Country Music

Reading this book was not necessarily something I was "dying" to do. I didn't feel that I could relate personally to anything that Jenning's was writing about. I didn't grow up in the rural mountains, I grew up in a suburb 14 miles from NYC. I've fortunately never experienced the Great Depression, while Jenning's swears that it consumed his childhood. Most importantly, I didn't grow up listening to country music--I knew all the lyrics to "Genie in a Bottle" by the time I was 8.

But reading everyone elses posts, I could see that I was not alone.

It was really unsettling to me that I couldn't relate to anything that Jenning's was writing about. When my Nana visited me at my horse show this weekend, she asked me what I was reading in school. When I told her about my "situation", she laughed. Little did I know what my family background really was and how much I could, in fact, relate to Jenning's writing.

What I found out was that my ancestors on the Asher side of my family came over to explore the US with Daniel Boone. This same group settled in rural Kentucky, where we still have relatives living today. My dad used to go to his cousins' house in Kentucky and ride their horses bareback through the wooded mountains. My Nana would recall the family poker games that would always get out of control and sometimes ended with a toothless family member.

Now hold on, could this really be my family? The stereotypical deep southern folk who loved their whiskey, cards and country music?

So I stepped back to reevaluate what I had read. What I found was rather interesting. The language was not particularly my taste- the context wasn't either. And honestly, hearing how closely my family was related to Jenning's story didn't change anything for me and my connection I felt with the book. What I could relate to, however, was the truth I found in Dana Jenning's words. His conviction was evident and unswayed throughout the entire book, and if I didn't necessarily agree with what he was saying, I never found myself disagreeing with Jenning's personal beliefs. I guess when you get down to it it doesn't matter about the context of the writing, but the believe in one's words that really can create a connection between an author and his audience.