This timeless ballad has been part of American folklore for over a century. Born with a hammer in his hand, John Henry discovers his true calling as a steel-driving man but he inevitably meets his match in a race against a steam drill that provides a powerful metaphor for the disruption and loss of innocence created by the industrial age. Thornton's charcoal drawings deftly capture the triumphal spirit of this cautionary tale.
The author presents eight short stories about his mother and other family members as they grew up in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.