Weedeater: An Illustrated Novel by Robert Gipe

This novel fills the gap between today’s graphic novels and yesterday’s bland, words-only, efforts. It should appeal to both kinds of readers. Nobody has captured the raw realities of life deep in the Appalachian Mountains as faithfully as this author, known to friends simply as “Gipe.”  Whether it is dialogue, plot, or setting, Gipe has it just right – unflinching and not worried about romanticizing or stereotyping, just telling it like it really is. “Robert Gipe is the real deal: a genuine storyteller, a writer of wit and style, wisdom and heart. His characters are as alive as anybody I know, and his sentences jump off the page. I find myself reading them out loud to whoever’s handy and saying, ‘This is how it’s done.’”—Jennifer Haigh. “Weedeater is about how to go on when your heart is broken. With a style worthy of Ray Hicks, [he was not an author, but rather a storyteller from way back on Beech Mountain] author Robert Gipe makes his characters Dawn and Gene stare straight at you a