Appalachian Fall

Dispatches from Coal Country on What's Ailing America

By: Jeff Young

Narrated by: Gibson Frazier

A searing, on-the-ground examination of the collapsing coal industry—and the communities left behind—in the midst of economic and environmental crisis.

Despite fueling a century of American progress, the people at the heart of coal country are being left behind, suffering from unemployment, the opioid epidemic, and environmental crises often at greater rates than anywhere else in the country. But what if Appalachia’s troubles are just a taste of what the future holds for all of us?

Appalachian Fall tells the captivating true story of coal communities on the leading edge of change. A group of local reporters known as the Ohio Valley ReSource shares the real-world impact these changes have had on what was once the heart and soul of America. Including stories like:
-The miners’ strike in Harlan County after their company suddenly went bankrupt, bouncing their paychecks
-The farmers tilling former mining ground for new cash crops like hemp
-The activists working to fight mountaintop removal and bring clean energy jobs to the region
-And the mothers mourning the loss of their children to overdose and despair

In the wake of the controversial bestseller Hillbilly Elegy, Appalachian Fall addresses what our country owes to a region that provided fuel for a century and what it risks if it stands by watching as the region, and its people, collapse.

Awful narration.

It’s an interesting story, and I learned a lot about the problems facing coal country. The narrator’s fake accents and voices were annoying and distracting. The voices of women were particularly annoying since he made them sound like sniveling whiners. Please. Just read it straight.

It's a Political Book

Made it through 2 chapters. It's mostly an anti-Trump book which was not what I was expecting. The book could have easily been titled "How Appalachian Americans Helped Trump Win the White House"