Pleska, Cat, 1953-
Riding on comets : a memoir / Cat Pleska. - First edition. - 1 online resource (258 pages)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
IMAGES... -- No Salt -- Trick or Treat -- A Tone -- Give Me My Hat -- Big Earl's -- A Brush with the Law -- In Mommaw's Kitchen -- AWAKENING... -- What We Called Home -- From a Time Before -- Night Light -- Cicada Buzz -- AWARENESS... -- I Spy -- Shelter -- Back Home -- Devil Faces -- Something Gathers 'Round Me -- House of Leaves -- Plunder -- REACTION... -- Alarm Clock -- My Civic Duty -- The Nervous Hospital -- My Kingdom for a Horse -- Night on Cheat Mountain I -- Night on Cheat Mountain II -- CarniVAL -- War -- The Sailor man -- LOSS... -- In the Cellar -- Reckoning -- Exception to the Rule -- Charmed -- I've Drawed up a Mite -- 900 Degrees Celsius -- Twin Haloes -- The Phone Rings -- Attention K-Mart Shoppers! Do the Dead Wear Underwear? -- We Shall Gather -- Riding on Comets -- Night on Cheat Mountain III -- Fall -- STRENGTH... -- Liminal -- Dragon's Tale -- Epilogue -- Author Bio -- Book Discussion.
"Riding on Comets is the true story of an only child growing up in a working-class family during the 1950s and '60s. As the family storyteller, Cat Pleska whispers and shouts about her life growing up around savvy, strong women and hard-working, hard-drinking men. Unlike many family stories set within Appalachia, this story provides an uncommon glimpse into this region: not coal, but an aluminum plant; not hollers, but small-town America; not hillbillies, but a hard-working family with traditional values. From the dinner table, to the back porch, to the sprawling countryside, Cat Pleska reveals the sometimes tender, sometimes frightening education of a child who listens at the knees of these giants. She mimics and learns every nuance, every rhythm--how they laugh, smoke, cuss, fight, love, and tell stories--as she unwittingly prepares to carry their tales forward, their words and actions forever etched in her mind. And finally, she discovers a life story of her own"--
9781940425535 (e-book)
Pleska, Cat, 1953- --Childhood and youth.
Pleska, Cat, 1953- --Family.
Appalachians (People)--West Virginia--Biography.
Only child--Biography.
Working class families--West Virginia--Biography.
West Virginia--Social life and customs--20th century.
Saint Albans (W. Va.)--Biography.
Saint Albans (W. Va.)--Social life and customs--20th century.
Electronic books.
F245.42.P55 / A3 2015eb
975.4/043
Riding on comets : a memoir / Cat Pleska. - First edition. - 1 online resource (258 pages)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
IMAGES... -- No Salt -- Trick or Treat -- A Tone -- Give Me My Hat -- Big Earl's -- A Brush with the Law -- In Mommaw's Kitchen -- AWAKENING... -- What We Called Home -- From a Time Before -- Night Light -- Cicada Buzz -- AWARENESS... -- I Spy -- Shelter -- Back Home -- Devil Faces -- Something Gathers 'Round Me -- House of Leaves -- Plunder -- REACTION... -- Alarm Clock -- My Civic Duty -- The Nervous Hospital -- My Kingdom for a Horse -- Night on Cheat Mountain I -- Night on Cheat Mountain II -- CarniVAL -- War -- The Sailor man -- LOSS... -- In the Cellar -- Reckoning -- Exception to the Rule -- Charmed -- I've Drawed up a Mite -- 900 Degrees Celsius -- Twin Haloes -- The Phone Rings -- Attention K-Mart Shoppers! Do the Dead Wear Underwear? -- We Shall Gather -- Riding on Comets -- Night on Cheat Mountain III -- Fall -- STRENGTH... -- Liminal -- Dragon's Tale -- Epilogue -- Author Bio -- Book Discussion.
"Riding on Comets is the true story of an only child growing up in a working-class family during the 1950s and '60s. As the family storyteller, Cat Pleska whispers and shouts about her life growing up around savvy, strong women and hard-working, hard-drinking men. Unlike many family stories set within Appalachia, this story provides an uncommon glimpse into this region: not coal, but an aluminum plant; not hollers, but small-town America; not hillbillies, but a hard-working family with traditional values. From the dinner table, to the back porch, to the sprawling countryside, Cat Pleska reveals the sometimes tender, sometimes frightening education of a child who listens at the knees of these giants. She mimics and learns every nuance, every rhythm--how they laugh, smoke, cuss, fight, love, and tell stories--as she unwittingly prepares to carry their tales forward, their words and actions forever etched in her mind. And finally, she discovers a life story of her own"--
9781940425535 (e-book)
Pleska, Cat, 1953- --Childhood and youth.
Pleska, Cat, 1953- --Family.
Appalachians (People)--West Virginia--Biography.
Only child--Biography.
Working class families--West Virginia--Biography.
West Virginia--Social life and customs--20th century.
Saint Albans (W. Va.)--Biography.
Saint Albans (W. Va.)--Social life and customs--20th century.
Electronic books.
F245.42.P55 / A3 2015eb
975.4/043