Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating journalism
Review: Summary:
Dennis Covington, the author and main character in the book, became inolved with snake handling in Appalachia when he volunteered to cover the trial of a well-known snake handler who had used his snakes to attempt to kill his wife. Though he had not intended to get involved with the snake handlers when he began his investigations, he ultimately did, to the point that he eventually handled one of the snakes himself and became a close friend and confidant to many of the snake handlers. The book tells the story of how he became involved with Appalachian snake handlers, became a part of their world, and eventually disassociated himself from them, during the early 1990s. Comments:
The book is fascinating to read. I did, however, not agree with one of the primary assertions of the author, but more on that below. The book is well-written, entertaining, and at times even humorous. For example, the author offers this exchange between himself and a snake handling preacher, "His grip tightened on my shoulder. "He [God]spoke a twelve-hour message to me on one word: polluted." "Polluted?" "Yes. Polluted. Now, you think about that for a minute. A twelve-hour message." I thought about it for a minute, and then decided Brother Charles was out of his mind" (p. 65). Perhaps the biggest offering this book makes is the author's ability to bring the South alive through brilliant imagery. "Scottsboro, Alabama, is Southern, but not in the way you'd expect. It doesn't have a cotton gin in ruins by the railroad tracks or a dusty avenue lined with magnolia trees and Greek revival homes" (p. 21). I also was very impressed by the authors characterizations, "I saw now that the unnerving cast to the men's faces was probably just inflexibility, an unwillingness to give themselves up to public emotion. It had to do not so much with their religion, I reasoned, as with their poverty" (p. 36). Despite the great writing, there is one major problem with the book: the implication the author makes about modern, secular society. "The lure of the secular and worldly in a region once characterized as the Bible Belt has left a residue of rootlessness, anxiety, and lawlessness" (p. 24). This theme comes up numerous times throughout the book. I'm inclined to see this as a bit short-sighted. Yes, there are sociological theories that talk about the blasé urbanite, and the decline in mechanical solidarity, but there are also numerous theories that explore the new types of society that result from modernization and urbanization, including organic solidarity and the replacement of religious solidarity with organizational solidarity. In my opinion, the benefits of modern society and the seperation between the secular and the religious far outweight the consequences (if there be any). Given the personal involvement of the author in religion, it makes sense that he defends what he sees as declines in certain elements of society, but to the secular humanist, these things are not declines but pathways to the future being forged through the disassociation of religious beliefs based in irrationality from the awe-inspiring advances brought about through rationality.
Even though I didn't agree with the authors assertions about the negative influences of secularization on society, I was impressed by his explanations given for spirituality and the involvement of the snake handlers in their particular form of religious worship.
"I knew then why the handlers took up serpents. There is power in the act of disappearing; there is victory in the loss of self. It must be close to our conception of paradise, what it's like before you're born or after you die" (p. 168). I'm not sure that I can personally relate to what the author was trying to describe, but given his participation in the activity, I'm inclined to believe him.
Overall, the book is a well-written look inside the snake handling practices in Appalachia. It does include some excellent pictures, taken by some of the author's friends/associates. The book is well-written and very entertaining, but I believe it wrongly characterizes the effects of secularization, despite offering an enlightening understanding of the motivations of snake handlers. If you've ever wondered what these people are like, I would highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Finding roots and religion
Review: The flow of the story grabs you stronger knowing that it's true. It's a striking picture, a shocking picture, of a culture usually made fun of and overlooked, but also of a journalist who became his own story. Covington goes off on tangents describing childhood stories or newspaper articles to catch you up on why certain events in the story are relevant to him, and makes them relevant to the reader as well. There were times when I was disgusted (the Glenn Summerford case) yet trying my hardest to keep an open mind. There were also times when Covington says something just rght, so that you can feel the punch of it in your heart and have to set the book down for a few moments to think. The last line of the book says of his father - whether he means his biological father or God seems irrelevant to me - "This is how he got me to come home. He always came to the place where I was before he called my name." If that doesn't warrant a moment of reflection, Christian or not, I don't know what does.
Rating:
Summary: Handling the Holy
Review: This book will take you on a journey with the author. Most importantly you will want to handle the "snakes" to be found in your own spiritual quest. It's not easy to find a book so poetic, honest, and spiritual as this one. I didn't want it to end. But, as Brother Dennnis would say, all stories must come to an end. Even if you have no interest in picking up snakes, pick up this book. You won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Taking Up Serpents
Review: When I first read this book about five years ago, I was completely absorbed by the whole 'snake-handling' thing. Everything else Covington was trying to say was fine, but in essence I smiled and nodded while transfixed by the ecstasies and agonies of the handlers. When I returned to it a year or so later, I began to understand a little of the personal journey Covington was trying to describe, in which the snakes and their handlers played a central but certainly not exclusive role. I also knew he was trying to make some point about poverty and powerlessness and being from the South, but... whatever.
Having rediscovered it recently and finished it for the third time, I've come to relish it far more completely than before. Covington tackles snake-handling, spiritual warfare, Southern culture, and self-analysis--weaving them together in a narrative tapestry that doesn't begin to exhaust any single element but dips into each thoughtfully. Don't look for extensive theology, or a sociological overview of Southern history, or (thank God) anything resembling an altar call when it's all over. Look instead for a moving portrayal of some very real people (who in this case happen to have a spiritual fetish for drinking poison and playing with rattlers) and what they end up meaning to Covington. It's bizarre, to be sure, but it's honest and enlightening in the most unexpected ways.
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