North Toward Home: A Memoir

by Willie Morris

With his signature style and grace, Willie Morris, arguably one of this country's finest Southern writers, presents us with an unparalleled memoir of a country in transition and a boy coming of age in a period of tumultuous cultural, social, and political change.

In North Toward Home , Morris vividly recalls the South of his childhood with all of its cruelty, grace, and foibles intact.  He chronicles desegregation and the rise of Lyndon Johnson in Texas in the 50s and 60s, and New York in the 1960s, where he became the controversial editor of Harper's magazine.   North Toward Home is the perceptive story of the education of an observant and intelligent young man, and a gifted writer's keen observations of a country in transition. It is, as Walker Percy wrote, "a touching, deeply felt and memorable account of one man's pilgrimage."

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Southern, Literature, Classics

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

William Weaks "Willie" Morris (November 29, 1934 — August 2, 1999), was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi, though his family later moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, which he immortalized in his works of prose. Morris' trademark was his lyrical prose style and reflections on the American South, particularly the Mississippi Delta. In 1967 he became the youngest editor of Harper's Magazine. He wrote several works of fiction and non-fiction, including his seminal book North Toward Home, as well as My Dog Skip.

Reviews

[Camie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Willie Morris presents his memoirs from childhood in Mississippi, to university in Texas, then on to a writing career in Manhattan during a time of cultural, political, and social change in America. Though I’m a fan of this author, I had trouble staying engaged in this book for the odd reason that having read several of his other books, I was already familiar with many of the stories here.
My recommendations are My Dog Skip and Taps, tales of growing up in the South.
3 stars

[Kim Fay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not admired the integrity of a book in such a long time. Willie Morris makes no apologies for the contradictions of his Mississippi childhood (which made for painful reading at times), as he writes about his discomfort with and affection for it. He comes of age over a long period of time, from his boyhood in the South through his time at the University of Texas to his twenties as an editor in New York. The section on Texas was a tough one to get through (a lot of names I had to keep straight), but it was worth it---exploring the state's politics during the 1950s, it shone a light on the unsolvable nature of deep-seated American issues, both then and now. When Morris writes about the civility of journalism, as he learned it, I longed for the day when blogs---and ranting---did not exist. This is one of the best books on race and a sense of place (the Deep South/New York contrasts are fascinating) and belonging and not belonging that I have read.

[Mississippi Library Commission · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir follows its author from Mississippi to Texas to New York. Sometimes we have to leave home in order to understand it better, and that's exactly what Morris did. He's a gorgeous writer, too--enjoy!

[Ryan Holiday · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never liked Catcher in the Rye. Perhaps it is not the book that is at fault but the undeserved reaction it gets. There are so many better boyhood memoirs (or books about boyhood alienation, whatever you want to call them), the best being This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff. It's not only based on someone's actual life, but it speaks more deeply to the truth of the experience and it has a resolution. Wolff's character becomes a man-as must we all-unlike Salinger, who conveniently ends the book before he has to deal with any of the themes he's created. Wolff also wrote two more books in this frame (essentially sequels) that I recommend. Read Old School first, and if you like that then try In Pharoah's Army.

Recently I read Willie Morris' North Towards Home and liked it. Morris, clearly an exceptional boy, is a wonderful storyteller and documents unusual times. He seemed to be right on the edge of so many cultural shifts-he was raised in the South right before the Civil Rights Movement, went to college in Texas, studied politics at the height of Lyndon Johnson's transition from Congressional to executive power and finally moved to New York City to work as an editor at Harper's with some of the generation's finest writers. I personally liked the first half of the book better (mostly about his younger years) but the whole thing is worth reading.

Finally, I must recommend Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window. Totto Chan is one of Seth Robert's favorite books and though not technically about boyhood I think it speaks to the same themes. The book has sold something like 5 million copies in Japan which is insane. Totto-Chan is a special figure in modern Japanese culture-she is a celebrity on par with Oprah or Ellen, with a magazine, news show and exalted position to boot. The book describes a childhood in pre-WWII Japan as a poorly misunderstood girl who obviously suffered from attention disorders and excess energy. It wasn't until she met a special school principal-unlike any I have ever heard of-who finally GOT her. And I mean understood and cared about and unconditionally supported her in a way that both inspires me and makes me deeply jealous. If only all of us could be so lucky...

[Deven Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent evocation of an impressionistic life divided into three parts: Mississippi; Texas; and New York.

As a native Mahattanite, I say without reserve that Morris has painted a clear, evocative picture of life in the NYC of the early to late 1960s.

