Up in the hollows of Southern Appala-chia, surrounded by mountains and abandoned mines, live the people of Coal Creek. Some of these mountaineers adhere to a strict moral code and wor-ship God by "speaking in tongues". This is an in-depth eth-nographic study of how families living on the economic periphery of American industrialisation make sense of the dis-ease, tension, and uncertainty associated with poverty. This is a book about a people and their land, their friends, and their God. This is a sensitive and detailed portrait of religious men and women and their struggles in a less than ideal world. It is an important addition to the ethnographic study of Southern Appalachia, for it provides one of the few studies of the region combining participant observation and statistical analysis. Because of its informal but probing style, the book will be valuable to students of Southern Appalachia and religious behaviour, as well as to all anthropologists interested in the ethnographic analysis of religion.