The Origins of the Cornbread Mafia (The Cornbread Mafia Book Series)

This book was recommended by a friend who met one of these players while he did time in prison. It's not the type of book that I normally read, but it was most interesting because of its truth, it's portrayal of every day people getting caught up in the game of making money illegally. Likable characters, just getting along in the hills of Kentucky, finally make their fortune growing weed, download it all.

When I was growing up in the 70's the city of Lebanon, KY was well know in my home town of Louisville to be an "open town". Kids would go down there on Friday and Saturday nights and hit the bars without a care in the world being underage. Some great musicians of the era; Tina Turner, Hank Williams Jr, and many other played in the clubs back in the day. I never knew anyone in the so called "Corn Bread Mafia" but I seen all the newspaper articles and I am sure now I rubbed elbows with a few characters from this book. Can you image surveying 20+ years in prison for a plant that grows out of the ground and is not processed chemically in any way. This book recalls the history of that time and how unbelievable poverty was turned around for some, and for others it kept food on the table and heat in the winter, and for some they went to Federal prison. Have you ever wondered who, where, and why the term "Cornbread Mafia" came from? This book was a great read and explains a lot about KY's #1 cash crop up into the 1980's. I hope there is another book that continues Mr Bickett's memoirs.

I enjoyed the actual story of someone who lived the life

interesting read!

An excellent account of growing up in Kentucky and the limited resources of gainful employment which accounts for individuals to do what needs to be done to support themselves. I grew up close to this area and what the author recounts is spot on. The late 70's and into the 80's was a good time to come of age in that area. It's a shame that laws haven't changed much since then. Kentucky would benefit tremendously from legalizing Marijuana. The tax revenue alone would change the economy of Kentucky like nothing else. Hopefully this will change in my lifetime. Lord knows Kentucky could use the money because Mitch McConnell sure hasn't done anything to make improvements.

Origins of the Cornbread Mafia gives a first hand account of the factual beginnings of this marijuana operation in central Kentucky that took place in the 1970s/1980s. The memoir is an easy, enjoyable read. The story unfolds just as if you were sitting around listening to the author tell you it verbally. I finished it in a couple days and with great anticipation of the second coming memoir.Author Joe Keith Bickett tells of his upbringing in a small community known as Raywick, life in that small town and the struggles faced by people in the rural community during difficult economic times and after their return from the Vietnam war.

A great read and not only for the gripping "true crime" aspect. In a greater sense, Cornbread Mafia is the story of a generation, a true example of how country boys from humble roots found a way to make it past subsistence farming and live The American Dream. Like the moonshiners of an earlier time, or even smugglers and privateers of the colonial era, Joe Keith Bickett and his circle of friends were bold enough to try it, to take a shot at glory, for better or for worse. Bickett's prose is lucid and accessable, the portrait painted, a clear one. Worth a look.

This book arrived Friday at 2 PM. By midnight, I had consumed it because I could not put it down! This is everyone's tale of life in the heartland when the jobs go away. It is a tale of the overbearing power of the federal government when naïve and uninformed policymakers seek to satisfy an equally naïve and uninformed segment of the voting populace. Joe Keith Bickett is a testament to American courage, American ingenuity, American stubbornness and ultimately, the strength of Americans to persevere, survive, and come out stronger. A must read for every Kentuckian, and even those not so fortunate!