| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
xv, 240 pages ; 22 cm |
| Summary |
"Riding on Comets is the true story of an only child growing up in a working-class family during the 1950s and '60s. As the family storyteller, Cat Pleska whispers and shouts about her life growing up around savvy, strong women and hard-working, hard-drinking men. Unlike many family stories set within Appalachia, this story provides an uncommon glimpse into this region: not coal, but an aluminum plant; not hollers, but small-town America; not hillbillies, but a hard-working family with traditional values. From the dinner table, to the back porch, to the sprawling countryside, Cat Pleska reveals the sometimes tender, sometimes frightening education of a child who listens at the knees of these giants. She mimics and learns every nuance, every rhythm--how they laugh, smoke, cuss, fight, love, and tell stories--as she unwittingly prepares to carry their tales forward, their words and actions forever etched in her mind. And finally, she discovers a life story of her own"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (page 237) and index. |
| Contents |
IMAGES... -- No Salt -- Trick or Treat -- A Tone -- Give Me My Hat -- Big Earl's -- A Brush with the Law -- In Mommaw's Kitchen -- AWAKENING... -- What We Called Home -- From a Time Before -- Night Light -- Cicada Buzz -- AWARENESS... -- I Spy -- Shelter -- Back Home -- Devil Faces -- Something Gathers 'Round Me -- House of Leaves -- Plunder -- REACTION... -- Alarm Clock -- My Civic Duty -- The Nervous Hospital -- My Kingdom for a Horse -- Night on Cheat Mountain part I -- Night on Cheat Mountain part II -- CarniVAL -- War -- The Sailor man -- LOSS... -- In the Cellar -- Reckoning -- Exception to the Rule -- Charmed -- I've Drawed up a Mite -- 900 Degrees Celsius -- Twin Haloes -- The Phone Rings -- Attention K-Mart Shoppers! Do the Dead Wear Underwear? -- We Shall Gather -- Riding on Comets -- Night on Cheat Mountain, part III -- Fall -- STRENGTH... -- Liminal -- Dragon's Tale -- Epilogue -- Author Bio -- Book Discussion. |
| Subject |
Pleska, Cat, 1953- -- Childhood and youth.
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Pleska, Cat, 1953- -- Family.
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Appalachians (People) -- West Virginia -- Biography.
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Only child -- Biography.
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Working class families -- West Virginia -- Biography.
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West Virginia -- Social life and customs -- 20th century.
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Saint Albans (W. Va.) -- Biography.
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Saint Albans (W. Va.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century.
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary.
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women.
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| ISBN |
9781940425511 (paperback) |
|
1940425514 (paperback) |
|
9781940425528 (ePub) |
|
97819404255388 (PDF) |
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