Best of
Southern

2004

The Coal Tattoo


Silas House - 2004
    Easter finds her life in the Pentecostal Holiness church and its music, while Anneth dances and drinks in less-than-holy honky-tonks. Will the differences in their young lives and in their very natures tear them apart or will the bond of the sisters prevail? In lucid prose with an ear for the voice of the sisters’ time and place, Silas House brings readers a rich and moving story of coal country.This novel was named The Appalachian Book of the Year, and was a finalist for the Southern Book Critics Circle Prize.Blair brings this novel into a beautiful new paperback edition, along with two other Silas House novels, Clay’s Quilt and A Parchment of Leaves. The three novels, which share a common setting and some characters, are companion novels. They may be read individually, in any order, but collectively, they form a rich tableau of life in rural mountain Kentucky in the last century.

Frank Stitt's Southern Table: Recipes and Gracious Traditions from Highlands Bar and Grill


Frank Stitt - 2004
    W. Apple, Jr., of The New York Times credits third-generation Alabamian Frank Stitt with turning Birmingham into a "sophisticated, easygoing showplace of enticing, southern-accented cooking." His southern peers think his cooking may have a more profound sense of place than any of theirs. His food is rustic and homey, but sophisticated in method. Now, Alabama's favorite son has written a long-awaited cookbook that features his enticing Provençal-influenced southern food. More than 150 recipes range from the traditional--Spicy Green Tomato and Peach Relish, Spoonbread, and Pickled Shrimp--to the inspired--Slow-Roasted Black Grouper with Ham and Pumpkin Pirlau and Pork Loin with Corn Pudding and Grilled Eggplant. Desserts such as Bourbon Panna Cotta and Sweet Potato Tart with Coconut Crust and Pecan Streusel elevate the best of the South for cooks everywhere.

My Old True Love


Sheila Kay Adams - 2004
    These long, sad stories of heartbreak and betrayal, violence and love, have been sung for generations by the descendents of those who settled the Appalachian mountains in the 1700s. As they raised their children, they taught them first to sing, for the songs told the children everything they needed to know about life. So it was with the Stanton family living in Marshall, North Carolina, during the 1800s. Even Larkin Stanton, just a baby when his parents die and he's taken in by his cousin Arty, starts humming before he starts talking. As he grows up, he hungrily learns every song he can, and goes head-to-head with his cousin Hackley for the best voice, and, of course, the best attentions of the women. It's not long before the two boys find themselves pursuing the affections of the same lovely girl, Mary, who eventually chooses Hackley for her husband. But, just as in the most tragic ballads, there is no stowing away of emotions. And when Hackley leaves his wife under his cousin's care in the midst of the Civil War, Larkin finds himself drawn back to the woman who's held his heart for years. What he does about that love defies all his learning of family and loyalty and reminds us that those mournful ballads didn't just come from the imagination, but from the imperfections of the heart.

Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-Haunted South


Ralph C. Wood - 2004
    Fifty years after her death, O'Connor's fiction still retains its original power and pertinence. For those who know nothing of O'Connor and her work, this study by Ralph C. Wood offers one of the finest introductions available. For those looking to deepen their appreciation of this literary icon, it breaks important new ground.Unique to Wood's approach is his concern to show how O'Connor's stories, novels, and essays impinge on America's cultural and ecclesial condition. He uses O'Connor's work as a window onto its own regional and religious ethos. Indeed, he argues here that O'Connor's fiction has lasting, even universal, significance precisely because it is rooted in the confessional witness of her Roman Catholicism and in the Christ-haunted character of the American South.According to Wood, it is this O'Connor -- the believer and the Southerner -- who helps us at once to confront the hardest cultural questions and to propose the profoundest religious answers to them. His book is thus far more than a critical analysis of O'Connor's writing; in fact, it is principally devoted to cultural and theological criticism by way of O'Connor's searing insights into our time and place. These are some of the engaging moral and religious questions that Wood explores: the role of religious fundamentalism in American culture and in relation to both Protestant liberalism and Roman Catholicism; the practice of racial slavery and its continuing legacy in the literature and religion of the South; the debate over Southern identity, especially whether it is a culture rooted in ancient or modern values; the place of preaching and the sacraments in secular society and dying Christendom; and the lure of nihilism in contemporary American culture.Splendidly illuminating both O'Connor herself and the American mind, Wood's Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-Haunted South will inform and fascinate a wide range of readers, from lovers of literature to those seriously engaged with religious history, cultural analysis, or the American South.

