Reference Review   

The Quotable South

By Al Dixon

Hill Street Press, 2001

ISBN: 1-58818-042-5

Southerners are gifted with words that cut right to the heart of the matter with a sense of humor and at times a sense of tragic destiny.  That’s why The Quotable South edited by Al Dixon is such a treat. 

This latest collection of quotes takes the classic southern voices and adds to them contemporary writers and southern personalities.  The collection of over 800 quotes is arranged in an easy to thumb flag format with topics including: What is the South; You Would Have to be Born There; Them’s Fightin’ Words; The Southern Woman; The Race Question; Southern Culture; Southern Religion; Southern History; Southern Lit; Southern Humor; Southern Music; Eating and Drinking in the South; The Southern Landscape; and The Ever-Changing South.   

I’ve picked three quotes from the collection to tempt you to sample more: 

“Every time I look at Atlanta I see what a quarter of a million Confederate soldiers died to prevent.” ~ John Shelton Reed 

“All I was doing was trying to get home from work.” ~ Rosa Parks 

“Baptists never make love standing up.  They’re afraid someone might see them and think they’re dancing.” ~ Lewis Grizzard

Among the natives and observers of the South that Dixon draws from, are: Roy Acuff, Rick Bragg, Pat Conroy, Rosemary Daniell, John T. Edge, Shelby Foote, Ernest Gaines, Barry Hannah, Huey Long, Celestrine Sibley, Ted Turner, and Eudora Welty. 

The Quotable South is a “must have” for home libraries and bedside nightstands.

Joyce Dixon

Southern Scribe Reviews