Full Description
Like most progressive Southerners, Hal Crowther is decidedly angry about current social and political events, but few writers are more able than he to articulate the problems, the issues, and even the bitter humor of our present situation.
Hal Crowther is a writer who has made a long and illustrious career with sharp political and social commentary in the pages of national and regional outlets, from Time to the Atlanta Constitution to the Oxford American. In this collection, Crowther turns his attention once again to the Bible Belt, the American South, where he finds plenty of fodder for the blues: the descent from George Washington to Donald Trump, the difficulty of finding civil political discourse in a world where folks spew vitriol from behind their keyboards, Klan members marching down the street in Crowther's hometown, the infantilization of culture (starring Mark Zuckerberg), the continued intertwining of religion and governance, and more. This essay collection features a foreword by eminent Southern writer Lee Smith, author of The Last Girls and Silver Alert.
Contents
I. Old Times There Are Not Forgotten
Facing The Founder: On a Day of Shame
A Confederacy of Dunces? Once Again, Dixie Wants Out
Bad News From Home: The White Knights Ride Again
A Whiter Shade of Pale?
Blueprint For Sorrow: The Singular Career of W. Sidney Pittman, Architect
II. Stations of the Cross
Bible Belt Blues
Godforsaken: Of Death and Daffodils
Christian Soldiers
III. Politics: Ballets, Bullets, Bedrooms
Sex and the Southern Politician
And Who Will Lead Us?: The problem with presidents
Goddess of Greed: Ayn Rand is the Right's Weirdest Idol of All
Chaos Theory: When Madness Gains Momentum
From the Madhouse to the White House
Slaughterhouse America Remember the Alamo?
IV. Shadows Fall
Going Viral: Fighting For Oxygen in Trump's America
Darkness at Dawn: The Campus in Crisis
"The Gates of Hell"---Swinging Wide?
Dark Clouds Gathering: Homegrown Fascists Show Their Teeth
V. It's Twilight Time
Dante on Broadway
The Twilight of Truth?
Apocalypse When? Is Reality Melting With the Ice Caps?
VI. Reflections and Meditations
Otherwise Occupied: What Price Revolution?
The Forever Queen: Good-bye to All That
Out of Date: The Joys of Obsolescence
