Narrative non-fiction. I read this for my local library's non-fiction book club (October 2014). This is an excellent book and very heartbreaking too. My best friend's stepfather died in a coal mining accident in the 1990s, but to my knowledge I do not think it had anything to do with Don Blankenship (or Massey) or the evils he has done to people. I know most of the bigger cities and some of the smaller towns mentioned in this work, I have been to many of them, and as I said I am friends with the daughter of a coal miner, so it was very easy for me to picture these places and the people discussed in the book. Regardless, even if you are not familiar with any of that, I do believe it would be an interesting book for those who want to know what people go through in coal mining, what it is like for the little businesses going against big operations, and also for anybody interested in law cases, the courts, and corruption. Apparently a John Grisham book called The Appeal was based off of the real life events explained in this non-fiction work. If you remember the Upper Big Branch mine explosion, these are the people and events leading up to that event (it is also discussed), through a fight of over 15 years, one which led all the way to the Supreme Court due to corruption in electing judges in the state supreme court of West Virginia. I highly recommend this one, definitely a good read!
And so it goes...
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