His descriptions of his Mississippi boyhood are so complete and well written that I feel I was beside him growing up. His description of the Mississippi delta describe what I expected to see, but didn't really experience there during the week I spent in and around Cleveland and Greenwood, MS two years ago.

I enjoyed Morris's writing so much I will now seek out his other books.

[Ava Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

We follow the author as he travels from his hometown, Yazoo City, Mississippi, to college in Texas, and then to professional life in New York City. After retiring from his NYC editing job, Morris returns to Mississippi. Sometimes you have to leave home to appreciate it fully, and Willie deeply loves Mississippi, while being the first to admit his home's shortcomings. Willie Morris is a gifted writer who mesmerizes with his storytelling and deft use of language.

[Lagobond · Rating 1 out of 5]

I might be hard-pressed to think of another book I've read that was more uninteresting than this one. This is strange, because I'm a fan of Southern writing and biographies, and I have an interest in the history of the US South -- but this book just left me entirely cold. After encountering gems like Cold Sassy Tree; after being seduced and then richly rewarded by the words of Alice Walker and Kathryn Stockett and Sue Monk Kidd... why, I just can't bring myself to read past page 35 of this thing. I did flip through to random parts of the book, hoping that perhaps I had just picked up a slow starter... but nothing truly intrigued me.

There were a few bits that drew me in briefly, like the landscape description at the very beginning as well as Morris' early school days and his troubles with Miss Abbott, mostly because they strongly reminded me of my own childhood. There were even glimpses of a sassy humor in the telling of Miss Abbott's story. But for the most part, this book was blander than a heart-healthy diet. The publisher tells me that Willie Morris is "one of this country's finest writers," but all I'm seeing here is a collection of pedestrian scenes from the author's life, told in a straightforward, mostly uninspired voice. It's not bad writing, exactly. It's just not good writing, either.

I also found the writer to be a bully at heart. Wikipedia tells me that as an adult, Morris stood up "against segregation, censorship and [Mississippi] state officials' collusion with oil and gas interests." All good things that speak for his character. But the child Willie Morris was cruel and mean-spirited, and I hated reading about the horrible things he did to people, not least because little Me was typically at the receiving end of such bullying. But more importantly, the one time in my life that I was the bully, I felt so ashamed (and I still do, decades later) that I have never again treated another person that way. Morris gives us a parade of his ugly pranks -- and his apparent lack of remorse or feeling for his victims, even looking back from the perspective of a now fully-grown person, makes me sick to my stomach. I guess I just don't care enough for that sort of person to want to read their entire life story.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

These days, people are probably more likely to know of Willie Morris as the boy in the movie, "My Dog Skip." So if anything, they know he grew up in a small town in 1940's Mississippi. They mostly wouldn't know that years later, after an education at the University of Texas, he was a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford, a controversial newspaper editor in Texas, and the youngest editor of America's oldest continuously published magazine, Harper's.

Throughout his adult life he was a writer. His memoir "North Toward Home" is a recollection of a boyhood in pre-integration Mississippi, the rough and tumble of state politics which he covered for the Texas Observer, and coming to terms as a Southerner with New York City, which he liked to call "the Cave."

As a writer, Morris saw both the humor and sadness in the circumstances of daily life. He was fascinated by people and politics, and deeply committed to social justice. Growing up in the rural South, he also had a strong sense of how people are shaped by their history, traditions, and the terrain of the land they call home.

His many books include an account of school integration in his hometown in 1970, a tribute to his friend James Jones, author of "From Here to Eternity," and an account of the making of "Ghosts of Mississippi," Rob Reiner's film based on the murder trial and conviction of the man who shot Medgar Evers. One of the best introductions to Morris' style and favorite subjects is a collection of essays and exerpts from longer works, "Terrains of the Heart and Other Essays on Home," which was published in his later years and is currently in print.

A great companion volume for "North Towards Home" is "From the Mississippi Delta: A Memoir," by African-American writer Endesha Ida Mae Holland. Her book is a compelling account of growing up poor and black in small-town Mississippi and coming of age during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. Together, these two books provide a fascinating look at both sides of the racial divide in the Deep South of the mid-20th century.

[KayG · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my Mississippi book club and found it fascinating. Willie Morris was a charming, brilliant, and confusing individual with a gift for meeting other well known minds of the era. During his Yazoo City boyhood of the 40’s, he shared the feel of the segregated south along with tales of a boy growing up in a small Delta town. At the University of Texas he became the controversial editor of the university newspaper and involved himself in Texas politics, including contact with LBJ and JFK. In New York City he became the youngest editor of Harper’s magazine and had contact with many of the great authors of the day. He had a very conflicted relationship with Mississippi.

