"A professor of English (University of Memphis) and obvious country music fanatic, Ching offers a study of the basis and social implications of 'hard country.' She begins by defining her subject as the Southern twang of angry alienation, hard times, and incurable desolation in contrast to the patriotism, nostalgia, and pop romance of mainstream country. She examines the desolate male fatalism of such stars as George Jones, Merle Haggard, and David Allen Coe, then turns to the roots of hard country with pioneer Hank Williams and his son, Hank Jr..... She finishes with the rock-tinged, Hank Williams-obsessed outlaw country of the 1970s, discussing such singers as Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, and hints at the uncertain future of the music. Well organized, well researched, and largely free of academic jargon, the book conveys Ching's enthusiasm for the hard country sound."--Library Journal