Go Tell it on the Mountain / The Fire Next Time / If Beale Street Could Talk


James Baldwin - 2004
    Includes: Go Tell It on The Mountain, The Next time by fire and If Beale Street Could Talk all in one volume

Jeffrey's Favorite 13 Ghost Stories: From Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi


Kathryn Tucker Windham - 2004
    The present volume includes 13 of the best of Mrs. Windham's stories, representing mysterious and supernatural doings from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Most of the stories are related to historical places and sometimes to historical people.

Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States, From Interviews with Former Slaves Virginia Narratives


Work Projects Administration - 2004
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

The Pink Institution


Selah Saterstrom - 2004
    As the impoverished decay of the Deep South expresses itself through their bloodlines, a new impression of Southern history and heritage emerges. The lyrical gravity and singular style of this unforgettable debut novel will transform the reader in its wake.Selah Saterstrom’s writing has appeared in 3rd Bed and Pitkin Review. She is the editor of Soul Collections, a collection of prose and poetry written by at-risk teenagers in North Carolina. Born in Mississippi in 1974, she now lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where she teaches at Warren Wilson College.

Hissy Fit


Mary Kay Andrews - 2004
    And now she’s throwing a Hissy Fit, in the best possible sense. A delicious tale of revenge and renovation, Hissy Fit tells of a wronged spitfire who’s determined to see that the no-good lowdown, lying, cheating varmint of an ex-fiancé who ruined her life and her business gets the comeuppance he so richly deserves…even as she struggles to revitalize a broken-down antebellum mansion for a hunky, if slightly odd, local businessman. If you like the novels of Fannie Flagg, Jennifer Crusie, Adriana Trigiani, and Emily Giffin, or are a devoted follower of Rebecca Wells or Jill Conner Browne’s Sweet Potato Queens, then Mary Kay’s Hissy Fit is not to be missed.

Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 1


Work Projects Administration - 2004
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Sister Betty! God's Calling You, Again!


Pat G'Orge-Walker - 2004
    Reprint. 25,000 first printing.

The View from Delphi


Jonathan Odell - 2004
    Two young mothers have each lost a child, but they overcome their racial differences to bring about justice in a pre-Civil Rights Mississippi town.

Grant: The Man who Won The Civil War


Robin Neillands - 2004
    A hard-drinking soldier in a hard-drinking army, he led the Union armies to victory, first in the West and then in the East, eventually compelling the main Confederate army under Robert E. Lee to surrender at Appomattox in 1865. Yet at the beginning of the Civil War no one, least of all the man himself, anticipated that Grant would lead the Union forces to victory. Ulysses S. Grant was a failure as a pre-war soldier. His subsequent business career was even worse. His emergence as a successful general and eventual promotion to Commander-in-Chief is a stunning example of how a soldier's peacetime career sometimes gives no indication of how he will perform in a major war. Grant's advance down the Mississippi realized General Scott’s ‘Anaconda’ plan and ultimately cut the Confederacy in half. His capture of Vicksburg, just as Robert E. Lee's invasion of the North was halted at Gettysburg, spelt the end for the Confederacy. Yet Grant's battles in 1864 cost the Union army dearly and he has never quite shaken off the reputation as a ‘butcher’ who bludgeoned down the Army of Northern Virginia by sheer weight of numbers. Robin Neillands investigates how and why Grant emerged from pre-war obscurity and whether his ultimate victory was won by brains or brawn. Robin Neillands is the author of several acclaimed works on the First World War including ‘The Death of Glory’, ‘The Great War Generals on the Western Front’, ‘Attrition: The Great War on the Western Front, 1916’ and ‘The Old Contemptibles’. Praise for Robin Neillands: ‘One of Britain’s most readable historians’ – Birmingham Post ‘Immensely readable … a blast of fresh air’ – The Spectator ‘Informed and explicit, this is military history at its best’ – Western Daily Press ‘Neilland’s willingness to call a spade a spade will catch the popular imagination. His central argument is hard to fault’ – Literary Review Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

