Growing Up in the South: An Anthology of Modern Southern Literature (Mentor) [Paperback]

Various (Author), Suzanne Jones (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0451628330 | ISBN-13: 978-0451628336

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 beauty and equally 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. Flannery O’Connor’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 23 authors is unmistakably Southern—and their writing is indisputably wonderful.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Suzanne W. Jones is a professor of American Literature and Women’s Studies at the University of Richmond. The author of a number of essays about southern literature, she is also the editor of another collection of stories, Crossing the Color Line: Readings in Black and White, and two collections of essays, South to a New Place (with Sharon Monteith) and Writing the Woman Artist.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Signet (June 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451628330
• ISBN-13: 978-0451628336
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,433,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SOUTHERN VOICES SPEAK OF CHILDHOOD, July 22, 2000

By 

Bonita L. Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Growing Up in the South: An Anthology of Modern Southern Literature (Mentor) (Paperback)

Southern literature was not a course of study in my high school nor in my college english classes. I was delighted when I found this anthology which contained modern stories about growing up in the south. As the south experiences an influx of northerners and other groups from around the world it will gradually lose its unique flavor which makes it the south. Growing Up In The South captures the voices of those who grew up in the region and experienced all the ups and downs that this unique region of the country had to offer. Jones brings together a broad cross section of southern writers from across the region. Unlike other anthologies she is inclusive of both Black and White writers who lived in the same region but whose experiences were vastly different but in many cases overlapped. The focus of this volume is on growing up as a child in the south as well as the exploration of regional themes that permeate through all of the fictional and autobiographical selections. All anthologies run the risk of being boring or incomplete. Jones avoids this and gives one a balanced picture of southern childhood as experienced by the authors. Just a sampling of each story will encourage you to seek out the full works of the authors. Southern literature can said to be the soul of America's literary heritage. This volume indeed speaks to us from the souls of its southern authors. Share their stories and learn how they grew and matured in a region full of violence, racism, and misunderstandings but still holds a deep sense of space and place in their lives.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book evokes a sense of belonging., November 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Growing Up in the South: An Anthology of Modern Southern Literature (Mentor) (Paperback)

As an English instructor in a South Carolina high school, I have found this collection quite useful as a tool to illustrate the great diversity of characters who live out the Southern experience. The themes of coming of age, race, violence, and the unredeemed sins of past generations are flushed out with intensity and fury. The strongest pieces included are Moody's "Coming of Age in Mississippi," O'Connor's "Everything that Rises Must Converge," and Faulkner's "An Odor of Verbena." If you teach English in the South, you must include this collection.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great depiction of life in the South., November 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Growing Up in the South: An Anthology of Modern Southern Literature (Mentor) (Paperback)

Do you know where your "home place" is? If not I recomend you reading this book. This book is also great to use as a text book for an English class. Last year as a senior in high school we read this book and analyzed each story. At first everyone thought "Oh no, just another boring book," but after the first story and dicussion everyone was in search of his/her "home place" (the place he grew up in, the people he remembers from his childhood, or a place in particular). The literature took our class on a mental field trip of the South and on an adventure to find the person we are inside. We discovered how the South has changed and also the things which remain the same. I gained respect for southern literature and southern authors. After reading the book, I began to ask myself "Where is my "home place?" I did not grow up on a large plantation with a big beautiful white column house, that -I learned- is how Hollywood sees the South. I learned that inside I have my family, my mother, those people close to me who create my "home place." It isn't only Southern people who have a "home place," but everyone has a "home place." Some poeple just need to look for theirs. It is within them, deep inside their heart, a place no one else knows of, a place they belong, and a place that can never be taken away. I think everyone should read this book as a self assignment to find one's self.