"Meet Trenchmouth Taggart, a man born and orphaned in 1903, a man nicknamed for his lifelong oral affliction. His boyhood is shaped by the Widow Dorsett, a strong mountain woman who teaches him to hunt and to survive the taunts of others. In the hills of southern West Virginia, a boy grows up fast. Trenchmouth sips moonshine, handles snakes, pleases women, and masters the rifle—a skill that lands him in the middle of the West Virginia coal wars. A teenaged union sniper, Trenchmouth is exiled to the back-woods of Appalachia's foothills, where he spends his years running from the past. But trouble will sniff a man down, and an outlaw will eventually run home. Here Trenchmouth Taggart's story, like the best ballads, etches its mark deep upon the memory."
One of the finest books I have read in a long time. A timeless hillbilly epic. If you're a fan of a good story, you may want to strap this one on for a go. Reminds me of a quote I heard not too long ago...
"If you're gonna walk through the valley of death, make damn well sure you are, without a doubt, the baddest motherfucker in the valley."
Indeed.
