Chris Offutt - The Same River Twice (page 19-20) lyrics

The popular view of Appalachia is a land where every man is willing, at the drop of a proverbial overall strap, to shoot, fight, or f** anything on hind legs. We're men who buy half-pints of boot-legged liquor and throw the lids away in order to finish the whiskey in one laughing, brawling night, not caring where we wake or how far from home. Men alleged to eat spiders off the floor to display our strength, a downright ornery bunch. The dirt truth is a hair different. The men of my generation live in the remnants of a world that-still maintains a frontier mentality. Women accept and endure, holding the families tight. Mountain culture expects its male to undergo various rites of manhood, but genuine tribulation under fire no longer exists. We've had to create our own.