Real Country: From the Fast Track to Appalachia

By Leslie Brunetsky

Two middle-aged women, Leslie and Hope, traded their familiar urban environment outside Washington, DC for a log cabin in the heart of southern Appalachia. Part One of Real Country describes their... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1934937487
• ISBN13: 9781934937488
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Mill City Press, Inc.
• Length: 172 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.4" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Reviewed for Midwest Book Review

Life partners Leslie and Hope lived a busy life near Washington DC, working long hours and spending much of their commuting time stuck in traffic. Leslie had always dreamed of living in the mountains so the two decided to find property on a mountain and build a log cabin there once Leslie retired. After much research, they settled on the Appalachian region in North Carolina and spent the next five years counting the days. Once Leslie retired, they moved to a temporary house while their own log cabin was being built, and Leslie began sending epistles to family and friends updating them on the progress of their dream home and their transition to living in the Bible Belt surrounded by Republicans. The two, unused to Southern speak, struggle to understand what is being said to them while trying to acclimate to a more leisurely lifestyle. Nicknaming themselves the Two Stooges Construction Company, they are challenged with trying to figure out how to put furniture together and put up a mailbox while dealing with mice that have taken up residence in their attic. On top of which, their new home seems jinxed, with a washing machine that won't stop dancing and an oven that quits in the middle of baking. Real Country is based on the real-life experiences of two Northern women trying to blend into the Appalachian way of life and be accepted by its populace. The author's witty style will bring plenty of laughs via her characters' reactions to a totally unfamiliar culture and its divergent perspectives relating to most aspects of life, including religion, politics, and social dynamics. Highly recommended.

Hilarious view points

Leslie Brunetsky gave me totally different, hilarious view point of ordinary experiences like when she and Hope tried to register to vote. I laughed til I cried! I began to look at things in my own life "through Leslie's eyes" - things we take "for the way things are", but to someone from a completely different culture they are strange and wonderful. Thank you, Ms. Brunetsky, for a ton of laugh-out-louds. Please, please give us more of your Yankee insights!

From Marcia M Cham author of You Mean I Have to Look at the Body?! Stories of Dying and Living

Real Country is a delight. Brunetsky offers a unique perspective to the transition from city life to that in the high country. Her insights would be helpful to anyone in transition. She shares the reality of it all through her gift of humor and superb writing skills. I highly recommend this book to all who need lift during these challenging times and to all who are in transition or contemplating a change in their life.

Not your grandmother's story!

Well, Leslie Brunetsky isn't my grandmother, but she IS a friend and former colleague. So I came to read out of loyal curiosity and wound up reading the whole book at one sitting. I quite literally couldn't put it down. The book is like Leslie herself: warm, witty, wise-cracking, but also wise, incisive, and insightful - at times side-splittingly funny (the Maytag dryer had me almost in hysterics) and at times sobering (we may be in the 21st century, but culture clashes aren't a thing of the past). Now that I've read it all in one gulp, I'm going to sit down and read it again slowly enough to savor every wonderful moment.

Laughed out loud!

I truly enjoyed Leslie Brunetsky's stories of moving from the city to the mountain country in North Carolina. Many times I found myself laughing out loud, causing people next to me on the subway to give me strange looks (clearly I can relate more to the city part of her story!). I highly recommend this book for a light, fun read with a twist - the underlying social commentary about how people from such different backgrounds can still find things in common has never been more relevant as it is today. Buy it and enjoy!