I think that they shouldn't be labeled so much, but the New York media loves to talk about the South as though it were another country all together, so they label anything from the South.They HAVE to tell everyone that the writer is from there like they are surprised that it's any good.
ANYWAY, Like I said yesterday, I have been quarantined in my basement with the stomach flu, norovirus, whatever ( I feel fine but have young kids and its super contagious, sooooo), so I have been writing and reading and doing programs.
In the mail yesterday , I received Harry Crew's book, A Childhood , and could not put it down. It is a biography of Crew's young life. He grew up in rural Bacon County, Georgia in the 30's and 40's. Damn, you talk about a rough childhood; sharecroppers son, father dies before Harry can know him, alcoholic stepfather, no food, disease, accidents etc. And seriously, all of this takes place when he is young, like before he reaches the age of ten.
What makes this book so good is that it is so honest, brutally so. It makes you wince when reading about the type of poverty that those folks went through (no government aid available at all), and why families stayed close to each other to help each other in times of trouble.
I don't want to say much more except that it is definitely worth a read, and while you are at it, check out some of Harry Crew's videos online. He was on the edge to put it mildly.
