1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the South [Hardcover]

John Reed (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1996

An irreverent, idiosyncratic, and information-filled catalog of all things Southern--the people, places, history, traditions, foods, and foibles that fascinate Americans both north and south of the Mason-Dixon line.

The Confederate States. The Cotton Kingdom. The Sahara of the Bozart. The bible Belt. However it is defined, the South is the most intriguing--and misunderstood--region of the country. It's not surprising: Where else can such diverse cultural icons as Robert E. Lee, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Moon Pie be found in one place?

In 1001 short, eminently readable essays, authors John and Dale Reed illuminate every nook and cranny of this fertile land and culture, clarifying with an authoritative but humorous touch what everyone should know about. Interspersed with their incisive entries on history, politics, life, and literature, is a whole mess of fun facts such as what state has the best barbecue, where kudzu originally came from, why chivalry is so important to Southern males, and the origins of bluegrass music. So if you want to know the difference between a bubba, a good ol' boy, a redneck, a whelp (Tennesseean), and a sandlapper (South Carolinian), you're sure to find it in 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About The South.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The South is different from the rest of the United States, and it's not just because most folks who live there speak with a southern drawl. In 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the South authors John Shelton Reed and Dale Volberg Reed, both Southern academics, examine the ideologies and traditions the have historically set the South apart from the rest of America. Topical sections include "The Central Theme: Race and Politics" and "Grit Lit: Literature" and cover such diverse subjects as Bourbon Street, clogging and Paul "Bear" Bryant.

From Library Journal

The publication of the massive one-volume Encyclopedia of Southern Culture (LJ 7/89) gave librarians, historians, sociologists, and other researchers a treasure trove of invaluable information about the American South. Both of these new works continue to inquire into the peculiarities and distinctiveness of Southernness; both define the South as the 11 Confederate states plus West Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland (1001 Things adds Oklahoma and Missouri to the list). The Reeds, both Southern academics, provide a cornucopia of succinct information that has historically made the South different from the rest of America. They divide their work into 12 broad topical sections such as "The Central Theme: Race and Politics" and "Grit Lit: Literature." Short paragraphs, often punctuated by photographs and illustrations, cover such diverse subjects as Bourbon Street, clogging, and Paul "Bear" Bryant. Howorth (Univ. of Mississippi) capitalizes on the trend of trivial pursuit publications. Her work offers a total of 762 questions with answers based on articles that appear in the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. The quiz book is divided into eight broad topical sections such as music and entertainment, literature, sports and recreation, the land, and art and architecture, with an average of 90 questions per section. Some questions are truly trivial, while others are thought-provoking, such as "What technological innovation has changed the nature of Southern life most dramatically?" Answer: Air conditioning. If that keen observer of Southern manners, Lewis Grizzard, were still alive he would no doubt enjoy these offbeat yet informative books. Recommended for public and undergraduate academic libraries.
Charles C. Hay, Eastern Kentucky Univ. Libs., Richmond
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 310 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1 edition (June 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385474415
• ISBN-13: 978-0385474412
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,277,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Shelton Reed is William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was director of the Howard Odum Institute for Research in Social Science for twelve years and helped to found the university's Center for the Study of the American South. He has written or edited eighteen books, four of them with his wife, Dale Volberg Reed.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential and entertaining reference for all Americans, May 4, 2001

By 

Andrew S. Rogers (Stamford, Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About The South (Paperback)

Born in Texas of Texan parents, but raised outside the South (except for six years or so in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, which aren't nearly as Southern as they used to be), I've always felt self-consciously removed from what I'd like to consider my heritage. Thanks to John Shelton Reed and Dale Volberg Reed's great book, I've not only discovered I'm more Southern than I realized, but know a lot more about that section of the country than I did before.

'1001 Things Everyone Should Know about the South' is a book anyone can open at random and start reading anywhere. But if you read it straight through, systematically, I'm willing to guarantee almost anyone they'll discover things about the South they never knew before.

This book is not a fancied-up version of You Might Be A Redneck If....

The Reeds are serious researchers and writers, and they look at the South through the lenses of history, geography, ethnology, linguistics, religion, art, music, literature, architecture, cooking, politics, economics, and more. There are the obligatory sections on the Confederacy and the War, of course, but the Reeds understand, as other historians and writers have also noted, that the CSA was a period of barely five years out of more than 400 years of Southern history. (One of the things everyone should know about the South is that there were European settlers in Virginia, Texas, and Florida before anyone save Native Americans had set foot on Plymouth Rock.) This is one of the things that made '1001 Things ...' a far more satisfying book for me than was Michael Andrew Grissom's Southern by the Grace of God, which had a tendency to view everything through the prism of the War.

There is an enormous amount of interesting material in this book, ranging from the difference between 'Cajun' and 'Creole,' to the differences in habits between Southerners and folks in other parts of the nation (northerners subscribe to more dog magazines but Southerners own more dogs), to regional differences in linguistics and cuisine (finally I've found someplace that explains regional varieties of barbecue, though as a loyal son of Texas I have to agree that brisket, not pork, is the proper barbecuing meat [#647]).

Among the other interesting things I learned: 80 percent of Southern parents teach their children to say 'sir' and 'ma'am' to adults (mine sure did), whereas only 46 percent of non-Southern parents do [#148]; 80 percent of Southerners also admit to using 'you-all' or 'y'all' occasionally as the second person plural, whereas most non-Southerners almost never do [#147]; one of the characteristics of Southern writers is that many of them only discovered their 'Southernness' when they lived outside the South [#472 -- hey! Like me!], and that Southern artists, or at least artists from the South, include Jasper Johns, Charles Willson Peale and Rembrandt Peale, John James Audubon, and Robert Rauschenberg, among many others.

My favorite living writer, Florence King (author of Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady, among much else), said of this book, 'Every page is a treat!' As usual, I agree with her absolutely.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Near encyclopedic coverage of Southern essentials and trivia, August 30, 2000

By 

Julian P Killingley - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About The South (Paperback)

This book is a delight. It's not a treatise for reading straight through but more a dipper's delight.

This book covers nearly everything anybody could reasonably want to know about The South - and a great deal more. The authors' treatment is rather eclectic - some major Southern indicia get fairly cursory treatment whilst some trivia get dwelt upon lovingly. I loved the treatment of Moon Pie - a delicacy unknown to European shores.

The Reeds have done an excellent job of combining scholarship with lightness of touch. The format is one of brief entries on topics (approx 100-500 words) loosely but alphabetically arranged by theme. It nicely complements John Shelton Reed's "My tears spoiled my aim" without covering the same ground.

Leave a copy in your bathroom - your guests will thank you!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you wanted to know, January 25, 2000

By 

James (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About The South (Paperback)

This covers everything you should know in an amazing economy of space. It is like an encyclopedia in one volume. Everything that is southern is in this book. Things you have thought and wondered about is in this book, with unique and rare photos. It is hard to put this book down, one looks up one fact and stumbles on other facts that lead to something else. It is like the world wide web. A totally engrossing book, a reference book that is a must for all southern libraries.