Tore All to Pieces - Hardcover

by Willie Edward Taylor Jr. Carver (Author)

Nestled in the mountains, in an out-of-the-way part of rural America, the fictional town of Mosely is home to ordinary people: proud, compassionate, and complex. Women serving biscuits at the gas station counter, kids listening to Loretta Lynn with their uncles, teenage boys flirting with one another at prom, and parents busy raising their children's babies. This community is woven together by family ties, church congregations, coal mines, and fast-food chains. In Mosely, the residents work hard to find belonging, love, and identity.

Tore All to Pieces is a fragmented novel that delves into the lives of Appalachian characters with similar struggles, backgrounds, and experiences and examines how people are often lonely despite these connections. Each narrative, presented in the form of a poem or short story, bends and weaves like the roads of Appalachia. Each character's voice is richly portrayed in gripping and lyrical language, uniting the stories in a quest for truth, genuine understanding, and respect.

At a time when the rights of queer individuals, women, and people of color are increasingly under threat, this work powerfully reaffirms the humanity and significance of marginalized people. Tore All to Pieces underscores their enduring presence and rightful belonging.

Author Biography

Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. is an Appalachian author, advocate, educator, and past Kentucky Teacher of the Year. His writing has appeared in a number of publications, including Appalachian Journal, the Louisville Review, Southern Humanities, Good River Review, and Salvation South. His debut collection, Gay Poems for Red States, was featured on Good Morning America and named a Book Riot Best Book, a Top Ten Over the Rainbow Book by the American Library Association, and a Whippoorwill Honor Book. A Stonewall Honor award recipient, Carver lives with his husband and three cats in rural Kentucky.