Stars Fell on Alabama

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Summary: Book of immense influence, still fresh after 65 years
Review: Before Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, Carl Carmer took a train from New York to Alabama to become a college professor, writing of a strange country he visited and returned from, as different as another planet for his known world. He roamed and wrote of the cornwhisky- swilling backwatersof Alabama and the rough-hewn urban centers like Birmingham during the 20s and early 30s -- the time of the Scottsboro boys, the Klux Klan in its first great revival, deep oral and cultural traditions among Alabama African Americans including the title, inspiration for the 30s pop song about a meteor shower more than a century before.. The Civil War veteran turned murderer of U.S. marshals and religious zealot -- lynched to avoid a trial and certain execution -- before Jim Jones and Waco.The great outlaws and train robbers, Rube Burrow and Railroad Bill, one white, the other black and so feared his body was displayed in several cities to prove he was dead. A period piece -- the N word is used-- it also paints a picture of a complex and diverse black community, its cultural and folk roots, its white relationships. Many Alabama natives, including this expatriate, would not know these tales but for Carmer who returned to New York to write about that state and area for decades more But his Alabama is Sleepy Hollow with a bite like "Two-toed Tom" the 15 foot gator trapped in a pond by stalkers only to find him surfacing in a nearby pond, devouring a 12 year old child, decades before scientists learned of the ancient underwater tunnels of the reptiles. Tom moved on to become a legend in Florida where he's still talked about just as Carmer's retelling of the great tales lives on in Alabama, too often without his name attached. Sometimes a bizarre mixture of charm and horror, and perhaps a bit of hyperbole, Stars Fell on Alabama is one of those Academic reprints that reminds us the past is never so simple as we might dream and that the man with manners is to be as feared as the trainrobber with a gun

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Summary: Fictionalized History
Review: I often wondered why falling stars appeared on Alabama license plates and why Dylan sang about the same. Ultimately I found my way to this book, written by Carl Carmer over 60 years ago. The answer to my original questions are within the book. The forward is perhaps more interesting and revealing, exposing the strength and Achilles heal of Carmer's work. Carmer was writing about the Alabama he experienced at the time he resided there. It is a snapshot of history and was very controversial when originally printed. So, it has some literary and historical value. However, many of the characters and incidents are composed of amalgamated individuals and conglomerated incidents. So, it is more representational like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn than an accurate recounting of actual events. Allegedly, Carmer was trying to mask actual places and people to protect their privacy but it left me questioning the authenticity and veracity of the whole. It took the edge off, making the book much less appealing and leaving me disinterested in places. Is it fiction or non-fiction? Is it exaggerated or not? How much to rely on this thin ice is what the reader will have to consider and that will be a distraction throughout.