Lunar Baker's Dozen

Really looking forward to Charles Frazier's second novel, Thirteen Moons, after reading a brief interview in Newsweek. Loved Cold Mountain, novel and film. It came out when we had just moved after living for 8 years in its territory, western North Carolina (yep, AppalAAchia, don't you pronounce it AppalAYchia). I had hiked those mountains and lived amidst them in Cullowhee (Cherokee for valley of the lily, or spring salad, or onion, pick your translation!), and had designed seminars for teachers that dealt with many of the book's topics.

I loved the film, even though many of my friends from the mountains were upset it was filmed not where the novel was set, but in Romania, chosen by director Anthony Minghella (ate some of his dad's ice cream on the IOW this past summer...mmmm) because the southeast was too built up or clear cut to simulate Civil War era North Carolina. But still a fine film.

Thirteen Moons is set again in that area, this time closer to Cherokee. You need to dig past the rubber tomahawk shops there to see what is underneath, and to do more than most folks do when they visit the Park, namely, windshield touring.