Loving Mountains, Loving Men

Jeff Mann is a professor of creative writing at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is the author of numerous books, including Endangered Species: A Surly Bear in the Bible Belt; Redneck Bouquet: Gay Poems from Appalachia; and Purgatory: A Novel of the Civil War. He also coedited LGBTQ Fiction and Poetry from Appalachia.

"It is hard to overstate the importance of Jeff Mann's Loving Mountains, Loving Men for hillbilly queers. So many of us were raised with the false dichotomy that we could be culturally Appalachian and give up our gayness, or we could be culturally gay and give up our mountain ways. In his beautifully crafted essays, Mann delivers the joyous news that identity is not a matter of either/or but both and." "Gay Appalachian writers existed before Jeff Mann, but few could be out. Jeff knocked open the door. Mann's essays and poems, his honesty and courage, have inspired, emboldened, affirmed, and electrified countless LGBTQ Appalachians after him. Jeff Mann is the godfather of queer Appalachian literature, and Loving Mountains, Loving Men is an urtext." "Mann's groundbreaking memoir has not aged in the nearly two decades since its first publication. His seamless mixture of prose and poetry continues to inform with relevance and insight what it means to be a gay man in Appalachia. Although Mann's talent as a poet is notable not only in the poems but also in the prose, I am reminded rereading the collection that he's also a truly gifted storyteller who transforms memoir into a page turner blending 'loveliness and ferocity.'" "With a nod to deconstruction, Jeff Mann artfully explodes socially constructed identity binaries, in his case that of being both a proud Appalachian and a gay man. He weaves the story of his life with poetry and prose, revealing vulnerability and fierceness. As an educator, I have witnessed the profound impact of Loving Mountains, Loving Men on all of my students, but in particular, my gay students." "A unique testimonial to the role of place in defining the self. No other author considered here captures both the pains and joys of being Appalachian so adeptly." (Journal of Appalachian Studies) "The sheer beauty of the prose in the memoir and the language of the poetry is incredible. This is one of the great watershed books of Appalachian literature. Its contribution to the fields of Appalachian studies and gay/gender studies is significant." "A persistent theme is the familiar Appalachian love of the land and of traditional folkways. Through Mann's eyes, we see those features, and Appalachian masculinity, anew." (West Virginia History)