Taps for Private Tussie

I was fortunate to have met Jesse Stuart on one occasion and I own every book that he wrote -- I've read them all, "Taps" multiple times. He wrote darn near as many books as did Agatha Christie. Jesse Stuart, the former Poet Laureat of Kentucky, and a renowned Kentucky (and Ohio) school teacher, was probably second only to Mark Twain in hallmarking the humorous American Short Story, as is the case with "Taps." This book was really based upon an impoverished Eastern Kentucky family and, as the book generally portrays them as hillbilly scoundrels, I'm certain that Jesse would never have admitted this actuality to anyone other than a trusted friend. But it was apparently pretty clear, when the book was originally published, as to whom it was all about and a lot of folks were talking about it. In any event, the fictional family of Private Tussie got the word that this unfortunate soldier was killed overseas in wartime and the large clan proceeded to reap an insurance benefit as a result. The body was sent home and carried up the rocky hillside to the old family cemetery for burial on the backs of Tussie's numerous kinfolk. Subsequently, the old family patriarch decided that they could quit living like trash, in squalor, and rent a nice big home. Other relatives also flocked to the scene to reap the dubious rewards of Tussie's death. Reveling in their newfound prosperity in the big new home, the clan does not endear themselves to the local community with their endless Hillbilly antics and peccadillos. I cannot go further without revealing a spoiler of the story but I can assure you that it's one hilarious tale, in my opinion, Stuart's best. (Most would say that "The Thread That Runs So True" is his top read -- it certainly got him the most fame). I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed either "Huckleberry Finn" (Twain) or, "As I Lay Dying," (Faulkner). It's quite readable and a real page-turner. As a Native Appalachian, I can tell you, however, that "Taps" has been a minor topic for increasing controversy as political correctness rears its ugly head ever-higher in American sociology! *.*

This book was the winner of the 1943 Thomas Jefferson Award and the illustrator is THE Thomas Benton, the famous mural painter from Missouri. This book is a literary classic in that it can be read on so many diverse planes of enjoyment by so many different kinds of people. It is folk-poetry sensuous and hilarious fun, but also lots of eager page turning to see what is the world can be going to happen next. Everyone who reads this book will enjoy it.

This book was written after Stuart conducted interiews with my family (my grandmother on my mother's side is a Tussie) who still live in southern Ohio and Kentucky. It is a true-to-life tale of a poor country family who finds themselves suddenly "rich." The language of the hills and the nature of good ol' home folk comes to life in Stuart's telling. This is a story for anyone with family from the hills.

This book gives a look in the life of uneducated folks in the hills of Kentucky, and how money can make a change in thier life and relatives life. The language is true to the region this story happens in, and the life-style is factual. A book that can give a reader insight in the life of mountain people doesnt come along very often. The author has lived this life and know how to tell a story using his past experience