Noodling for Flatheads: Moonshine, Monster Catfish, and Other Southern Comforts

by Burkhard Bilger

Burkhard Bilger vividly captures a world that lies outside the familiar images of life in the United States in the twenty-first century in eight superbly crafted essays about little-known corners of the South. It is a world in which grown men catch catfish with their bare hands, crowds of people cheer on chickens as they fight to the death, and a woman moves into a trailer home when her house burns down just so she can continue hunting 350 nights a year. Bilger records the eccentric and sometimes downright bizarre behavior he encounters with humor and wit but nary a whisper of mockery. In essays that combine history, anecdotes, and personal observations, he describes each activity, its origins, its dangers, and its pleasures. But Noodling for Flatheads is much more than a survey of unlikely pastimes. Through lively portraits of the participants, Bilger illuminates the obsessive individualism that is at the heart of the American spirit.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Travel, Journalism, History, Nature, Travelogue

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is divided into essays about different collective Southern USA "outside the box" traditional activities. They are all group disciplines, practiced to obsession with intense followings. Even to the publication of strange and obscure publications or broadsheets. It's an easy book to take up and put down- reading an essay or two at a time.

Some I liked to 4 star level, and some to a 2. The writing is clear and easy read, but the sensibilities are at times, to me anyway, so "off" as to be distasteful. This is especially true in the cockfighting chapter- with all the international varieties and styles. Most more bloody specific than the next.

It's truthful in detail and it's also interesting that there is such fervor yet for the marbles and other skill sets like the moonshine and hounds. In this tech age, it seems that not all youth are addicted to hand-held mobile armies of some order.

Skills in actions and hobbies of exact, difficult achievement levels which hold century upon century of tradition with intense followings (coming from other continents in most cases) and which also appear within nature's patterns of personality and hunt- will never be outlawed into non- existence, IMHO. They often just go underground and grow larger of following in majority.

This book includes the extended history in detail of each activity, that of location, plus the current methods and practicing scope in the present.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burkhard Bilger likes the people he writes about and it shows. From cockfighters in the Louisiana bayou to Rolley Holers on the Tennessee-Kentucky border to moonshiners and the task force determined to shut them down, Bilger is one part anthropologist, one part folklorist and all parts masterful storyteller. The Southerner in me was prepared to bristle at some Yankee coming down to tell tall tales of quaint Southern past times, but rather than looking down or casting judgment, he embraced and empathized and rolled up his sleeves to catch catfish with nothing but his arm, before dining on squirrel brains, frog legs and soul food then washing it down with some clear, unlabeled eyelash curling liquid. Southern comforts and a fun read, indeed. My only wish is that someday there's a sequel that includes my own great Southern state.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book told me about things I'd never heard of, but which are well known in certain circles. Noodling for Flatheads is a method of fishing for catfish with your hands, something that had never occurred to me to do, but when I mentioned it to people, they knew about it and several had done it. Eating squirrel brains hadn't occurred to me, either, although I know a bit about cockfighting. Not only were these activities fascinating, but it's interesting how we can all live together and know so little about each other's lives. Highly recommended.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in the south but this is a study in the deep south. The south that is there behind the accent. The south no one sees just passing through. (or in my case growing up for the first 20 years of life). The topics in this are so interesting, most thought to be dead to tradition. I would say this was a very nice surprise, an educating and entertaining read on a sub-culture closer to home that you might think.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who grew up southern you will instantly be fascinated and love learning a little more about those unique quirks and customs here the deep south......it made me have a greater appreciation and understanding of what it means to be a southerner

[Audra · Rating 4 out of 5]

a look into underground activities like catching catfish with your bare hands (hence the name), cockfighting, coon dogs, squirrel hunting and I believe there's one in there about making moonshine.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing!

[Bina · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is thoroughly alluring! bilger is a fleshy writer and a relentless, adventurous seeker of circumstance and character whom i gladly pay homage to with a tip of my whiskey flask.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A finely written richly detailed respectful but astonished catalogue of strange Southern customs, like bare-handed catfish fishing and cock fights.

[qqqq · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never find big ideas, but small things stick with me.

