Southern Selves: From Mark Twain and Eudora Welty to Maya Angelou and Kaye Gibbons A Collection of Autobiographical Writing

by James H. Watkins

  The memoirist seek to capture not just a self but an entire world, and in this marvelous anthology thirty-one of the South's finest writers—writers like Kaye Gibbons and Reynolds Price, Eudora Welty and Harry Crews, Richard Wright and Dorothy Allison—make their intensely personal contributions to a vibrant collective picture of southern life.

In the hands of these superb artists, the South's rich tradition of storytelling is brilliantly revealed. Whether slave or master, intellectual or "redneck," each voice in this moving and unforgettable collection is proof that southern literature richly deserves its reputation for irreverent humor, exquisite language, a feeling for place, and an undying, often heartbreaking sense of the past.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Southern, History

377 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 1998

Reviews

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a lot of these pieces in other books, or have read them, but nice to have in one volume. My favorite was by Kaye Gibbons, a true North Carolinian in her way of thinking and expressing herself.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a southern woman.
This is a book of southern writers writing about their lives.
I love southern writers.
You do the math.

[Victoria Marie Lees · Rating 3 out of 5]

Southern Selves A Collection of Autobiographical Writing Edited by James H. Watkins taught me much about the feelings in the south during the time of the Civil War and Jim Crow laws. A truly upsetting and terrifying time to be black.

In these essays, the writers are explicit, wise, and emotional. I studied how the writers brought personal stories to life. I enjoyed their stories. Here’s just a sample.

Mark Twain’s experience as a Confederate soldier, marching all over the place. No one wanting to take orders from anyone else.

Pauli Murray’s story as a young child living with her grandmother and aunt. Her experience of helping during her grandmother’s illness. Spoiler alert! [Sorry!] The grandmother got better! I was so glad. I liked her.

Eudora Welty’s essay about her parents. The loneliness of her father’s growing up years once his young mother died. Welty’s mother living through her father’s untimely death.

So many good essays. These writers explored the incidents in their lives and told of the revelations learned. Southern Selves A Collection of Autobiographical Writing is an insightful read.

[Thomas Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book of excerpts from the lives of famous southern writers, lent to me by a friend, intrigued me because of my interest in the lives of writers. Some of the excerpts, Maya Angelou's, Larry Brown's, Harry Crews's, Zora Neale Hurston's, Eudora Welty's, I found not only captivating but also beautifully written. Others, and there were quite a few, I found stodgy, the language too outdated to keep from boring me. Still, it's a worth a read for the gems I've named.