Seasons of Real Florida


Jeff Klinkenberg - 2004
    . . . Jeff loves Florida. It shows."--Randy Wayne White, author of Shark River and Everglades"Klinkenberg is a genius reporter and a wonderful writer. I read this book in one gulp, then went outside, looked at that magnificent Florida sky and made myself all sorts of promises."--William McKeen, author of Highway 61: A Father-and-Son Journey through the Middle of AmericaNo wonder Jeff Klinkenberg loves Florida. At any time of year he can find a place in the state that's ripe to enjoy or a person whose story has aged to perfection.Arranged by season, the book opens in the fall, which Klinkenberg says is like spring in the north--a time of celebration: "Having survived our harshest season, we feel renewed." Fair weather, good food, and the joys of nature lie ahead, described here in essays that are like time capsules of "old Florida values." Preserving the past, they reveal Klinkenberg's waggish appreciation of the state's history, folkways, and landscape, not to mention its barbequed ribs, smoked mullet, stone crab claws, and fresh lemonade.Many pieces focus off the beaten path and on modern rogues who seem to turn their backsides to the subdivisions and shopping malls that pave the state: Miss Ruby, whose fruit stand features rutabagas, boiled peanuts, and her own brightly colored plywood paintings; an 85-year-old resident of the remote island of Cayo Costa who hums Beethoven while she hunts for shells; the scientists who test mosquito repellent in Everglades National Park; and the unofficial caretaker of Lilly Spring on the Santa Fe River, who greets canoeists wearing glasses, a necklace, and on occasion a synthetic fur loincloth. Other pieces pay homage to Klinkenberg's literary heroes who've written in and about Florida, such as Pulitzer Prize-winner Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Rawlings's companion and memoirist Idella Parker, Everglades crusader Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and novelist Ernest Hemingway. Klinkenberg also revisits an old St. Johns River campsite of 19th-century botanist William Bartram, whose encounters with alligators there were as alarming as Klinkenberg's with beer cans and soda bottles.For anyone who has a stake in the real Florida--resident, tourist, naturalist, or newcomer--this tour of the seasons will linger in memory like the aroma of orange blossoms on a clear winter night.Florida native Jeff Klinkenberg has been writing for the St. Petersburg Times since 1977. He is the only two-time winner of the Paul Hansell Distinguished Journalism Award, the highest honor given by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors.

Sweet Stuff: Karen Barker's American Desserts


Karen Barker - 2004
    Inspired by this sumptuous collection of more than 160 easy-to-follow dessert recipes, you may decide to skip dinner altogether and head straight for the sweet stuff. Drawing on years of professional experience as well as memories of cooking and baking from her New York childhood, Barker gives us the benefit of cooking alongside an experienced mentor. Starting with the fundamentals, she offers advice on selecting key ingredients, suggestions for essential kitchen equipment, and even tips on ways to fit dessert-making into the busiest of schedules. Her recipes begin with pastry doughs, sauces, and special toppings that serve as building blocks for other desserts and provide a foundation for home cooks eager to improve their skills. Chapters on pies, fruit desserts, custards, cakes, ice creams, cookies, and breakfast-like desserts feature familiar favorites with a twist, such as key lime coconut pie with rum cream, deep-dish brown sugar plum cobbler, dark chocolate Peppermint Pattie cake, and cornmeal vanilla bean shortbreads. Sweet Stuff offers something irresistible for everyone.Drawing on years of professional experience as well as memories of cooking and baking from her New York childhood, award-winning pastry chef Karen Barker gives us the benefit of cooking alongside an experienced mentor. Starting with the fundamentals, she offers practical advice on selecting key ingredients, suggestions for essential kitchen equipment, secrets for success, and tips on ways to fit dessert-making into the busiest of schedules. The recipes include familiar favorites with a twist, such as key lime coconut pie with rum cream, deep-dish brown sugar plum cobbler, dark chocolate Peppermint Pattie cake, and cornmeal vanilla bean shortbreads.

David's Gift


Kay Moser - 2004
    His enormous wealth and power give him control over thousands of lives, including that of his beautiful wife, Caroline. From Texas to London to Tokyo, David wields his power ruthlessly just as his father taught him to.However, behind his facade of bravado, David is crumbling and tormented by nightmares. What is disturbing him so drastically? Why the anxiety, the doubts, the shattered self-image?Only David knows the truth about his first marriage and the death of his first wife, Danielle. Can he continue to hide the truth about his past deeds from Caroline? If he does, will he miss out on the greatest gift of his life?Can anyone or anything teach David that happiness grows from one's center to one's surface and that joy comes only when one gives oneself away?