1) Whenever I read a description of a source in a story, I look for photographs. I'm fascinated by what droopy eyelids or beefy jowls actually look like in the real world, on actual humans. Bilger writes painfully well, but rides the edge between having a keen eye and having an eye so keen that you're really just composing a layer of fiction on top of the real world.

2) Even if it weren't disclosed at the beginning, you can tell which chapters are written for magazine articles. They're the ones that have random paragraphs wedged in to give the story "sweep" or a news peg. Left to his own devices, Bilger just writes about people and lets the sweep emerge.

3) Apparently you can make a marble by drilling a hole in a rock in a stream, putting a pebble at the bottom of the hole, and letting erosion take its course. I'll absolutely try this next time I have access to a stream and six spare months.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm thinking that the most literary form may be the travel memoir. The range of possibilities an author has for including doggerel, dialog, description, entertaining the philosophical, the historical, even the personal in one narrative may have a future in such a form. Bilger's essays are stand-alone, yet follow through with the promise to enlighten the jaded and humanize that stubborn stratum of Americana that now more than ever resists empathy and humanization. The south and Appalachia's more peculiar habits and pastimes, the forgotten rolly holers, marble players whose sport may reach into the prehistoric, coon hunting, etc. Bilger's on board and seamlessly adapted to making friends. Should be on the arm rest when you're meeting those difficult relatives in the Sun Belt this Thanksgiving.

[J Rudden · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a vegan, I should probably abhor a book primarily about hunting and fighting animals. However, as someone with a deep curiosity and respect for traditions, niches and tiny subcultures I adore this book.
It's clear that Bilger has a deep respect for the people he interviews and their practices throughout. A great look into the culinary and cultural enigmas of the Southern states of the US.

[Lynn Landry · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting little diversion from a novel.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to learn about a few cultural oddities from the South?! This is the book for you!

[pepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some topics were more interesting than others, but overall this is a neat little book that I enjoyed reading in short spurts some mornings while having coffee.

[Henry Molot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Traditions are crazy especially in the south! Genuinely now want to visit 5 or 6 states i thought I’d never step foot in…

[Lanea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a collection of essays about underground hobbies and interests practiced throughout the south, many of which are maligned as redneck or hillbilly pursuits. The author seeks out and interviews moonshiners, raccoon hunters, squirrel-eaters, Soul-Food cooks, frog-breeders, Rolley Holers (those are folks who play a cool form of marbles), and cock-fighters.

The first essay is indeed about Noodling for Catfish, which has to be one of the most bull-headed, dangerous, and ancient methods of fishing we goofy apes have developed. Noodlers use their fingers as bait, locating a nesting male catfish tending his fertilized eggs, and then taunting him until he strikes at their arm. Apparently good noodlers can limit the amount of injury a fish does to their arm, but I'm sure lots of these fishermen (and they are generally men) have some hard-earned scars from the sport. Bilger manages to interview the noodlers respectfully and does end up risking his own arms in a fishing outing. More power to him, I guess. I found this essay and a documentary on Noodling really fascinating. I'm not sure why. I guess we kooks just like each other.

The book works because Bilger is respectful of all of the folks he interviews. He walks into these underground communities without any prejudice. He's willing to find out from his subjects why they do what they do. It was a bit tough for me to read about the cock-fights, and I'm sure some readers would be put off by the raccoon and squirrel hunting. I made sure not to discuss the sections on the more exotic (or is it less exotic?) eating habits with anyone in my class, lest folks find their own lunches less appealing. The chapter on Moonshiners was the best of the bunch: Bilger rides with both the Shiners and the Revenuers out to get them, and displays all with wit and sensitivity. And does indeed drink some shine with each crowd. If nothing else, I finished this book wanting to see some folks play Rolley Hole.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pass along from my mom, it took me about a week to read it, dipping in and out as I had the time. Since it's a collection of essays, it was a bit easier to read in this manner than a novel would be.

Bilger explores several esoteric pastimes/occupations from different areas of the Historic South, writing with interest and compassion, even with such sensitive topics as cockfighting and moonshine running. In fact, with the latter topic, he manages to talk with men on both sides of the law, both the runners and the revenuers.

