Books on living in the deep south in the 1930's

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
14,627
Reaction score
2,057
Can anyone suggest some titles. I'm starting to research a future WIP. Fiction or non fiction is great, and books that highlight the racial climate of the time are a bonus.

Thanks in advance.
 

milly

seeing sparks
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
8,443
Reaction score
2,818
anything Faulkner would be great...also, I'd look at some Ferrol Sams...say, "Run with the Horsmen" or even some Afrian American lit from the likes of Ralph Ellison or Richard Wright...depending on what angle you are approaching the south from of course

But if you are looking to highlight the racial climate, I'd go for Ellison's "The Invisible Man" or Richard Wright's "Native Son"

Even Alice Walker would be a good choice...any of hers actually..."The Color Purple" specifically

or, Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes were Watching God"

:)

and for nonfiction or memoir style, try James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time" or Richard Wright's "Black Boy"

:)

if you would like to PM me I might be of more help if I knew exactly what angle you are going at....I'm southern...and studied quite a bit of Southern lit, specifically African American lit

:)

Good luck
 

mtrenteseau

Mild-mannered accountant by day...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Messages
707
Reaction score
83
Location
Atlanta
Turned Funny is an autobiography by Celestine Sibley, who was a columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for over fifty years. She lived all over Alabama before settling in Atlanta in the 1940s and becoming a crime reporter.
 

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
14,627
Reaction score
2,057
Thanks everyone. SK, I have To Kill a Mockingbird on order as we speak :)
I will also look up the others that have been suggested.
 

johnnysannie

Banned
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
3,857
Reaction score
435
Location
Tir Na Og
Website
leeannsontheimermurphywriterauthor.blogspot.com
The Least One - Sara Davis

A Painted House - John Grisham

Spencer's Mountain - Earl Hamner Jr.

Sounder - William H. Armstrong

Where The Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls

Those are some of my favorites that fit what you're looking for - I may think of some others later and will post if/when I do.
 

milly

seeing sparks
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
8,443
Reaction score
2,818
Ishmael Reed also wrote a book called "Mumbo Jumbo" and it might hit on the later end of the time period you are looking for but it is an amazing book and a really experimental novel in its own right...that by itself is a great reason to look it over...you don't see many things like it..totally defies convention