"Ferrence sets out to reconcile who he has become, a progressive college professor, with where he is from, rural western Pennsylvania, conservative Appalachia bound up in our current political moment. His honest and moving essays take us through his running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and reveal his unshakable love of home and his challenge to a pessimistic narrative of Appalachia."
—John Copenhaver, author of Hall of Mirrors
“Existing in the same context of What You’re Getting Wrong About Appalachia and Appalachian Reckoning as an attempt to both understand the shifted political sands of place, and to assert a theory as to why, this book is an opportunity for people to deepen their understanding of rural people and politics.”
—Neema Avashia, author of Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place
"A direct look at the media narratives of politics. Ferrence wrestles with how he understands himself as an individual, a demographic, and then as Aristotle’s political animal. It is a fascinating look at the making of political and cultural tropes from the inside."
—Edward Karshner, author of Writing the Self: A Phenomenological Approach to Composition Theory
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