90 Degrees in the Shade by Clarence E. Cason

by Clarence Cason

"Clarence Cason belonged to that restless generation of southern intellectuals who, between the world wars, questioned the South's stubborn traditionalism even as they tried to explain and defend its distinctiveness. From his professorial perch at The University of Alabama, Cason wrote polished essays for leading national publications while contributing weekly editorials for newspaper readers. In 90[degree] in the Shade, written in 1935, Cason declared that climate and the relaxation afforded by field and stream had given southerners excellent reasons for their notoriously slow pace of life. Still, he wrote, "there is much work that ought to de done below the Potomac." Cason captured the pathos of race relations and other persistent problems of the Deep South. Just days before the book's publication, however, he shot himself in his campus office. He left no explanation, but apparently he feared angry reaction from fellow southerners to his mild criticisms and gentle suggestions for change." "This edition of Cason's classic allows yet another generation the enjoyment of his perceptive writing, not so much for any remedy he proposed but rather for the open-minded and loving way in which he addressed the region's tragic experience."--BOOK JACKET.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

W. J. Cash's The Mind of the South is better. However, Cason's recounting of his two inadvertent by-standing experiences with lynchings is powerful.