding areas. His keen observances and descriptive detail of scene and setting make the book come alive. Although this book is quite interesting, it is not particularly dense with information; the book is light reading that moves very quickly. Instead, Adams captures snapshots of the river and the varied people he meets along his journey via canoe, bicycle and foot trail. I thoroughly enjoyed Far Appalachia; it made me feel a little bit homesick for North Carolina, which is where I grew up.
Rating:
Summary: Fun and fascinating adventure reading
Review: In Far Appalachia, Noah Adams captured the essence of the New River and the surrounding areas. His keen observances and descriptive detail of scene and setting make the book come alive. Although this book is quite interesting, it is not particularly dense with information; the book is light reading that moves very quickly. Instead, Adams captures snapshots of the river and the varied people he meets along his journey via canoe, bicycle and foot trail. I thoroughly enjoyed Far Appalachia; it made me feel a little bit homesick for North Carolina, which is where I grew up.
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