This collection of stories is my favorite of all the Robert Morgan books I've read so far. It seems to me that the short story is Morgan's strongest literary form; whereas his novels tend to be tedious and his poetry somewhat bland, his stories often carry some genuine emotional punch. These stories, arranged in a generally chronological (in terms of the time in which the pieces are set, not when they were written or published) sequence, are all set in the Southern Appalachians, where Morgan was born and raised (although he now teaches at Cornell University). "The Tracks of Chief DeSoto," perhaps the best story in the anthology, is set in a Cherokee village at the time of the arrival of the first white explorers to visit the mountains, while "The Balm of Gilead Tree" is set in modern time. Nearly all the stories have a powerful sense of pathos, although Morgan occasionally injects a dose of grim humor. These are stories of exploitation, depression, loss, death, disappointment, and occasional small triumph. I have heard Morgan say during a lecture that he writes stories which have a sense of inevitability, whose outcomes seem to follow directly from what happens earlier in the story. He accomplishes this, although the sense of inevitability also results in a predictable approach to storytelling. Nothing happens to his characters that is unexpected or clever; they live simply and according to a cosmic plan. They are believable people, but I sometimes found myself wishing that they were a little less ordinary. I recommend this collection to lovers of Robert Morgan, as well as anyone interested in the craft of writing short stories, particularly stories with a strong sense of place. This book leaves the reader with the smell of sweat, hog, and honeysuckle lingering long after the final page is turned.

The Balm of Gilead Tree is a strong collection of stories by Robert Morgan whose Gap Creek has been selected as Ophrah's Book Club Selection for January.

Ranging over three centuries, The Balm of Gilead Tree shows Morgan's mastery and displays a wider scope of his grasp of history and language than his novels.

Provides an interesting insight into a little-known aspect of the Civil War: the plight of the Copperheads, Northern Democrats with Southern sympathies, caught between North and South. A well-researched, authentic, and well-written novel about the adventures of one of Morgan's guerrilla cavalry on their famous and daring raid into Indiana and Ohio. It evokes a sense of the tragedy of a decent man who, in the defense of principle, eventually descends into the depths of brutality and murder and the loss of all he holds dear. The reader is conveyed into the time and place with great intensity. A very good read.

This book is packed with adventure. If you know anything about the Ohio Valley you can relate to the towns and cities that are in Morgan's path. History rich, this book brings to life a few of the soldiers and the life they lead in 1863. A must read for history buffs.

This book was fascinating. After living in the southern Indiana area I could picture the path of the raiders and their pursuers with ease from the accurate landscape descriptions. I loved the descriptions of places, people and events. Jed is warm, caring and patient. I found myself becoming frustrated with Cal and gladdened at the decisions made in regard to Sarah. Ursula was my favorite, of course. Fierce loyalty and determination were hers even when things seemed at their worst. The ending was priceless! PERFECT for the imaginative mind!
This is a very enjoyable, easy to read history lesson with a bit of romance entwined in it's pages. Ol' Bob, ya did good!

This is a very good book, but it only covers the first three-quarters of the century. Minimalism is the latest movement that it really covers comprehensively. After that, most composers recieve only two or three lines of text. This is, of course, understandable, given when this book was written. Just be warned that more recent developments in music are often ignored or not given the attention they deserve.h

Morgan's book is the best that I have found for an overview of the entire 20th century in "classical" music. He divides his analysis into 3 logical sections:

Part 1. Beyond Tonality: From 1900 to World War I

Part 2. Reconstruction and New Systems: Between the Wars

Part 3. Innovation and Fragmentation: From WWII to the Present

This allows for some nuance that a simple list of composers often misses. For instance, Schoenberg's "atonal revolution" is covered in Part 1, along with the "new tonalities" of Stravinsky and Bartok. Part 2 covers the origin of the "twelve-tone system," but makes clear that it did not become influential until years later with the "serial revolution" in France, led by Messiaen and Boulez, in Part 3.

