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The Oxford Book of the American South resonates with the words of black humans and white, women and men, the powerless as well as the powerful. The collection presents the most telling fiction and nonfiction produced in the South from the late eighteenth century to the present. Renowned writers such as James Agee, Richard Wright, Maya Angelou, Lee Smith, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, and Flannery O'Connor appear in these pages, but so do persons whose writing did not without delay reach a big audience. For example, Harriet A. Jacobs' book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which is now recognized as one of the most illuminating narrations of a former slave, was neglected for generations. And Sarah Morgan's powerful Civil War Diary has only not so long ago come to widespread attention. The Oxford Book of the American South presents compelling autobiographies, diaries, memoirs, and journalism as well as stories and selections from novels, and runs the spectrum from the conservative to the radical, the conventional to the innovative. Editors Edward L. Ayers and Bradley C. Mittendorf have arranged these diverse readings so that they fit together into a rich mosaic of Southern life and history. The segmentations of the book The Old South, The Civil War and Its Consequences, Hard Times, and The Turning unfold a bright record of life underneath the Mason Dixon line. We see the antebellum amount of time both from the perspective of those who experienced it first-hand, such as Thomas Jefferson and former slaves Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglass, and then from the perspective of writers looking back on that era, including William Styron and Sherley Anne Williams. Likewise, we see the Civil War through the eyes of witnesses such as Sam Watkins, through the eyes of later writers attempting to make sense of the conflict, such as Robert Penn Warren, and through the eyes of those using the war's intense passions to fuel their fiction, such as Margaret Mitchell and Barry Hannah. The classic writers of the Southern Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s appear here in the context of the hard times in which they wrote. The years since World War II are chronicled in the powerful words of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," George Garrett's "Good bye, Good bye, Be Always Kind and True," and Peter Taylor's "The Decline and Fall of the Episcopal Church, in the Year of Our Lord 1952." The editors have chosen these readings, their Preface tells us, to convey "the passions that have surfaced time and again in more than two hundred years of Southern writing." Indeed, the struggles, defeats, and triumphs chronicled in The Oxford Book of the American South speak not just to the South, but to all of the American experience. They document and arouse numerous of the most dramatic sequences in the nation's life
From Library JournalAyers (history, Univ. of Virginia) and Mittendorf, a writer and political consultant, here delve into both Southern fiction and nonfiction, attempting to give rise to a united book rather than a series of unconnected writings by Southerners with regards to the South. Diaries, memoirs, letters, and essays from over 50 writers from the Colonial amount of time to the present represent a potpourri of social, racial, and gender groups. The anthology is disunited into four segmentations that correspond to major periods of Southern history. A brief primary essay by the editors relates the history of the era and establishes the aroused and philosophical mood of the times. Within each section, the editors have attempted to present the amount of time as an unfolding drama, with eyewitness accounts followed by writers of subsequent generations who view the era. The editors recognise that various genres such as poetry, folklore, and professional history have been omitted because they could find no effective way to incorporate them with the remainder of the volume. For a more specialized view, the multivolume Georgia Voices (Vol 1: LJ 11/1/92; Vol 2: LJ 7/94) offers the reader an splendid anthology. The Oxford Book of the American South is an ambitious publication that the popular reader will find useful.?Charles C. Hay III, Eastern Kentucky Univ., Richmond
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistCan any person deny that southern prose writing represents one of the most critical segments in the American canon? Well, let an individual try to deny it after sampling this anthology, which gathers the best from far and wide all around the history of the creative writing of recognized artisti value of the South. Not limiting themselves to fiction (short stories and novels, either in full or in extract), the editors also gather memoirs, diaries, and essays. From both genders and races, from opposite poles on the economic scale, from an eighteenth-century naturalisti to a former slave, from Thomas Jefferson to Eudora Welty, these writings give ringing voice to the experiences that have engendered a distinctive southern culture. Brad Hooper Review
"A fine introduction to the diversity of Southern life and letters, a book to be savored and admired."--The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC "Ambitious and thought provoking."--Books Now "This anthology ...gathers the best from far and wide all around the history of the creative writing of recognized artisti value of the South."--Booklist " An unusually well-balanced volume ...eminently satisfying."--Florence King, The Oxford American "A fine introduction to the diversity of Southern life and letters, a book to be savored and admired."--George Tindall, The Charlotte News and Observer |
Most helpful client reviews
7 of 7 humans found the following review helpful.
 A good overview
By Stephanie B Williams
As far as anthologies go, with a name like "Oxford," you know it is going to be quality. And it is. As a teacher of Southern Literature, I use this for my classes, and i don't get bored because I may choose from a potpourri of time periods, writers, and literary forms. I learn from this book and get enjoyment from it at the same time--and so do my students. 6 of 7 humans found the following review helpful.
 Elegant, masterful.
By A
From the p.c. of the historian of the south comes another elegant, masterful work. Precise and felicitous with his language, Edward Ayers weaves a rich and descriptive tapestry integrating social, literary, and political history into a descriptive masterwork which, with characteristic richness and depth, captures the essence of the South he so in an outstanding manner staged in Promise of the New South. It's a must read for any student of the South See all 2 client reviews... |
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