Bilger's style is very readable; informal but with occasional touches of wit and flair. He seems to build a real connection with his subjects, in order to present them as they are, contradictions and all. I was amazed at times how easily an outsider was accepted into some of what I would think of as insular groups. I'd be interested to find out how much time he actually spent doing the research for some of these chapters.

Recommended to anyone looking for a cultural/travel book that provides insight without prejudice.

Notes and Quotes

"After a half-century of television, it's easy to mistake our sitcoms for ourselves - to imagine that there's no more to popular culture than Barbie dolls and TV theme songs."

"On every side, Georgia's coastal plain stretches to the horizon in a weary ostinato..."

Reference to samizdat publications in the Soviet Union - Wikipedia definition

[Kkraemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a John McPhee-like collection of essays about Southern pastimes -- noodling (where you catch catfish with your bare hands), cockfighting, making moonshine, hunting and eating squirrel, commercially raising frogs, coon hunting, cooking Southern food, and, finally, the amazing game of rolley hole.

Yes, rolley hole. It's played with marbles.

For each, Bilger sets a scene, explains the attraction, gives a history, and, most interestingly and McPhee-like, always has an informant who tells you exactly what you need to know. In the end, you feel like you've attended the Olympics of Southern Things To Do...and you find yourself struck by how all-encompassing any of these interests might be if you let your guard down long enough for them to invade your life (coonhounds, by the way, engender long discussions of dogs' sperm counts, since a good hound can fetch $2,000 and more)

The best essays are the ones about hunting and eating squirrel and about rolley hole, I think. The squirrel essay juxtaposes world-renown research on mad cow disease as a way to show how ingrained and basic the world of squirrel is, and tells the tale of someone -- and outsider, of course -- who dares to connect those two worlds. The essay about rolley hole is another cautionary tale about what happens when a great pastime becomes famous enough to get the attention of national television.

Both show that the best pastimes in life are intricate, interesting, and best shared with a stable group of good people.

Just like all of the best things in life...

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up immediately after finishing Daniel Woodrell's incredible "Winter's Bone" as the story left me fascinated with the culture of the folk who exist under the radar within American society. I found this book absolutely intriguing reading - the first book in a while that had me having to tell myself "just one more chapter"!

Bilger explores various activities that continue within America on the margins and away from the public (and at times legal) gaze. As an Australian and having been trained in ethnography, I found it was a surprising exploration of a whole new world, from the modern Geertz-like exploration of cockfighting to learning more about marbles all the way to finally discovering exactly what "chitlins" are.

Bilger is a good mediator between the subject and the reader - his prose is engaging (hence the late nights and hard mornings for the week I read this) but also has a very humble manner, which obviously transfers into his interpersonal skills as it must have been difficult to convince both moonshiners and the squads of law men trying to dismantle the stills to let a journalist tag along. The sense of danger combined with the easy-going characters who run clandestine operations makes for an intriguing collection of adventures!

[Buchdoktor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nach der National Geographic Taschenbuch-Reihe kann man süchtig werden. Ob die Einzel-Bände über die Isar gleich hinter dem Haus berichten oder über die Chinesische Mauer: jeder Band ist Kino im Kopf. Der Autor, der in Oklahoma aufgewachsen ist, führt uns in jene abgelegen Gegenden der USA, die die Einwohner meist nur verlassen, wenn sie sich zur US-Army melden. Er erzählt von Coonhounds für die Wachbärenjagd, Hahnenkämpfen, Schnapsbrennern, Wilderern und anderen knorrigen Gestalten, die jagen, um Fleisch in den Topf zu bekommen und Pelze verkaufen, weil Ihr Einkommen hinten und vorn nicht reicht. Seine Anekdoten aus dem alten Süden, wo Orte Pushamataha heißen, berichten von Farmern aus Tennessee, die fanatische Murmelspieler sind, von Katzenwelsen, Ochsenfröschen und Eichhörnchen. Der Originaltitel "Noodling for Flatheads" hätte gern eleganter übersetzt werden dürfen, doch das tut der Liebe zu Bilgers zeitlosen Reportagen keinen Abbruch.

