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South to America

A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation

Audiobook
9 of 15 copies available
9 of 15 copies available

"An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South—and thus of America—by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration."

—Isabel Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South—and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America

We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole.

This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life.

Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. With uncommon insight and breathtaking clarity, South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 25, 2021
      Perry (Looking for Lorraine), a professor of African American studies at Princeton, interweaves personal and regional history in this impressionistic study of the American South. Adding depth and nuance to standard portrayals of “lost cause” narratives of white supremacy, Perry highlights moments of “resistance to the slave-based society.” During a visit to Harper’s Ferry, W.Va., she notes that the state, which seceded from Virginia in 1861 to remain with the Union, is “foundationally anti-slavery,” and cites examples of how Appalachia has nurtured Black educational excellence, including the interracial Highlander Folk School. Elsewhere, Perry delves into North Carolina’s history of racial trauma, including the 1898 white supremacist uprising in Wilmington and the 2006 Duke University lacrosse case, and, in an enlightening discussion with art collector Walter Evans, considers Low Country architecture, the Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier rivalry, and the effects of desegregation on Black cultural networks. Perry’s meditations range far and wide, alluding to literary theorists, basketball stars, Supreme Court rulings, and her own ancestors with equal familiarity and insight, though the breadth often comes at the expense of depth, particularly when she is relating historical events, such as abolitionist John Brown’s 1859 raid on the federal armory at Harper’s Ferry. Still, this is a rich and imaginative tour of a crucial piece of America.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      In this intricate, insightful, and deeply moving work of nonfiction, author/narrator Imani Perry meanders through the South, from New Orleans and DC to the Georgia coast and the West Virginia hills. With a blend of history and personal stories, she explores the South--its culture, language, geography, food, politics--and the crucial role it has played in American history and mythology. Her musical narration is as beautifully assured as her prose, full of the rhythm and cadences of her native Alabama. Though much of the audiobook is a reckoning with racism and white supremacy, it is also a gorgeous, complicated love letter--love you can hear in every sentence Perry speaks. Overflowing with urgent stories and narrated with so much passion and grace, this is a must-listen. L.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      June 1, 2022

      PEN America prize winner Perry (African American studies, Princeton Univ.; Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry) narrates her book that combines memoir, history, and travel narrative as she winds her way through the American South. Her stated goal is to examine the South as both a series of micro-environments shaped by local history and geography and as a macrocosm for the often-fraught history and reality of the United States as a whole. It's a tall order, and one whose success as an audio production depends on listeners' willingness to wander with Perry on a lengthy journey that takes her close to her own roots in Alabama, as well as many places she's rarely or never been before. Perry is soft-spoken and deliberate in her pacing, which allows listeners to fully explore the topic. Those who enjoy an immersive and unhurried nonfiction experience will be rewarded by this examination of how we often blend the personal, the historical, and the political. VERDICT Recommended for listeners who appreciate the works of Isabel Wilkerson and Morgan Jerkins.--Natalie Marshall

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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