[Brad Erickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times this huge memoir dragged, at times it was brilliant with observations, as he describes his times growing up in Mississippi, going to college in Texas, and then working as an editor at Harper’s in New York City. Published in 1967, North Toward Home is at times dated and at other times still relevant. I don’t think I’ll ever reread it as it is quite dense at times, but I’m glad I fought my way through.

[Sean Kinch]

In the 1950s, the University of Texas “had to struggle hard against the aggressive philistinism of its old agrarian culture, and time and again it had been hurt badly by ruddy nabobs and crossroads potentates who were suspicious of its very existence.”

[Ivy Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful prose!

[Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The late Willie Morris takes us through his boyhood in the Mississippi Delta to his college days at the University of Texas on to Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar back to the States where he became the youngest editor-in-chief (33) of a major weekly magazine (Harper's) in 1967. While at Harper's, he helped in launching the careers of William Styron and Norman Mailer.

NORTH TOWARD HOME is a classic memoir in its focus on "growing up" in the Deep South as a "white boy" in the 1940s in the Deep South. The Sunday Times (London) said shortly after its publication that it was the "finest evocation of an American boyhood since Mark Twain." He recalls that Richard Wright grew up on a tenant farm not far from his hometown of Yazoo and when Morris was 22 (in 1956) and in Paris, he called up Wright and they went out and got a "little drunk" talking about the place they had both known. He asked Wright if he would ever come back to the States, to which Wright responded, "No, I want my children to grow up as human beings."

The book is full of such anecdotes in the story of Morris' life up to the year he turned 33.

In a memorable passage, Morris noted that

"There was something in the very atmosphere of a small town in the Deep South, something spooked-up and romantic, which did extravagant things to the imagination of its bright and resourceful boys. It had something to do with long and heavy afternoons with nothing doing, with rich slow evenings when the crickets and the frogs scratched their legs and made delta music, with plain boredom, perhaps with an inherited tradition of contriving elaborate plots or one-shot practical jokes. I believe this hidden influence . . . had something to do with the Southern sense of fancy; when one grew up in a place where more specific exercises in intellection -- like reading books -- were not accepted, one had to work his imagination out on something, and the less austere, the better. This quality would stay with one, in only slightly less exaggerated forms, even as a grown man."

Willie Morris, who has never achieved his due (at least not yet), was one of, if not, the best at capturing the everyday practical nuances arising from the blend of and contradictions among the wit and wisdom, religiosity and evil emanating from both the "Old South" and the "New South."

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a memoir by Willie Morris covering his childhood in Yazoo City, MS, his tenure as editor of the University of Texas paper, his time as editor of the Texas Observer, & his time at Harper's Magazine in New York.

I have connections to a lot of this - my mother's family is from Mississippi (Eupora, MS). I was a little girl in Austin for the brief period my father was there in graduate school for his MFA. This period is most notable for me because I learned to read there. I did part of high school in Dallas (& found it just as creepy as Willie Morris did). & I always wanted to run away to New York (instead I ran away to the West Coast & haven't stopped being glad I did).

I've read & re-read this book several times in my life & different pieces of it struck me in different ways. Reading it as a college student living away from the South for the first time I felt the sense of exile keenly - all the things that are different, all the things that you miss, all the things that you don't miss.

This time I was once again fascinated by the politics, particularly the Texas politics which were a precursor for later American politics. Reading this time I made a mental note to go look for Lyndon Johnson & the American Dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I've been told repeatedly that it's worth reading & really ought to get to it.

Morris writes well & his attempt to come to terms with being a liberal from the South living far from home is an interesting one. Throw in his friendships with folks like William Styron & Richard Wright it makes for interesting thinking.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit for the first third of the book, I thought this may end up being a DNF book because he was describing the life of a rural Southern white boy in Mississippi in the 1940’s and was fairly racist. When he goes to U of TX in Austin, he moves from a very
Conservative Republican to become a more moderate type person and really describes well the political scene in Texas as well as life as the editor of a college newspaper editor. By the time he moves to NYC, he becomes a full-fledged democrat. Was interesting to see the transformation

[Sonya L Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loaned this book to Ron and waited (like a spy behind the curtains) for him to write the review so I could steal it. And here it is:

A pretty good read overall, but he seemed intent on showing how "righteous" he was by not being in the least bit racist. From Amazon: With his signature style and grace, Willie Morris, arguably one of this country's finest Southern writers, presents us with an unparalleled memoir of a country in transition and a boy coming of age in a period of tumultuous cultural, social, and political change.