Deutsch: Katfisch, Bourbon, Hahnenkämpfe. Und andere Südstaatengeheimnisse.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous and fascinating. Bilger explores a series of Southern sub-cultures (noodlers, squirrel-hunters, rolley holers, coon-hunters, moonshiners, cock-fighters, frog breeders, and soul food afficionados) and presents portraits that remind us what community, obsession, and oddity mean. His prose pops, and the odd facts are hard to top. Abraham Lincoln was a cock fight referee, and Andrew Jackson fought cocks on the carpets of the White House. George Washington is the father of American coon hunters (after he scored a few hounds from the French). Did you know squirrel brain is a delicacy? Yeah, me neither. This isn't some kind of freakshow though. Bilger is no voyeur, and he paints very human portraits of the people he encounters that pull us in rather than pushing us away. On the whole, this is a compelling and at times mesmerizing effort. Well worth the time.

[Craig Pittman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific read, and educational to boot. Bilger very nearly achieves a McPhee-like grace with his writing and his good humor about what he observes and experiences. The section on moonshine might be my favorite, but the final story, about how an odd marble game captivated the people of the Appalachian foothills and led to an international contest, is the best demonstration of his ability to captivate a reader with what at first might seem an unlikely topic. I took points off for his chapter on soul food which, while interesting, seemed the most like a reporter glossing over a subject on which he's done some research but not really learned about thoroughly. Just because people aren't eating as many chitlins as they used to, that doesn't mean collards and black-eyed peas have been taken off the menu too.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noodling For Flatheads: Moonshine, Monster Catfish, and Other Southern Comforts by Burkhard Bilger (Scribner 2000) (975.043) is another obscure little volume about what makes the South stand apart. This is a book with chapters about various strictly southern pastimes, pursuits, and traditions. The author writes about making liquor, wrestling giant catfish, coon hunting, cock fighting, Rolley-Hole (look it up), and some foods of choice for some southerners, including squirrel brains and chitterlings/chittluns. I'm southern born and bred. Do we all do these things? No. Do we know someone who does? Maybe, but we're not saying. We don't know you that well. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 4/1/13.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a strange book!
Prior to reading this I had a rather romanticised view of Americas South (well not including the whole slavery issue). After reading this book I am left with an abiding sense of the strangeness of the south. There is one point in the book where the author explains American history..."American history, some say, could be written in terms of whiskey as well as wars and wandering tribes and the result might say more about the American character - about the perennial battle between liberty and the rule of law." and it makes a whole lot of sense. As the saying goes "Only in America".

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The South is both memorialized and drawn in caricature in this bemused but earnest collection of reflections. Some of the more barbaric pastimes ought not have gotten off so lightly (cockfighting, eating pigs and fishing are disgusting, whether or not you were raised doing it), and one might complain that the book reinforces stereotypes through its slightly supercilious tone. It is an interesting story, though,diligently recorded and capably told.

[David R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bilger's work is a fun, if odd, pursuit of weird and mostly culinary pursuits in the southeast. Along the way he surveys cockfighting, catfishing, moonshining, and even the eating of squirrel brains. I did not make that up. Bilger does take pains to advise that these "Southern Comforts" are hardly even widespread in the south and in many ways takes a sympathetic approach to all of the odd characters he meets.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating facts about southern ways that will make your hair stand on end and your toes curl. I knew about noodling, but this other stuff is new to me, and I was born about as "deep" as you can go in kudzu land. Interesting and well-researched reading to put on the shelf with Tony Horwitz's Confederates in the Attic.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting exploration of a few of America's mostly southern and mostly rural subcultures that remain out of sight to most of us. Even if we find some the practices a bit extreme, its refreshing to know that political correctness has not yet worn us all down to total bores. However, I think I will stick to catching catfish with a hook.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

If one can get past the knock on, GASP, The Varsity, this is a fine book of essays about southern pursuits. Hunting raccoons with hounds, raising frogs for profit, fighting cocks, shooting marbles, using your arm to catch large catfish, moonshining, and a musing on southern cuisine (with a rather funny scene at a Cooking Light festival).