They’re not just hillbillies – they’re people, too, damn it!

Such is one major focus of John O’Brien’s book, “At Home in the Heart of Appalachia.”

This book includes the story of O’Brien, who searches for the history of his father and the people’s souls that live in the area known as Appalachia. O’Brien also includes stories of his family, the area and the history of Appalachia, including the settlement, industrialization and controversies of the area.

Including all of this information into a single book is a difficult feat, made even more difficult due to the fact that O’Brien isn’t even sure where Appalachia is, because being from Appalachia is basically just a label placed on people from the area.

The people of Appalachia are described throughout the book as hardworking, though they never actually climb the ladder of success. Despite their hard work, the families are barely able to put food on the table – they have to hunt for their meals and eat squirrels, rabbits, fish and eels.

Readers will feel sorry for the people of the land that – although intelligent – are continuously taken advantage of. Truly devastating to read about are the characters’ ordeals and manipulative situations they encounter that rob them of their ancestors’ land.

This novel could have easily been divided into two, possibly three, separate books. One book could have been about the history of West Virginia and the coal miners, another about O’Brien’s search for his father, and a third about his family and his family’s stories.

All of this crammed into one book is a headache on its own.

Most of the history included in the book is boring – it’s worse than reading a college textbook exclusively about Appalachia. Jumping around from the settlements in the 1700s to the present and back again makes it difficult to know which direction the story will go next.

Some readers may feel guilty about not enjoying this book as members of O’Brien’s family would. O’Brien should have stuck with information about his family instead of including every single detail about everything that ever happened in West Virginia. Doing this would have drastically improved this book.

Readers who know of family from the area included in O’Brien’s book or wishing to find out about this area of the country may enjoy this book. Readers who have had difficulties with their parents in their lives after high school and are regretting the time they spent not talking to their parents decades later could possibly identify with O’Brien and perhaps also enjoy this book.

Reading “Appalachia” will leave people longing to become part of the desolate, isolated land. Readers will long to visit the luscious green mountains and the mystic land described as a country all its own. Delicately chosen photographs of the land and of O’Brien’s family found throughout the book help narrate and add authenticity to the story and to the history.

The rest of the book you can leave behind.

Upon finishing this book, people may feel as if it is inconclusive and offers no resolution between O’Brien and his father.

After much consideration, some readers may conclude that a resolution was not the point of the book and perhaps O’Brien just needed a project to vent his feelings.