In North Toward Home, Morris vividly recalls the South of his childhood with all of its cruelty, grace, and foibles intact. He chronicles desegregation and the rise of Lyndon Johnson in Texas in the 50s and 60s, and New York in the 1960s, where he became the controversial editor of Harper's magazine. North Toward Home is the perceptive story of the education of an observant and intelligent young man, and a gifted writer's keen observations of a country in transition. It is, as Walker Percy wrote, "a touching, deeply felt and memorable account of one man's pilgrimage."

[Terrnado · Rating 2 out of 5]

If only he would have stopped writing after the Mississippi section, I would have a favorable regard for him as a writer capable of injecting soul into the everyday experiences of a life. Instead he wrote about Texas, particularly his political experience there, and New York simply to tell his reader what they were like, which was unfortunate for me, a reader who never cared to know what his experiences in Texas and New York were like unless they seemed to matter in a real way to someone, preferably him.

[James Aura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and bittersweet. The evolution of a boy from the deep South as he matures and learns
about the wider world. Of the books I've read this year, one of my favorites. If you are a Northerner, the book will probably give you a better understanding of growing up in the South.
If you are a Southerner, it will resonate with you, make you uncomfortable at times, but ultimately add to your realm of experience.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and honest book that made understand the redneck boys I grew up with a little better. But Willie matured, unlike so many who stayed stuck in some primitive juvenile pattern.

[Alex Joyner · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took some chutzpah for Willie Morris, at the age of roughly 33, to believe that his brief life was worth looking back on for the purpose of writing a memoir. It was also a little fanciful for him to believe, as a relatively recent newcomer on the New York literary scene, that he had found home. But fortunately the young Southern editor of Harper’s Magazine set out to write North Toward Home, which was published in the 1967 in the same week as William Styron’s controversial Southern novel, The Confessions of Nat Turner.

I picked up a 1982 edition of this book after chasing it down for several years. It is considered a seminal work of the memoir genre and, of course, it appealed to me as a window into life in the South.
That’s where Morris begins, in his hometown of Yazoo City, Mississippi, recently tapped by 24/7 Wall Street as the most miserable city in America. It probably wouldn’t have ranked much higher in the 1940s, but Morris draws it as a poor but fascinating place to live. Morris grew up as the descendent of one of Mississippi’s most colorful governors, Henry Foote, who opposed secession, not for anti-slavery sentiments, but for sheer ornery hatred of his fellow-Mississippian Jefferson Davis.

The Delta he describes is deep in the grips of Jim Crow segregation and Morris doesn’t sugarcoat its contradictions. There is the Mississippi of small town revivals at the Methodist Church; groups gathered at the firehouse on lazy afternoons to hear baseball games broadcast by the old Scotchman, Gordon McClendon; and pick-up football games with Morris’s remarkable dog, Skip, who could play running back. There was also the Mississippi of casual violence and deep-seated racism that created another life for the African-American residents.

Read my full review on Heartlands...https://alexjoyner.com/2020/03/08/bel....

[Dan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

In North Toward Home, Morris vividly recalls the South of his childhood with all of its cruelty, grace, and foibles intact. Much of his young life mirrors mine albeit he was a decade or two ahead of me.

The story carries him through his studies at the University of Texas and his subsequent continuing education as a Rhode Scholor. The story became a little slow at this point and he spent too much time describing the problems in the political system in Texas. He chronicles desegregation and the rise of Lyndon Johnson in Texas in the 50s and 60 spending more time on the personalities of the state government and not enough time in his life. The story comes back to the reality when he became the controversial editor of Harper's magazine. North Toward Home is the perceptive story of the education of an observant and intelligent young man, and a gifted writer's keen observations of a country in transition. It is, as Walker Percy wrote, "a touching, deeply felt and memorable account of one man's pilgrimage."

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably my third time to read this book--one of my favorites of all time. In it Morris moves from a childhood in segregated Mississippi, where he exhibits that unconscious racism that all of us who lived in the segregated south practiced, to college and young manhood in Texas, and finally to the literary scene of New York. My favorite part was, of course, his section on Texas, with his descriptions of the University of Texas in the fifties, his courageous editorship of the Daily Texan, and his take on Texas politics as seen through the lens of the Texas Observer. I learned so much about my state through the eyes of this Mississippi transplant. His final section on New York was also fascinating--especially his view of the "eastern elite" and their insular intellectualism. This book, published in 1967, still gives fresh insights into our country and its many sections. I mourn the fact that Willie Morris is not around to write about today's events.

