South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation [L0032]

2021 - HBDJ Excellent condition. Winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Instant New York Times Bestseller. "An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South-and thus of America-by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration." -Isabel Wilkerson An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South-and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole. Perry goes on a journey that brings her in contact with Southerners from all walks of life. She renders them with sensitivity and honesty, in addition to sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life. This is the story of a woman going home--a Black woman and a Southern home--at a time when ideas of how the South should be are rising once again. South to America is an assertion that if we do indeed want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "This is a must read to gain perspective on the experience of minorities in the USA. It is impossible to understand how it impacts others when you do not experience it yourself but it is vitally important to the health and functioning of our country to try to understand. Additionally, it is a wonderful history interwoven with beautiful reminiscences and powerful narrative! Ms. Perry is a phenomenal writer!"; "Dr. Perry writes with such linguistic dexterity she transforms the heart and mind of the reader. Her research and devotion to exposing the depth of the diasporic experience is evident in her presentation. I have a much firmer grasp on why my heart is drawn to the South. In spite of the all too familiar stories passed down from one generation to another of the horrifying impact Jim Crow had on our families. This is a must read in light of the attempts to sanitize American History."; "This book wasn't what I thought it would be--it was so much more. Through a combination of history, memoir, and just some simply stunning storytelling, Imani Perry has redefined not only what the South is, but what a reckoning of it could look like."