Book

Money in the Mountains: The Cultural Trauma of Appalachia

Money in the Mountains: The Cultural Trauma of Appalachia uses Appalachia as a lens to examine how dominant American narratives about money, morality, responsibility, and worth obscure the realities of structural harm. The book argues that what is often framed as individual failure is more accurately understood as cultural, relational, and generational trauma produced by long-standing systems of extraction and neglect.

Drawing on psychology and cultural analysis, the book shows how economic conditions shape emotional life — influencing how people relate to money, power, intimacy, and themselves. By reframing Appalachia, Money in the Mountains offers a way to see America more clearly, exposing how public narratives shape private suffering.