Black Mountain Breakdown - by Lee Smith (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, c1980.

Book Synopsis

The New York Times bestselling author of The Last Girls presents one of her most compelling novels, acclaimed by Anne Tyler, Annie Dillard, and more...

Everywhere about her, from the traffic on Highway 460 to the river that's gone black with coal dust, Crystal Spangler sees a current flowing from the mountain town of Black Rock into the wider world. As a teenager, she is elected beauty queen, gets good grades, and-despite her many enviable qualities-manages also to be well-loved. Everyone knows that she is destined to leave town and do great things.

And she does.

But no one expects her return; drawn back home by some sort of memory, as if the current that had taken her away had changed its mind...

Review Quotes

"The closest thing to reading this would be reading Madame Bovary while listening to Loretta Lynn." -- Roy Blount, Jr.

"Black Mountain Breakdown is like a country song. It is true and real; it is loving and sad." -- Annie Dillard

About the Author

Lee Smith was born in Grundy, VA. She is author of many novels, including the New York Times bestseller The Last Girls, and most recently Guests On Earth. She is a recipient of the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the North Carolina Award for Literature, and a Southern Book Critics Circle Award.