Joe Bageant's Blog, page 3

Remembering Joe, a redneck revolutionary

Joe's wit tore through the fog of myth which surrounds the poorest working class people in the US. For Joe, they weren't the lazy, stupid caricatures drawn by the establishment media and politicians. They had a heart, but they had been used up and forgotten by capitalism.

Rainbow Pie should be required reading

One of the reviews on Amazon suggested that Rainbow Pie: A Redneck Memoir should be required reading for all American schoolchildren, and I heartily agree.

Champion of the forgotten underclass

Who are the white underclass today? Well, it's kind of like if you ask a goldfish about its environment the last thing it'll describe is water. But those 22.2 million people who were moved into cities in the mid-1960s, they begat roughly that many people who begat roughly that many people

My Brother Joe

Joe Bageant was my brother. Not in a literal sense, of course: we came from different countries, although with similar rural backgrounds, he from Virginia, I from Lincolnshire in England

Lost in the American Undertow

Today, almost nobody in the social sciences seems willing to touch the subject of America's large white underclass; or, being firmly placed in the true middle class themselves, can even agree that such a thing exists.

The Permanent White Underclass

"Today, almost nobody in the social sciences seems willing to touch the subject of America's large white underclass," writes Joe Bageant on page 2 of his second book, Rainbow Pie: A Redneck Memoir.

Joe Bageant's Option for Hillbillies

Joe was a man of wisdom, intelligence and penetrating insight, but what made him really special was his sense of humor and his direct no-frills honesty. He was also a kind of a genuine working class liberation theologian — at least he would have been had he believed in God!

Rainbow Pie: Attention Must Be Paid

Let me be upfront about things: I want you to buy Rainbow Pie: A Redneck Memoir. I want you to buy this book because, as the line from "Death of a Salesman" notes, "Attention must be paid."

Joe Bageant: Poet, Redneck Revolutionary, R.I.P.

Joe Bageant was an extraordinarily gifted writer and thinker. Author of Deer Hunting with Jesus and countless essays and editorials on politics and society, Joe was a champion of human rights and a fearless critic of our government.

Small Talk

Gary Corseri was a good friend of Joe's. This poem was originally published in Poets' Basement, September 2008. By Gary Corseri In memoriam, for Joe Bageant, 1946-2011 This one—tack-witted, sharp of tongue— thinks he'll die soon, and so, smokes on (although he loves his wife). He has made peace at 62 (my age) with demons, destiny, and even the C.O.P.D. that will kick him in. We ramble on on his southern porch, his whisky tone...