I was talking to a friend the other day (on a cell phone, of course) and happened to mention that an admired book of essays was Butter in the Morning by Kentuckian Georgia Green Stamper.
I told him it is all about America, a book reflective of a time when life was simpler and perhaps more joyful, about long-ago days when people were not so ensconced in technology.
Thoughtfully, he inquired about the significance of the book’s title. Quickly, I explained the old story about a frog swimming in cream, working so hard through the night that he ended up in the morning resting comfortably on a pat of butter.
So, he replied, after an insightful pause, it’s a collection of stories about perseverance and endurance.
Yes, it is, but it is much more, I observed. It is a collection of attentive essays, which are also stand-alone stories. I told him if he added love, and nurturing, and family, and sad and happy moments he’d have a more complete understanding. I wanted him to know that whether read separately or together, Stamper’s stories are filled with rich bits of nostalgia and humor; that the wholesome vignettes she offers capture the greatness of what America was and can continue to be.
But, he said, the stories are offered through the filter of a Kentuckian.
Sure, I noted, but they can apply anywhere, at any moment, because they portray a common essence pertinent to many lives. I told him he’d find unpretentious positions coupled with poetry and wisdom and I recommended he read the book. I recommend the same to you. You might come away believing you can change the world by affecting the lives of others and by others affecting your life, too.
Everything in Butter in the Morning is incisive and, while many of the stories are personal in description, they are universal in approach. This wonderful tome captures the emotions of small-town life back when sharing time and stories with each another carried its own descriptive magic.
As one critic states, “Stamper’s ability to describe events, people, places and celebrations with flair and humor, whether it is the blizzard of 1950, when drifts were surely nearly twenty-seven feet high, or how getting the right Halloween costume can become an obsession, or reflections such as ‘When Your Babies Become Mothers’ is outstanding. Her stories about growing up in eastern Kentucky are bright and colorful, and her essays about the wonder and chaos of loving three daughters and their extended families are memorable.”
I agree and cannot say it better; however, I want to add that the book’s appeal crosses gender lines. It offers insight into romance, parenting, river travels, and the joys and heartaches of every-day life.
Does it offer any instruction or lessons? Is it perceptive and poignant? My friend asked.
Yes, on both accounts, I replied. For example, I told him that from the book, I learned that many years ago women in our country were named ‘America.’
I don’t believe it, he said.
So I went to my bookshelf and pulled down a copy and there, on page 66, read to him the following statement: “Digging through old census records for my genealogy research, I’ve learned to my surprise and delight that ‘America’ was a relatively popular name for women in the early 19th Century.”
My friend was surprised. I was not.
Butter in the Morning offers marvelous insights. You can find a copy in bookstores, at your library, or on popular book websites.
Donald Then, a novelist and experienced editor and journalist, is NKyTribune’s literary editor. He will review books written by local authors or those with a Northern Kentucky setting. Reach him at author@djamesthen.com Visit his website at www.djamesthen.com.