Reviewed by Desere
The Deep South has always been a place of wonder to me, I
wonder how they do this, how they do that, I have read a few books on the
subject, but never has any of those felt like I was really there front and
center for the action.
Of course I doubt that one can ever really experience any
country unless you have really been there to experience it, but heck I am a
firm believer in books offering me the chance to escape so yeah. The author is unknown to me, and having not
read any of his works before I was pretty excited to find out what he was about
to show me.
I should probably mention that my perception of the south is
lots of history, great food, real southern like charm and beautiful plantation , and sadly the slaves who suffered at the hands of those who thought of
them as no more than workhorses. So
when the author started to mention the schools, the housing the unemployment rate,
it was very much like I had just stepped out of my country and right back into
it.
But what the author did do with this little reality check
was remind me that the bad housing, the harsh school conditions, it’s
everywhere, sure on TV we see the pretty plantations and the rich history, but
they never show us what lies beyond that, so a huge thank you to this author
for reminding me that nothing is always as perfect as it seems.
On his various road trips he talks to mayors, social
workers, every day normal people. But he also brings alive what they see, what
they feel, what they need. It is a combination of an eye opening trip and being
bombarded with emotion as deep as the Deep South. I immensely enjoyed this read
and I found it to be more informative then other reads of the same line.
The history was brought alive in vivid color and I cannot
express how happy I am that this author took the time to pen it down. Highly
recommended for all fans of traveling books.
5/5 star review
“ The south is far more south than you think”
** Copy provided in exchange for a honest review , by Penguin Random House South Africa
** Copy provided in exchange for a honest review , by Penguin Random House South Africa
