I’ve spent a lot of time, and most of my adult life, living south of the Mason-Dixon Line. While on vacation in Charleston I started thinking about some truly southern books I’ve loved.
The list I came up with was much longer, so odds are more will be coming. Until then here’s 5 southern books:
1. The Help
If you haven’t read this, the rock you’ve been living under must be pretty good. If your answer is that you’ve seen the movie, you should know better. Go find a copy and read it. This is a side of the South that historically not been told. It is a unique perspective of civil rights as well, from women who feel powerless and trapped in their circumstances. There is no escape. I wish there was a nonfiction version of the book.
2. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Its almost hard to believe this is a true story. God Bless Savannah, and the stories it gives all of us. This is the story of a murder, a Southern city, and a New York journalist. Step into an incredible world that seems so crazy it can’t be real – and yet, it is.
You can’t do a list of books about the South and not include this. It’s a classic. And yes, it’s a skewed view of history and the war, but honestly – the always have to look at where the story is coming from. Read it, and get a real taste of the South and why Southerners may not like you Yankees still.
This is one of my all time favorite books. If you haven’t read it since high school, give it another turn. The optimism, and insistence on right versus wrong, to go against popular opinion is inspiring, and something we should all be keep in mind today.
Follow Ignatius J. Reilly through New Orleans. Through a variety of jobs, and through interactions with every possible kind of character the Crescent City holds. The ultimate story of and through New Orleans, plus you get to cross a classic on your to be read list.