As others have noted, Morgan is not as strong on the more recent period, partly because the book was published in 1991 and thus misses such phenomena as Schnittke's surge of popularity, especially in Russia and Europe, after the collapse of the Soviet regime. I recommend two other books along with Morgan: 1) Gann's "American Music in the Twentieth-Century," which covers developments in the U.S. in greater detail, thus including for instance one of my favorites, Roger Reynolds, and 2) Griffiths' masterful "Modern Music and After," which begins after the Second World War.

As we end the 20th century, we may not realize that 20th century music covers the same time span as the 19th century Romantic music period. Have we grasped the meaning of modern music. To do this one needs to understand the history as well as the dynamics of 20th century music. Here is a book that fills the bill. Not only does Mr. Morgan discuss the growth and change in 20th century music but he does it in it's historical context of our maturing as a world. For many the atonality of 20th century music is hard to grasp, especially when concert artists and orchestras continue to emphasize in their repatoire 19th century music. But as the world changes so will music. A book to awaken your interest in 20th century music and the composers who were the leaders of this period.

This is a compact little book with nice black and white illustrations appropriate to the saints, martyrs, or heroes depicted in the synopses above. The information in this book, which represents a great deal of research by the author, is presented in a manner that is interesting to read. That INFORMATION, however, is ESSENTIALLY INACCESSIBLE, BECAUSE IT IS NOT INDEXED. Only the illustrations are, but not in a way that would give the reader a clue as to the page on which the story about a particular saint, martyr, or hero can be found. Nor is there a clue in the titles that top the pages. In the next printing could someone please add an index? If not that, how about printing the name of each saint, martyr, or hero on the page where his/her story first appears in bold?

Be forewarned that some of the people reviewed by Mr. Morgan are villains --- "saints" in name only. But still, this book consistently holds the reader's attention because of the wealth of historical information to be found in it. In spite of the fact that some of the people reviewed are villains and heretics more than saints and heroes, the fact remains that they were ALL involved in the history of the Christian church, and therein lies the compelling interest and value of the book. Mr. Morgan does not judge; he leaves that to the reader, which would probably be necessary for the author of any such book, no matter how stringently he tried to keep to biographies only of people whose faith every reader would judge to be genuine.

"On This Day" is money well spent, in my opinion, and my wife and I are using it as a gift selection for some of our friends.

Rev. Carlston Berry Oklahoma City, OK

The book is full of inspirational stories of saints, marters and church history. I gained a new understanding of many of the changes in the church over the years. Each day has a one page story of some special happening that occured that day in the history of the church.

MAKE A NOTE OF THIS, EVERYONE! This book has incorrectly listed the job hotline for the Environmental Protection Agency. They listed the number as #202.260.5055, but the correct listing is #202.418.4320. PLEASE pass the word. Thanks!

I have read this book and it is excellent. Whatit is light on are recent policy changes, hot openings areas and good definitin of residency exeption, the onsite contractor opportunities and the educational/industrial partnership availablities. It is heartwarming to know even in this harsh erra of trial by fire downsizing in the federal arena, there are still 38000 great jobs in NSA, 5100 PTO positions and 52000 in the Defense Investigative Service. So many openings in high end administrative, tech savy,or secure positions with so few willing and able candidates obsessed with private industry.Too bad there entrance requirements for most mean you'd have to be a fresh college grad, PhD (at 57k and secure US resident) or not have a single mark on your police or financial record. Kinda tight requirements in national security regions these days.

This book was wonderfully organized. I personally taught this course at my church and the members were astounded from the biblical truths that were revealed and proclaimed. From the empty tomb to the absence of alternatives this will clear up any doubts or misconceptions that you may have in your heart concerning Christianity.

Bless Your Spirit!
Rev. Matt Yarbrough, Jr.

This book is very useful for any project that has to do with Greek mythology. It is wonderfully illistrated, and has good information.

