A Rebel Without A Clue

I have read this set three times, portions four and five. Howard Bahr's "trilogy" -- The Black Flower , The Year of Jubilo , and The Judas Field  -- are to Civil War* fiction as Shelby Foote is to Civil War nonfiction. These are intense books filled with historical accuracy, emotion, and a deep regional sensitivity matched by few other Southern authors. All but those obsessed with the American Civil War, Reconstruction, and the origins of the Lost Cause myth will do well to stick to The Black Flower , but your mileage may vary. The writing is consistently good, all three have fine story lines, and each addresses different aspects of history and human nature. But let's stick to the first book here. Bahr, one-time curator of Rowan Oak (William Faulkner's home) at the University of Mississippi, claims to have read all existing faculty minutes at the University, and indeed the epigraph to The Black Flower  includes the following: " J. Bishop, B.P. Carte...

To understand where this nascent blog is (or will be) coming from, particularly if you're a furriner or a damyankee, you probably need to know where I'm coming from. This book explains it all. White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America Want to know why the POTUS can get away with such utter blithering degenerate idiocy and not alienate his "base?" Want to understand the roots of Jim Crow and Southern bigotry? Want to know why poor white people consistently and reliably vote for politicians who reward them by cutting their legs off at the knees? Want to figure out why most Southern Caucasians can't trace their family trees farther back than some swamp in North Carolina? Ever wonder why those family trees don't branch a whole lot? Read this book. Please. While you're pondering whether to buy it in hardback or Kindle format, or whether to hitch a ride to the public library instead, enjoy some Southern Culture on the Skids. Be sure t...