Dixie Rising: How the South Is Shaping American Values, Politics, and Culture [Paperback]

Peter Applebome (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0156005506 | ISBN-13: 978-0156005500 | Edition: First Edition

In “one of the best portrayals of the South in years” (Washington Post), the Atlanta bureau chief of the New York Times travels from catfish farms and neo-Confederate gatherings to casinos and country music festivals and examines the reasons behind the region’s growing influence. Index.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Former New York Times Atlanta bureau chief Applebome argues that the South is the region which is increasingly defining the whole United States. The roots of the major national debates on conservative politics, race, guns and states' rights are in the South--debates which the South once was losing, but has now reshaped. In a chapter on George Wallace, Applebome traces the 1994 Republican take-over of Congress back to Wallace's racially charged campaigns that lost the white South for the Democratic party, changing the American political landscape. Applebome makes race the central issue, but also explores other southern influences like country music and Southern Baptism, and lets Southerners talk for themselves. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

By turns seduced and repelled by Southern politics and culture, former longtime New York Times Atlanta bureau chief and transplanted Yankee Applebome grapples engagingly and appreciatively here with the stunning contradictions of the modern South. Not only does the South exercise disproportionate political power (Dixie now claims leadership of Congress as well as the White House); most of our serious conflicts over race and religion continue to play out dramatically in the old Confederacy. Applebome's unusual historical literacy helps him understand a region drenched in the tradition and legends of the Civil War, racist demagoguery and the battles over integration. Outsiders will be astonished by the new popularity of the Confederacy. Southerners black and white will recognize themselves in portraits of Selma, Ala., then and now, Nashville's music, South Carolina firebrands, Southern Baptist conventions and the saga of George Wallace. Above all, it is race that saturates Southern life. Because the author zeroes in on race and lets Southerners tell their own stories, this is a compelling, disturbing, at times inspiring book. As he stresses, no place in the U.S. has been so defined by race?and "the racial scapegoating... that crippled the South for so long will do the same thing for the nation." Photos.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; First Edition edition (September 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156005506
• ISBN-13: 978-0156005500
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written, but extremely biased, December 15, 2004

By 

Wayne Engle "Wayne Engle" (Madison, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dixie Rising: How the South Is Shaping American Values, Politics, and Culture (Paperback)

Mr. Applebome is excellent in his writing (I am a writer myself, for whatever that's worth) and has a good eye for appearances and a facility for describing them well.

Having said that, I must add that his political prejudices stick out like sore thumbs. An earlier reviewer commented that Applebome "doesn't like Republicans." I'll add an amendment to that: He doesn't like white Southerners, unless they happen to share his northeastern liberal views. His attitude toward said white Southerners is smug and condescending in the extreme, i.e., he is often at great pains to describe in sniggering terms the hairstyles worn by white Southern males, and also how they dress. He seldom does this when describing Southern blacks, whom he sees as eternally downtrodden and put upon. Also notice that he often quotes Southern whites literally, being careful to include grammatical errors and "amusing" (read: ignorant) regionalisms. He does not do this with the speech of Southern blacks.

To sum up, he is a good writer, but he makes little attempt at any kind of objectivity or balance.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended...a good non-fiction read, January 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Dixie Rising: How the South Is Shaping American Values, Politics, and Culture (Hardcover)

Very readable personal essays and reflections on the paradigm shift to things southern. Author is somewhat condescending in his attitude, but I think he's coming around. :)

18 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't have a clue about the true South, July 1, 2002

By 

Scott Bell (Jacksonville, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dixie Rising: How the South Is Shaping American Values, Politics, and Culture (Paperback)

This book was discovered in the bargain bin at a book outlet and after reading it I know why it was there. The author is a yankee who lived for a time in the South and now knows all about being Southern. It made for a good laugh everytime he used the term Neo-Confederates for Southerners who honored and celebrated their Confederate heritage.
The only thing he seems to understand about the South is how important Southern politics has become in America but this is not worth reading this book.
Save your time and money and pass on this one. I paid ...too much. One of the few books I tossed away.