[Jeanine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willie Morris writes of a forgotten time and of the political setting in the South, the deep South that is, of Yazoo, Mississippi of the 1940s. Chapter 6 was disturbing to me, he writes about the deep set racism in his hometown. In my family and among my friends racism was wrong.
Morris writes fondly about his dog Skip and baseball.
In the Texas section, Morris recounts his time at UT in Austin. He also remembers the years he spent in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Then returning to Texas, Morris assumed the editorship of The Texas Observer. He reported on the political landscape of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
After Kennedy’s election to president, Willie, his wife and young son, move to New York, where Morris becomes an editor at Harpers publications. He writes about how very different NYC is from both Mississippi and Texas. Much more crowded and easier to be isolated within a sea of people.
My book group is reading memoirs and biographies for our September meeting.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brought back my own experiences of growing up in the same time span as Morris, but in different circumstances. Very revealing comparisons and useful in examining my first 20 years in conservative small town Wisconsin, followed by what felt like liberation in urban New York in the 1960s and onward. Morris deals primarily with his roots in Mississippi 1934-1952, his college years and 2 years as a political newspaper editor in Texas, and a move to New York in 1963, age 29, for life in the fast lane of the publishing world. The book was published in 1967 so his reflections on the New York years are not seasoned, and feel too much too soon to me, but the earlier sections are full of such insightful observations and so relevant to what is happening now that the 5 stars are solidly earned.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the book was just the Mississippi section, I would have given it five stars. The book slows down considerably during the Texas section, even though I enjoy politics, especially the Texas variety, but Morris is not as funny as Molly Ivins. The New York section picks up the pace again, even if it doesn't reach the heights of the Mississippi section. Morris' evocation of small town Southern life in MS reminds me so much of my childhood, the good and the bad, in NC. I found myself underlining memories of his that could have been my memories. This book had long been on my to read list, and I am glad I finally finished it. Some of the racial attitudes (although Morris was a liberal for his time) may make some readers uncomfortable, but his unvarnished honesty makes Morris an engaging, if not always a likable narrator.

[Vidhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me almost three months to read this book. Despite having loved My Dog Skip, I found this book extremely difficult to read and stay engaged in from the start. The only reason I did not DNF it was because I felt like I owed it to my place of residence and many of my friends who love this book. It just wasn’t for me. The section on Texas was so long and drawn out for some godforsaken reason. Much of the Delta portion was in My Dog Skip. New York was more stimulating but suffered from excessive name dropping. Overall, I found Morris to be pretty insufferable, which is surprising since many people I know knew him personally and have emphasized how kind he was in person. I may have enjoyed this book more if I were in my early 20s and really in that coming of age phase of my life, but for now, I was just happy to finish it.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread this book for book club. Speaks to the current generation of southern men from the generation of men about my father's age, and his father's through Willie Morris' relationship with his own father. I recommend this book to anyone wishing to get beyond the racial and cultural stereotypes promulgated by the media, particularly Hollywood with its 'moonlight and magnolia' or equally distorted views based on prevalent and popular or populist figures so de rigueur in the 'bro' culture of podcasts and other mediums.
Particularly insightful is Morris' growth as a young man first in Mississippi growing up in a small town typical of rural America, going through tremendous social change with the growing Civil Right movement, along with Morris' experiences at college in Texas just before his journey towards literary legend in the wilds of Manhattan.

[Mark Greenbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir is an absolute pleasure. The man Morris knew how to turn a phrase; what's in the water the imbues Mississippians with such a way with words? The prose is lush and generous. His section in Texas, at UT and then helming the Texas Observer, is the high point. Morris's heart was in Yazoo City, but I feel like his intellectual curiosity was in Austin. If I were fishing for negatives, I'd probably say that his third section was too jaded from the jump in such a way that is predictably mocking of New Yorkers and fishing in the usual tropes of Gotham. But it's a small thing. Morris was a man bottomlessly interested in the world, and willing to stare at his past and himself with the most probing, pitiless eye. The product is an achingly rich picture still resonant 50 years later.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. As many have said, this book had its slow moments. Although I am a native Texan, a graduate of The University of Texas, and a once upon a time faithful reader of "The Daily Texan", the Texas section of the book was a chore to read. Morris's tales of his childhood in Mississippi and his adult life in New York, however, captivated me. Seeing him evolve and address the inner conflict he carried with regard to the racial injustice that surrounded him as a youth was moving. Willie Morris was a fine writer. I am glad to have read this memoir.

[Shannon Rickert · Rating 2 out of 5]

It jumped around a lot with the ages and years. One page he picked on people and the next he liked them and gave them things. It was a little winded when it came to the games and some of the article stuff. Unless you are big in politics (im not, to a certain extent) then it might be hard to read some of it.