SOURCE: A foreword to A Jesse Stuart Reader, by Jesse Stuart, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1963, pp. iii-vii.

In the following essay, Bogart discusses the universal appeal of Stuart's short fiction.

You enter the world of Jesse Stuart. The scene is eastern Kentucky, the hills, the mountains, the forests, the rivers, a land of primitive beauty, far, far away from any large city. You meet the people of this land. They may seem strange to you. Who are these people? They are determined pioneers, bold frontiersmen, feuding clansmen, brave settlers, and all of them are fierce fighters. And they are tender too. They are Jesse Stuart's people, the key to his world.

At first you may find it difficult to understand these people and to comprehend a pattern of life so different from your own. But as you move further into the world of Jesse Stuart, you will make a...