Biggers' travel memoir on Copper Canyon, IN THE SIERRA MADRE, is now out in paperback. The book is a wonderful portrait of a world unknown, but legendary---the Sierra Madre of Humphrey Bogart. Biggers mixes history, memoir, lit review, and some adventure.

There is a nice interview with Biggers about his first book on Appalachia and its overlooked contributions. A lot of surprises out of these southern mountains: Nina Simone, Pearl Buck, Cormac McCarthy, Frances Burnett, Adolph Ochs and the NY Times, and on and on. See:

http://bluestalking.typepad.com/the_bluestalking_reader/2007/05/an_interview_wi_1.html

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Jeff Biggers' first book, The United States of Appalachia, was excellent. It essentially put the Appalachian experience, long beholden to stereotypes and jokes, on the map, viewing its progressive role in American history, and its impact on the whole country. The book is one surprise after another. As a librarian, I felt Biggers did for Appalachia what Bernard deVoto did for the American West, which is to put it within the national experience, not only a regional one.

I recently heard an interview on NPR about his last book, In the Sierra Madre. To hear the interview, go to NPR's Latino USA program and search for his name. I have ordered it and look forward to reading it.

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