Newfound by Jim Wayne Miller

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Newfound by Jim Wayne Miller. 1989. NY. Orchard Books. 213 pp.

Reviewed by Diana Fields

“There are two classes of people, the good livers and the sorry.” was how Robert’s Grandma Wells explained life. “Good livers were workers, they looked ahead, laid up for a rainy day. They were good providers. The sorry were shiftless, didn’t look ahead. They were improvident, lived from hand to mouth. A person should have goals, ambitions. One needed to be able to see further than the holler one lived in.”

Poet, playwright, and novelist Jim Wayne Miller, a native of North Carolina, graduate of Berea College and Vanderbilt University, uses Grandma Wells’ words as the underlying theme of this Appalachian coming of age story set in Newfound, TN.

Perhaps it is not that there are two types of people, but more like two types of living. Which is the good life and which one makes a person sorry to be living it? Progressive living with material goals, insurance policies and a pace that goes faster and faster and faster with each passing generation or simple self-reliant living with hard labor, sound faith and in harmony and keeping pace with nature. His characters are real and descriptions vivid. At the beginning the narration seems choppy, while other times there are moments of literary genius. Overall, it is a good read I would recommend, especially to teens and young adults. Be sure to check out other literary works by Jim Wayne Miller

This book was the late Mr. Miller's first novel. He passed away in 1996. During his career, he was the spokesman, advocate and hero of Appalachian writers everywhere. He served as a consultant to Appalachian Studies Programs throughout the region and as a visiting professor in Appalachian Studies at Berea College, the University of Tennessee, Radford University and Appalachian State University. .