The Same River Twice pg. 19-20
The popular view of Appalachia is a land where every man is willing,
at the drop of a proverbial overall strap,
to shoot, fight,
or fuck anything on hind legs.
We're men who buy half-pints of boots-legged liquor
and throw the lids away in order to finish the whiskey in one laughing, brawling night, not caring where we wake
or how far from home.
Men alleged to eat spiders off the floor to display our strength,
a downright ornery bunch.

The dirt truth is a hair different.
the men of my generation live in the remnants of a world
that still maintains a frontier mentality.
Women accept and endure, holding the families tight.
Mountain culture expects its males to undergo various rites of manhood,
but genuine tribulation under fire no longer exists.
We've had to create our own.