Thousands have fallen in love with every word Lee Smith writes, and Dimestore will bring them new joy.' - Frances Mayes, author of the bestselling Under the Tuscan Sun and Under Magnolia 'Lee Smith is, of course, a national treasure, and this subtle and moving memoir enlarges my sense of the origins of her deep, wide work. 'In this candid, wistful, appreciative, and beguiling memoir, Smith offers a distinctive and intimate look at one writer's beginnings.' - Booklist A warm, poignant memoir from a reliably smooth voice.' - Kirkus 'Candid and unsentimental, Smith's book sheds light on her beginnings as writer while revealing her resilience and personal transformations over the course of a remarkable lifetime. This wonderful memoir - filled with tenderness, compassion, love, and humor - is highly recommended for fans of Smith's fiction, lovers of Southern writing, and readers who are interested in the changes in small-town America.' - Library Journal Hers is an inspiring story of the birth of a writer and a poignant look at a way of life that has all but vanished. Smith has created both a moving, personal portrait and a broader meditation on embracing one's heritage.

Dimestore's fifteen essays are crushingly honest, always wise, and superbly entertaining. It was in that dimestore - listening to customers and inventing life histories for the store's dolls - that she began to learn the craft of storytelling.Įven though she adored Grundy, Smith's formal education and travels took her far from Virginia, though her Appalachian upbringing never left her.

Set deep in the rugged Appalachian Mountains, the Grundy of Lee Smith's youth was a place of coal miners, mountain music, and her daddy's dimestore. But never before has she written her own story. For forty-five years, her fiction has lived and breathed with the rhythms and people of the Appalachian South. In her first work of nonfiction, Lee Smith deploys the wit, wisdom, and graceful prose for which she is beloved to conjure her early days in the small coal town of Grundy, Virginia - and beyond.įor the inimitable Lee Smith, place is paramount.

Oral history lee smith sparknotes