Bless His Heart: The GRITS Guide to Loving (or Just Living With) Southern Men

by Deborah Ford

Deborah Ford, tireless promoter and bestselling author of The GRITS® Guide to Life, delivers a field manual for catching, loving, feeding, and living with Southern men.

If you’re living and breathing in this country, chances are you know a GRITS (Gentlemen Raised in the South), and if you’re Southern yourself (or just wish you were), chances are you love him. He’s chivalrous, kind, and moral, but he can also be messy, hog-wild, inattentive, and just plain frustrating. You love him, bless his heart, but you sure don’t understand him. If any of the following are true of your man, you might need this book:

• Does he know every single word to his school’s fight song?
• Does he sing it at two a.m. on the lawn of the opposing team’s coach?
• Does he think nothing of driving twenty miles to help a friend fix his roof, even though he can’t make it twenty feet to take out the garbage?
• When he comes home, is he often as muddy as the dog trailing behind him?
• Does he love MoonPies, RC Cola, and GooGoo Clusters?
• Does he still think Mama can do no wrong, even though he’s got grandchildren of his own?

With her signature Southern wit, wisdom, and heart, Deborah Ford turns her attention to the men who drive us to distraction. Whether he lives in a tarpaper shack or a columned mansion, Deborah celebrates the wonderful, entertaining, and downright crazy GRITS that Southern women can’t live without.

Genres: Humor, Southern, Nonfiction, Chick Lit

240 pages, Hardcover

First published December 29, 2005

About the author

Deborah Ford is the founder of Grits, Inc., a merchandising company specializing in women's apparel.

In 1995, Ford--then a high school volleyball coach in Alabama--began printing T-shirts emblazoned with "Girls Raised in the South" to inspire her players. The response she received was so overwhelming that she quit her teaching job and took her products to an apparel trade show. Her multimillion-dollar business sells GRITS books and merchandise world-wide to Southerners and wannabe Southerners.

Her first book, "The GRITS Guide to Life," was a "New York Times" Bestseller and SEBA Award winner, and spurred the series of lifestyle books that include "GRITS Friends Are Forevah" and "Puttin' on the GRITS."

Reviews

[Heart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the GRITS Guide to Life, but still good advice on being a good friend. I enjoy the quotes too.

"In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future." - Alex Haley

"When I am an old woman, I shall... make up for the sobriety of my youth." - Jenny Joseph

"The fragrance always remains on the hand that gives the rose." - Mahatma Gandhi

"As soon as you start slinging mud, you start loosing ground!" - Deborah Ford

"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time." - Mark Twain

I want to try this stolen spiced tea recipe come winter:
1 1/2 C instant tea
2 C powdered orange drink
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 ground cloves
To serve, mix 2 tsp in a mug with hot water.

[Lori Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book really quickly. It was a lot of fun. Though some of it was kind of joking about Southern men, I feel like there was a grain of truth to much of what she said. I found myself nodding in agreement because of things I see in my own Southern boyfriend. However, I wish she would have gone into a bit more detail about the educated, city Southern male because that's what my boyfriend (a PhD student) is. And I think he may have been a little offended by some of her generalizations because she was talking more about the less-educated, rural Southern man. However, it was a lot of fun to read, like her other books.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I GUESS I do not see the point of this book... if you are from the south, you are going to know the "rules" of how to raise your child and if you are from the north, well, you will completely disagree with the concept of raising a child that is going to learn to keep a smile on her face even if she is miserable because that is how a lady acts.

this book is geared only for those in the south. However, I live in the south and do not see any of these rules put into practice. I will say that I agree with the bond of friends however.

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book. Definitely some good tips and reminders. I didn't love how much they talked about themselves, but I guess that's the GRITS way. ;) Giggled a bunch at the negative comments against northerners especially the one, "Who in their right mind would want to marry a New Yorker?" (I'm from NY by the way hahaha)

[Jasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for women with girlfriends of all ages.... whether you are from the South or somewhere else in the other part of the world. I so love the tips,especially the Pearl of Wisdom found in the book- a real treasure for women who wants to be a good friend and wants to have good friends. :-)

[Janell]

My friend gave me this book for Christmas...I can't wait to read it!

[Poppy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I'm too much of a Yankee, but I thought this was pretty lame.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read a book now and again that tries to explain your cultural heritage.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to be reminded of the southern traditions and why I should cherish the friendships I have. Quick, fun read.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first GRITS book was great. This one you can skip.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bland, and not really what I hoped it would be. As a rule I generally finish books regardless of my interest level, but I nearly abandoned this several times.

[Erin B SC · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick cute read - a testament to female friendships of all types.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful window into the lives of Southern women. Took me right home to North Carolina.