The best part of this rags to riches autobiography is that Ben Jones leaves no ugly truths lying beneath unturned stones. This bright honesty encourages the reader to revel in the joy Ben Jones’ life brings him despite the burden of difficulties his early years settled on his shoulders. From a railroad line shack, to an acting career, to the halls of Congress, Jones confides in his audience so openly that the reader feels he just dropped by to sit on the porch and reminisce.
After playing “Cooter” in the hit television series “The Dukes of Hazzard” and serving as a U.S. Congressman from Georgia, Ben Jones, it turns out, is an amazingly broad talent who’s “been there and back.” He’s also an excellent writer and humorist. We’re fortunate to have another fine southern writer living with us in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
“Redneck Boy In the Promised Land: The Confessions of Crazy Cooter,” by Ben Jones. 304 pages, $23.95 hardcover, Harmony Books. randomhouse.com, 800-733-3000.
