Get to know the South

Columnist Elliott Brack recently highlighted some Southern literature that might help non-Southerners understand the region better. Here is part of the list, which includes some great books you might not have read. From his GwinnettForum Web site:

The classic: The Mind of the South by W.J.Cash.

The Year the Lights Came on in Georgia---Terry Kay. One of the best storytellers of today.

Run with the Horseman, by Ferrol Sams. A physician near Fayetterville, he tells stories with glee. Still living but now near age 80.

The Nashville Sound, by Paul Hemphill. Tales of country music by another of the good southern writers. Has new book coming out soon about Hank Williams. Lives in Atlanta. This book has been out of print, but just reissued.

The Heart of a Distant Forest, by Philip Lee Williams of Athens is a unique story. It's well worth a read, and is one of my favorites. A new paperback edition is out.

Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, by Janisse Ray. First book, with glimpses into lives of un-typical southern family, counterpointed with story of ecology of yellow pine and how this tree is nearing extinction.

Raney, by Clyde Edgerton.. Gifted southern writer has many good books.

Other titles include: Praying for Sheetrock by Melissa Faye Greene; Sleeping at the Starlight Motel, by Bailey White; Secret Formula, by Frederick "Rick" Allen; An Hour Before Daylight, by Jimmy Carter; and A Childhood: The Biography of a Place, by Harry Crews.

My favorite current author speaks in long sentences, and you have to "get with" the syntax to understand T.R. Pearson. Try A Short History of a Small Place for what I find is side-splitting humor at times, always in the Southern vernacular.