All Things for Good: The Steadfast Fidelity of Stonewall Jackson


J. Steven Wilkins - 2004
    This extremely complex, often misunderstood man was orphaned at a young age, graduated from West Point in 1846, and participated in the Mexican War in 1848.Attracted to the Virginia Military Institute in 1851, he resigned his commission in the army a year later. He left VMI in 1861 to join the Confederate army. Immediately commissioned a colonel, within months he had been promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He was mortally wounded by friendly fire at the May 1863 battle of Chancellorsville and died a week later.Revered as a brilliant military leader, tactician, and one of the most adroit Confederate commanders, Jackson is a study in contrasts. He was justifiably feared by his enemies and totally beloved by his men. Yet his humble and sincere faith seemed at odds with his reputation as a ferocious warrior.All Things for Good is a thoughtful new volume in the Leaders in Action Series. In it J. Steven Wilkins challenges some of the myths that surround Stonewall Jackson and celebrates his devout Christian faith."

Livin' in High Cotton


Jennifer Youngblood - 2004
    One night her father, who has come home drunk, tries to molest her. Frightened, she fights him off and flees. But, through her many difficulties, she learns that blessings can come in unexpected ways. This novel addresses several fundamental human longings.

Hick Flicks: The Rise and Fall of Redneck Cinema


Scott Von Doviak - 2004
    The popularity of these hick flicks grew throughout the '70s, and they attained mass acceptance with the 1977 release of Smokey and the Bandit. It marked the heyday of these regional favorites, but within a few short years, changing economic realities within the movie business and the collapse of the drive-in market would effectively spell the end of the so-called hixploitation genre. This comprehensive study of the hixploitation genre is the first of its kind. Chapters are divided into three major topics. Part One deals with good ol' boys, from redneck sheriffs, to moonshiners, to honky-tonk heroes and beyond. Part Two explores road movies, featuring back-road racers, truckers and everything in between. Part Three, In the Woods, covers movies about all manner of beasts--some of them human--populating the swamps and woodlands of rural America. Film stills are included, and an afterword examines both the decline and metamorphosis of the genre. A filmography, bibliography and index accompany the text.

Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race, and New Beginnings in a New South


Mark Kemp - 2004
    Growing up in North Carolina, Mark Kemp burned with shame and anger at the attitudes of many white southerners--some in his own family--toward the recently won victories of the civil rights movement. "I loved the land that surrounded me but hated the history that haunted that land," he writes.Then the down-home, bluesy rock of the Deep South began taking the nation by storm, and Kemp had a new way of relating to the region that allowed him to see beyond its legacy of racism and stereotypes of backwardness. Although Kemp would always struggle with an ambivalence familiar to many white southerners, the seeds of redemption were planted in adolescence when he first heard Duane Allman and Ronnie Van Zant pour their feelings into their songs.In the tradition of Nick Tosches, Peter Guralnick, and other music historians, Kemp maps his own southern odyssey onto the stories of such iconic bands as the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and R.E.M., as well as influential indies like the Drive-By Truckers. In dozens of interviews with quintessential southern rockers and some of their most diehard fans, Kemp charts the course of the music that both liberated him and united him with countless others who came of age under its spell. This is a thought-provoking, searingly intimate, and utterly original journey through the South and its music from the 1960s through the 1990s.

Birthmark


Jon Pineda - 2004
    Like water taking the form of its container, Pineda’s poems swell to fill the lines of his experiences. Against the backdrop of Tidewater, Virginia’s crabs and cicadas, Pineda invokes his mestizo—the Tagalog word for being half Filipino—childhood, weaving laments for a tenuous paternal relationship and the loss of a sibling. Channeling these fragmented memories into a new discovery of self, Birthmark reclaims an identity, delicate yet unrelenting, with plaintive tones marked equally by pain, reflection, and redemption.

The Red Flannel Rag: Memories of an Appalachian Childhood


Peggy Ann Shifflett - 2004
    

Pages of Stone: Geology of the Grand Canyon & Plateau Country National Parks & Monuments


Halka Chronic - 2004
    New sidebars provide closer looks at specific details such as the large numbers of dinosaur footprints in and around Arches National Park and geology's profound effect on ancient Pueblo peoples and how they lived.Geologist Halka Chronic is the author of several books on geology. Geologist Lucy Chronic has served as a park interpreter at Bandelier National Monument in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Grand Staircase, Escalante, Vermilion Cliffs, Canyons of the Ancients, Dinosaur, Hovenweep National Monuments, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase of the Vermilion Cliffs, Pink Cliffs in southern Utah, volcanic lavas of Sunset Crater, geologists, dinosaur footprints in and around Arches National Park