Contemporary Southern lit?

[deepthought42]

I have to find a book for a presentation for my Contemporary Southern Literature class. Seeing as how I read Sci-Fi/Fantasy this is going to be a little difficult.

So I was wondering if anyone could recommend an author or book? thanks :)

[Ava]

1. crazy in alabama

:hi:

[Sequoia]

2. There's always "To Kill a Mockingbird"

but maybe you want something more up to date. Say, "Interview With The Vampire" takes place in New Orleans and if that's not southern I don't know what is. Besides it also fits the fantasy category. And the bonus book: "You Can't Go Home Again", by Thomas Wolfe.

[ceile]

3. The Paperboy by Pete Dexter

Set in FL, very good. A bit creepy. He's not from the south though.
Or just about anything by Cormac McCarthy: The Road, No Country for Old Men....Same goes for John Grisham.
But are you needing books written by Southerners or books set in the south?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. good question ...also...need to define the parameters for the word

"contemporary"... while "To Kill A Mockingbird" is excellent, I really do not think of it as contemporary.

[cemaphonic]

4. How about Cormac McCarthy?

Since the 80s, his settings have been more Southwestern than Deep South, but his earlier novels were all set in Appalachia (he himself is from Tennessee IIRC), and were obviously all hugely influenced by Faulkner.

[mitchum]

9. I also recommend any of his earlier southern gothic works...

"Child of God"
Outer Dark"
"The Orchardkeeper"
even "Suttree", which is somewhat of a mess, is quite good

[Shakespeare]

15. The only one of his that could be considered southern is...

Nevermind--Mitchum just named the good ones. :thumbsup:

[Shakespeare]

17. Can't believe nobody has suggested Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina.

VERY southern, and a really, really good novel.

[mitchum]

20. I did! I did!

:)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil -- John Berendt ~or~

The Prince of Tides -Pat Conroy

[KitchenWitch]

6. I second "To Kill a Mockingbird"

[mitchum]

8. Harry Crews "A Feast of Snakes" or "Childhood: Biography of a Place"

Larry Brown "Joe"
Dorothy Allison "Bastard Out of Carolina"

[deepthought42]

24. Damn...

We're already going to be reading Dorothy Allison's book later in the semester... Is it good?

[mitchum]

26. It is very good

can't say the same for her second novel "The Cavedwellers", though. I think it suffers from the "there has never been a first class novel with a rock singer as a protagonist" syndrome

I also recommend her earlier story collection "Trash"

[deepthought42]

27. Spiffy!

Right now we're reading Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones, but I think we're gonna get to Allison soon...

[southpaw]

10. A Confederacy of Dunces

John Kennedy Toole

[deepthought42]

13. OMG! I forgot about that one!

I have read that one; it was good. :)

[southpaw]

16. 'Course you've read it, froody!

:hi:

[deepthought42]

23. I forgot...

cuz the guy that recommended to me turned out to be the boss from hell. But hey...

I'll bring it up with the prof and see if it's a go. Thanks! :)

And thanks again... :hug:

[jobycom]

11. The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kid is pretty fun.

[deepthought42]

36. Wouldn't you know it...

Someone stole her already...lol. And Toni Morrison. And a bunch of people I don't know...

[jobycom]

41. How about Alice Walker? "The Color Purple" is brilliant.

[tigereye]

44. wonderful, wonderful book

I'm not sure I want to see the movie though... :scared:

[IndianaJones]

12. Robert McCammon, Boys Life or Gone South. nt.

[deepthought42]

14. Wow...thanks everyone!

I'm gonna write these down and go to the bookstore to check 'em out. :)

[old mark]

18. Have 2 authors for you, both writing fiction, but not SF:

James Lee Burke: At least 22 novels, won many awards. He writes detective/police fiction, and has an elegant prose style, IMO ome of the best fiction writers living. From Louisiana.

Ace Atkins: 4 or 5 novels, detective/crime fiction mixed with blues music subtexts, he has been nominated for a Pullitzer and other awards for his newspaper reporting work.He is a very good story teller. He is from Alabama.

If you google either of these names, you will have a lot of information on 2 excellent contemporary Southern fiction writers.

Good luck.

mark

[BrotherBuzz]

19. Carl Hiaasen and the late John D. MacDonald

Hiaasen is a journalist and brings a lot of current events on Florida to his satories. The late great J.D. MacDonald was a school trained economist so he manages some cool economic twists through his alter-ego character, Travis McGee.

[MrCoffee]

21. John Dufresne's Louisiana Power and Light

[Rob H.]

22. "A Fine Dark Line" by Joe Lansdale

You'll thank me later. Series!!1!

Edited to add link to its page on Amazon.com so you don't have to take just my word for it. :P

[deepthought42]

25. I should've mentioned...

The theme of the course is to determine what is "Southern" Literature. Is there such a thing? And so on. He told us to find a book we're not reading in class and present it to the class and argue why we think it should've been included, why it's Southern lit, etc...

Lots of good suggestions though...I have yet to make a final decision, but thank you all very much! :D

[MsTryska]

28. How about mergin the two with the Southern Vampire Chronicles

it's what the new HBO series true Blood is based on.


or almost all of Anne Rice's books are based in new orleans - they are more New orleans then Southern, but that might work.

[mitchum]

29. I think if the OP brings in Rice books, he will fail the "Literature" part of the assignment...

even if the books are arguably "Southern"

[MsTryska]

33. yeah i tend to agree....

if it were up to me, other than the old Southern Classics, i would prolly do Bastard out of Carolina, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, or maybe even Divine Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood.

[deepthought42]

37. Damnit...

I want to read Divine Secrets...

You're making this very hard for me. ;) Sadly, we're are already going to be reading Bastard out of Carolina. But I've heard it's good. :)

[MsTryska]

40. So if you want to read Divine Secrets that would be perfect

it is very Southern, and covers a few generations of women too.

[deepthought42]

34. Yeah, he said he wasn't

crazy about Anne Rice. I thought about doing a book by Charlaine Harris, because I have read a couple of her books. I don't have HBO though so I haven't seen the show.

I'll have to ask him next week...

[mnhtnbb]

30. Lee Smith's The Last Girls

[volstork]

31. Ann Patchett "Bel Canto" or

anything by Lee Smith (I particularly like "Fine and Tender Ladies").

[haele]

32. Like "Sci-Fi" - try Sharon McCrumb - "Bimbos of the Death Sun"...

about the perils of writing, editing and murder at a Science Fiction Convention at a southern university town...

Actually Sharon McCrumb has two series of mysteries that are very southern in a quirky, character driven way - The "Elizabeth McPherson" mysteries about a "Southern belle/anthropologist" and her family and the "Ballad" series that started out being about a small town Tennessee community and has evolved into examinations of backwoods culture - primarily with the Celtic background - and history as well as some of the clashes between the modern world and those small communities. And she doesn't sager-coat her cultural history - some descriptions of some of the crimes and events are vivid enough to produce sympathetic nightmares.

Haele

[deepthought42]

35. I may have to check that one out

anyway... :) Spiffy.

[RetroLounge]

38. Define Contemporary...

Carson McCullers, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor are the best, but from 60 years ago.

The one's listed above are good choices (minus that hack Anne Rice :puke: )

RL

[deepthought42]

39. I'll agree on that one

The prof said within the last 20-30 years. We've already short stories by Faulkner and O'Connor as examples of earlier Southern lit. Now we're reading Moira Crone and Tayari Jones.

[deepthought42]

42. You're all making this very difficult...

:P *lol*

[tigereye]

43. ooh, Barbara Kingsolver...

I think she still counts as contemporary...