"Rob Amberg's images have the same durability and tenacity as the lives
they depict. He is trusted well enough to be there, up close, when the
women embrace in affection or when the farmer pauses in the heat. And
Amberg does not betray that trust. What we see is sympathetic, not
sentimental, simple but not facile. Amberg makes real what is found on
the pages of the Southern novel." Sally Mann
"These photographs are suffused with a lyrical sense of beauty, rhythm,
and the dignity of light. You come away with a deep understanding of the
hardships and glories that made up Dellie Norton's life, her community,
and her adventures in this world. Amberg's photographs of Junior
transcend the document, even go beyond everyday life, and arrive at a
new visionary depiction of the shared experience of being human." John
Cohen
"Rob Amberg captures the daily life of this community faithfully,
scrupulously, beautifully. This book is not only a priceless record of a
vanishing way of life; it's a work of art. It deserves every prize out
there." Lee Smith
"These photographs and texts haunt like the ballads Dellie Norton sang,
and they startle with paradox, unexpected detail. Rob Amberg's pictures
bring to life a world almost gone, and yet intimately connected to the
present. He gives us a window on the families and lands of Sodom Laurel,
far above the cities of the plain, and close as your pulsebeat." Robert
Morgan
"In this magnificent ensemble of images and voices, Amberg always sees
rightly and pitilessly. He lays before us a vista of place and people,
not just to delight the eye but to invite praise. A luminous spirit of
uncommon folk at labor, play, music-making, and love envelopes this
beautiful work in an aura of strangeness. Alan Trachtenberg
"Rob Amberg has rendered exquisite portraits of Americans rarely seen,
bent to their tasks in barns and tobacco fields, or singing on their
porches in brief respites from their hard lives. If not for him, their
stories might pass into the dust of memory. But thanks to him, they live
on in these pages, and tell their stories, and their existence on this
earth is given dignity and meaning and reverence." Larry Brown
"This story is not always a pretty oneit has its share of pain and
conflictbut it captures the full dimensions of life in Sodom Laurel,
and by doing so, it reminds us of the warmth, strength, and compassion
that also marked the lives of the people who lived there. This book
reminds us of the dignity and nobility that lie in ordinary places and
ordinary people, without a trace of condescension." Bill Malone
"This is the real thing! Wonderful photos, narrative, and interviews
take you deep into the lives and times of the folks of Sodom Laurel. And
the singing! The powerful unaccompanied singing tradition, the likes of
which you rarely hear anymore, flows from the old people of Sodom Laurel
like a deep mountain spring." Alice Gerrard, Old-Time Herald
"We have Rob Amberg's beautiful and respectful photos, stories, and
recorded interviews and performances to thank for preserving these real
'songcatchers' and their rich and essential history for a whole new
generation." Mark D. Moss, Sing Out!