When one first approaches this book, one can't help but be drawn in by Ginsberg's knowing smile. His life experiences, loves, and tragedies can all be summed up within this book. However, the many monumental poems in this book("Things I Will Not Do", etc.) are spaced apart with lymerics, catchy tunes, and mostly toilet humor. When both reading about Ginsberg, and reviewing his earlier work, a person feels a sense of awe and wonder. A person begins to look upon the world with new eyes. However, I felt a little let down after reading this one. I just felt most of the poems to be far too juvenile, and this really detracts from the over all concept, and sentimentality of the book. I'd really consider this a "half-n'-half" book. Half was good, and half was not. If anyone is looking into this book for a first look into Ginsberg, I strongly advise you read his earlier stuff first.

Ginsberg happens to be the father of the beat generation, a generation that many dismiss. Ginsberg comes to understand death in the pages of political tongue lashing's and calling them out like a showdown at the "OK". Buy this book and understand a dying man's dream of innocent fame.
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I recommend this title to anyone who enjoys good poetry. There is something extremely "real" about Ginsberg, always has been, and he shows that realness in these last few poems before he died. "Things I Will Not Do," which was the last poem he wrote before dying, brings a tear to my eye almost every time I think about it. We could all hope to approach our ends with the kind of dignity that Ginsberg seems to have.

This book, Robert Morgan's first published novel, is seriously flawed, but I hesitate to give it a really bad review because Morgan obviously understands the people and the mountains which are at the heart of the book. Through dead-on dialogue in the vernacular speech of mountain people, Morgan puts the reader in the hollows and coves of upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina. Along the way he provides plenty of local history, which he gathers from his family's own oral history and from exhaustive research. Unfortunately, each of the three sections of the novel has major problems. The first novella, "The Trace," is marred by some pathetically stereotyped depictions of the Cherokee Indians, who are portrayed as the aggressors in the struggle between themelves and the white settlers who moved into the area in the 1700s. "The Road" had potential to be a rollicking adventure story about a man who chases a pig through the mountains, but instead it becomes almost humorless, repetitive drudgery. "The Highway" is the least memorable of all the stories: an awkward attempt to immortalize the men who built the first road through the mountains. Although Morgan tries to foreshadow the ecological destruction which the roads will bring to the mountains, his narrative style instead depicts the natural world as hostile, needing to be tamed; in each story the main character is stalked almost constantly by a mountain lion (the word "painter" appears at least every few pages in the book, as if Morgan himself is proud that he knows this mountain mispronunciation). Surely this could have been accomplished in a more clever and creative manner. On the whole, I found this book disappointing. If you have not read Charles Frazier's "Cold Mountain," read that one instead.

Imagine as a small child you sat down in the cozy little living room of your grandmother's home with your brothers and sisters and perhaps a few cousins and your grandma starting sharing stories about her early life. It's in the first person and she's telling about how she came to meet your grandpa and how they made a life together and what it was like opening the West. Now I don't meet the Far West but simply extending life beyond the coastal area of North Carolina inland toward the Mountains and into Tennessee in the 1700s. That's the delightful manner in which Robert Morgan shares information in three parts of the life and times of early settlers, and specific families, around the mountain communities of Asheville, NC (that's 'ASH vul' for those not familiar with the area). There's several surprises so don't think you'll know what's coming. And the language is true to form using such words as painter when talking about a panther. An animal that has mostly been hunted into oblivion in most parts of the US. Each part is told by someone different, several generations apart but through little hooks within each story the reader is provided an opportunity to share in the joys and sorrows of each family. The book is easy reading and keeps your attention throughout and what I especially liked was the sharing of tidbits of information of what was like in those times. This is a book you won't put down once you start it.

I laughed so much during the second part of this book. A young man runs 20 some miles through the forest holding onto a pig's tail with one hand and a hatchet in the other hand to chop a trail for the first road in the area. His adventures during that memorable day make great reading and a good laugh. Anyone who loves the south and mountain folks will appreciate this book from Robert Morgan.