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Stars Fell on Alabama
Author(s): Carl Carmer (Author), Howell Raines (Introduction)
- Publisher: University Alabama Press
- Publication Date: December 18, 2000
- Language: English
- Print length: 320 pages
- ISBN-10: 081731072X
- ISBN-13: 9780817310721
Book Description
A timeless journey into the heart and folklore of Alabama.
Stars Fell on Alabama is a landmark work of Southern literature that transports readers to Alabama during the early 20th century. Written by Carl Carmer, this evocative narrative blends memoir, travel writing, and folklore to paint a rich portrait of a region steeped in tradition and complexity. Carmer captures the rhythms of rural life, the haunting beauty of the landscape, and the voices of its people―farmers, musicians, storytellers―whose tales reveal the cultural fabric of the Deep South. From ghost stories and folk songs to accounts of social customs and racial tensions, this book offers an unflinching yet affectionate look at Alabama’s heritage. Both a historical document and a literary masterpiece, Stars Fell on Alabama remains essential reading for anyone interested in Southern history, American folklore, and the enduring power of storytelling.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Carmer reveals himself here as a writer of more than ordinary perceptiveness and imagination, with the power of extracting from what he sees, hears, and feels an essence which is fundamentally poetic.” ―New York Times
“The ‘strange country’ that Carmer visited hardly exists anymore save in his pages. Alabama is a healthier, richer, more just, and better-educated place. Yet whenever I read the dazzling initial image of the book–when I see through Carl Carmer’s words a blood-colored moon and pine trees standing darkly against the sky–it is possible to understand the power of that old, dark magic.” ―From the Introduction by Howell Raines
About the Author
Carl Carmer, a Harvard-educated New York state native, was one of America’s most popular writers during the 1940s and 1950s with thirty seven books, documentary films, his own radio program, and four albums of regional songs to his credit. He taught at The University of Alabama for seven years during the 1920s.
Howell Raines, an Alabama native and former New York Times editorial page editor and Pulitzer Prize winner, is the author of My Soul Is Rested: Movement Days in the Deep South Remembered and Fly Fishing through the Midlife Crisis.
