Prince of Tides

She had a serenity that both troubled and attracted adults. Grownups always suspected that she was judging them and finding them ridiculous. They were usually right. She found adults both too large and too loud. She was perfectly happy being a child and taking her time about things. She worried that she had taken too much time with her father and that he had died without knowing how much she loved him. This knowledge troubled her and helped make a naturally quiet girl even more withdrawn and introspective. She would lie in the hammock in the front yard and stare out at the river. Her blue eyes looked fierce and seemed to burn with the fury of pure water or wildflowers in storm. But there was no fury there. Only the love of a father she would never see again, a father who did not know her and never would. 

These words are part of a story within the story of The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy. Someone at the Houston Chronicle said that "reading Pat Conroy is like watching Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel."

That's just about right. Why wouldn't you read this book as soon as possible?

Crazy Ladies

There is so much good in a garden, if you don't count what happened to Adam and Eve. ~Michael Lee West; Crazy Ladies

The air is full of strange light, like a photograph negative. ~Michael Lee West; Crazy Ladies

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I began reading Crazy Ladies--perhaps a comic romp through a Southern town? There was that quote on the cover, however, that indicated that the book was, among other things, "puzzling."

Indeed.

The characters were wonderfully drawn, all three generations of them. I wanted more, and was happy to discover that there is another book about these women (Mad Girls in Love), with all their "grace and outrageous flair." (Shelfari).

I love Southern literature--everyone is just a little (or a lot) off. From Bailey White to Fannie Flagg to James Lee Burke--I just can't get enough of those Southern authors.

A question to you: Do you have a favorite Southern author or a particular book that you can recommend?

Fried Chicken Sandwiches and Front Porch Bathtubs

I've already said that I dislike persuasion, especially as it applies to really good books that one loves. Having to explain what makes a book good just takes all the shine off of it, and made my literature classes in college rather unpleasant for me.

Good. Now that we have that out in the open, I'll just say that you should hurry up and read something by Bailey White if you haven't already. After you've done that, find a recording of her reading the same book. She has a surprisingly old-lady sound to her voice (surprising once you have seen her youthful self in photographs); a nice sort of creaky southern resonance that is perfect for relating the stories that she will tell you.

Either way, get comfortable, pour some iced tea, and have plenty of kleenex on hand. I'm telling you, hysteria will ensue, but you might cry for other reasons. I've laughed myself sick over some of her stories and they have stayed with me for years. To this day, I can't go into a teacher's lunch room without thinking of Bailey White, because she once told a story that started with two teachers sitting outside on a curb in the teacher's parking lot eating fried chicken sandwiches--sitting out there because that is not the kind of lunch that you can eat inside of a teacher's lunch room. You might not find that funny, but you would if you had ever carelessly brought something containing fat calories to eat in one of those bastions of raw vegetables, unflavored nonfat yogurt, and diet talk.

Here, these will get you started.

The Telephone Man. Not all of her stories are funny, but I'm not going to get involved in a lot of that book review language (touching! ground-breaking!). You can read this story and listen to it both, all while looking at a photo of Bailey herself. This National Public Radio page has some links to more of her audio stories.

Books:

Quite a Year for Plums

Sleeping at the Starlite Motel

Mama Makes Up Her Mind (this is the one that has the front porch bathtub in it)