Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

My Little Town

A Pilgrim's Portrait of a Uniquely Southern Place

ebook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available
My Little Town turns the Yankee-comes-to-Dixie literary genre outside in, examining Marion, Alabama, through the eyes of someone who should never have been living there and yet found himself there for more than a decade. With a keen appreciation of its peculiarly Southern tableau, the book lovingly scrutinizes an Alabama village short chapter by short chapter, accompanied by photographer Jerry Siegel's captivating work from the Black Belt. Funeral visitations, poisoned soup luncheons, Pilgrimage hosting, supper clubs, family feuds, Obama Day parades, politics, Jews, and chicken salad recipes are all treated with a voice of singular precision and affection. Simultaneously author David Tipmore couples this fresh view of Southern small-town life with his own narrative of a worldly urban nomad who hopes to find a home in one of the most isolated areas of the United States, peculiarly defined by its racial history and regional mores. By conflating the two stories, My Little Town challenges the reader as much as the author, raising serious questions about our ability as Americans to transcend our regional identities and cultural complexities.
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Booklist

      January 1, 2021
      It was an unlikely place for an urbane, cultured, globe-trotting journalist to call home after living in Manhattan and writing for the Village Voice, but Marion, Alabama, seemed to have just what Tipmore was looking for: serenity, history, gentility, and maybe just a few existential challenges. Committing to Marion's population of just a few thousand people, Tipmore hoped he could both blend in and stand out, but Yankees don't assimilate into Rebel territory any easier in the twenty-first century than they did during the nineteenth. In short chapters devoted to such quotidian topics as "Conversation," "Chicken Salad," and "Women's Clubs," as well as weightier issues regarding "Race," "Religion," and "Politics," Tipmore distills the essence of contemporary Southern culture into sharp, succinct vignettes. Tipmore's degree in cultural anthropology pays off, for he manages to insinuate himself into the town's bedrock institutions while maintaining the healthy reserve necessary for objective observation. A poignant homage to a way of life that is slowly disappearing despite considerable efforts to hang on to its heritage.

      COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Loading