Ron Rash on 'Something Rich and Strange'

World Series winning pitcher Madison Bumgarner is from the reaches of Appalachia and suddenly everyone's interested in the place. A New York Times writer went to the pitcher's small hometown and described "wooded hollows" and blue mountains.

Author Ron Rash is more lyrical in his work when he reveals the Appalachia he loves.

From an interview with NPR:

I'm more interested in what happens in the Appalachian landscape because we see very often a sense of people who grew up in the region being intimidated because the mountains are always reminding us of how fleeting our lives are, our smallness. It can also work in a more positive way in the sense of almost a womb-like protectiveness. But that's one aspect of literature of landscape I'm fascinated with.

His new collection of short stories is "Something Rich and Strange." He joins The Daily Circuit to talk about how landscapes influence his work.