My tears spoiled my aim, and other reflections on Southern culture

by John Shelton Reed

The Kansas City Star calls John Shelton Reed "an H.L. Mencken of Dixie." "A writer this funny is dangerous," says the Raleigh News and Observer. Here Reed is in peak form as he takes a hard, often humorous look at a region he claims has created its own quasi-ethnic group: the American Southerner. Is the South changing? You bet, says Reed. Industrialism, urbanization, and desegregation are just a few of the things that have changed it almost beyond recognition. In fact, One constant in the South is change. "Those who like their boundaries well defined should not attempt to talk about Southerners, " writes Reed. But for those willing to ask some difficult questions about the life and culture of the elusive Southerner, this is the place to start. Where is the South? Does it begin at the Mason-Dixon Line or the "Hell, yes!" line - where people begin to answer that way when asked if they're Southerners? Is it where kudzu grows? Or where. Bourbon is preferred over scotch? How do Southerners