Additional Praise for Rock Dust,
the new book by Stan Badgett.
An earthy, heartfelt story of one man’s interesting life—not afraid of the hard times, nor of the hard words. It is a good meal of rocks and mountains, cliffs and mines, thoughts and prayers, euphoria and suffering. It is a solid chunk from the Evangelical quarry, and hefty reading for the modern mind.
–Sørina Higgins, Iambic Admonit
A fascinating life story that ranges from the hippie streets of Boulder to the dank coal mines. As a true mystic is wont to do, Stan seeks to understand God’s relationship to mankind. Whatever your spiritual tradition, you’ll be enthralled by this classic glimpse into one man’s journey of the spirit.
–Louis Dawson, Wildsnow.com
The sheer artistry of Stan Badgett’s writing places this book among the best of contemporary memoir. The tone is earthy and wry. Landscapes from backwoods wilderness to the hazardous depths of coal mines provide ground for action. And action there is, from a stiletto-sharp gang threat to a dramatic climbing accident and too-frequent mine fatalities.
Early on, we learn to trust the narrator's voice as he observes the intersecting worlds of nature, family and community. His mother's robust, gospel-singing personality contrasts with that of his sensitive father, a pastor who undergoes a nervous breakdown. While subtly revealing a lineage of intellectual influences from St. Augustine to Varlam Shalamov, the author's high intelligence and unsentimental compassion pair to expose a satisfying range of emotional responses. From physical and moral terror to aching guilt and spiritual confusion, from exuberant playfulness to poignant loneliness, the reader senses a humility that assures authenticity in the book’s kaleidoscope of emotional terrain.
The memoir comes to a head during seven years of working deep underground in the Colorado coal mines—gut wrenching descriptions of which conjure a hell of fatal and near-fatal accidents. But the real hell is the constant foul, hateful cursing by his fellow miners, which drives the author's passion for language to the wall and the author himself, for periods of time, depressed and crazy. Readers are forced to question their own use of language, its purpose and efficacy—a major gift not provided by the usual memoir.
The writing is crystal clear and generous. Poems are scattered through the pages like flowers, while drawings and photographs serve to put faces on the author and his family. Articulate and powerful, vital and gritty, Rock Dust enlightens and enthralls the reader.
–Karen Chamberlain, co-founder of the Aspen Writers’ Foundation,
author of Desert of the Heart, prize-winning poet