Good Country People

the long version

William Carlos Williams wrote that, "One has to learn what the meaning of the local is for universal purposes." Good Country People delights in the local, in the possibilities of diversity, and is founded on the notion that there is no trifle, that good writing can articulate and celebrate the cultures of tobacco and barbecue, of farmlands and factories, of tech schools and evangelical churches, of the various races, social classes, and genders, which make up the coastal plains of North Carolina. Good Country People includes essays on Native American cultures of Eastern North Carolina; pre-Civil War Architecture; black traveling shows of the first part of the 20th century, along with a personal reminiscence by a participant; and the oddities of Belhaven museum, one of the most unusual museums in the country. Captivating series of black and white photographs range from a study of Native American faces to celebrated architectural achievements.