No other book in the last few years has stayed with me like this book. Maybe it has to do with the familiar setting in a place like where I grew up. This book follows the long life of a man from the beginning when he reminiscent of Moses floated down a river as a baby after the failed attempt to kill him by his own deranged mother to the end of a life full of adventure. Even though the book is not a long one it is packed with tales of a full life starting in West Virginia to Chicago and back to West Virginia. Trenchmouth who gets his name from a mouth ailment is a survivor who meets a few famous people along the way as he escapes from probable imprisonment and finally makes his way back home. The book was a finalist for the National Book Critics award in 2008. Along with being a great read learn a little about Appalachia, Chicago blues and coal mining past and present.