Growing Up in the South: An Anthology of Modern Southern Literature

by Suzanne W. Jones (Editor), Shirley Ann Grau (Contributor), Ellen Gilchrist (Contributor)

Something about the South has inspired the imaginations of an extraordinary number of America's best storytellers - and greatest writers. That quality may be a rich, unequivocal sense of place, a living connection with the past, or the contradictions and passions that endow this region with awesome tragedy. The stories in this superb collection of modern Southern writing are about childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood - in other words, about growing up in the South. An excerpt from Maya Angelou's autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, describing her 1940 grade school graduation is a story of discrimination and the strengths blacks gained as they united as a community to fight prejudice. Flannery O'Conner's "Everything That Rises Must Converge,"set in a South that remains segregated even after segregation is declared illegal, is the story of a white college student who chastises his mother for her prejudice against blacks. But black, white, aristocrat, or sharecropper, each of these 24 authors is unmistakably Southern... and their writing, indisputably wonderful.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Southern, Anthologies

544 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1991

Reviews

[Garry Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is hard for me to imagine a better introduction to the wide variety of Southern lit in brief than this anthology by U of Richmond prof Suzanne Jones. This affordable collection features two dozen of the most talented and well known Southern writers, male and female, black and white, from the past century - from Faulkner and O'Connor and Welty to Angelou and Chappell and Spencer and Walker and Gilchrist and Grau and Hoffman and Smith. Some of the samples are brief excerpts of longer works; many are short stories. My students found some vivid, funny, "easy to understand and relate to," and others confusing and hard to follow. But every student quickly latched onto favorites that she was ready to chat about or write about. If only as an entree to a range of authors to be pursued further, this collection is terrific.

[Frank Duke · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of short stories by authors born in the South.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided a few months ago that it's about time I boned up on my southern authors. I mentioned this to a friend a few weeks ago and he loaned me this book from his college days. Most of the stories were very interesting - the only one I truly felt was a waste of my time was "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." The three that I enjoyed the most were "Fast Love," "The Old Forest," and "Old Mortality." As a matter of fact, I'm going to change my rating from 3 stars to 4 based soley on the merits of those three stories. And there were a number of others that were really good as well . . . I gave the book back a few nights ago and can't quite recall titles or authors right now, though.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit - I only read half of this book. These were just excerpts from books written by these authors - maybe a chapter or just a story - not even short stories. But even so, I found myself longing to pick up a book with a story I could sink into. It's what I enjoy about reading - losing myself in a good story. These little snatches here and there just didn't hold my interest. I noticed that my daughter-in-law, who gave me the book, quit about halfway through, as well.

[J.C. Paulk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly fantastic anthology with much that a Southerner can relate to. It's so good that I may even force my cute wife to read it. Here is where I first ran into the writings of Eudora Welty among others. Give it a try and if you're not a Southerner, read it to find out what makes us what we are. I promise that it's more than truck pulls and beer.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of both worlds. Southern writers and short stories. If you have not read any short stories lately or think you don't like them, give this a go.

[A.K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven (to be expected) but I'd definitely pick up a secondhand copy were I you.