Redneck Heaven: Portrait of a Vanishing Culture
by By Bultman, Bethany
Category: History , General

Meet Sherma Rae, whose homemade doormat greets visitors: "Get a Warrant." You won't forget Kathy Richard, creator of alligator-bone jewelry, and her cowboy husband, Johnny, innovator of the "Cajun-uzzi," a jacuzzi made from a vintage chest freezer.These are some of the men and women documentary filmmaker and journalist Bethany Bultman met on her five-year odyssey to find the fiercely independent, hard-fighting breed called rednecks. From the Old West to New England, she traces the history of this unexplored culture from its Celtic origins to today's rodeos, truck stops, honky-tonks, and fundamentalist churches. In this exuberantly illustrated book, Bultman captures the essence of their world through interviews with hundreds of people, from snake handlers and gun handlers to Lady Bird Johnson, Charlie Daniels, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, and Jeff Foxworthy. You'll explore cultural artifacts, from the seat-of-your-pants philosophy of country music to recipes for Velveeta Fudge, and learn surprising uses for cola, not to mention surefire ways to become Miss Swine Festival. Redneck Heaven takes you to the heartland of America, where you'll meet real folks bursting with swagger, resourcefulness, and unforgettable wisdom.