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Ghost Dancing on the Cracker Circuit: The Culture of Festivals in the American South |
Author: Rodger Lyle Brown
Published: 1997-02-01 |
List price: $25.00
Our price: $25.00
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As of: October 15th, 2008 06:19:36 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Glib approach to southern culture
Sadly, this book is "more of the same": poke fun of the hillbillies. It seems written from an MFA grad-student approach with an NPR polish applied. Light and witty, urban, no real feel for the subjects. Humor is great, of course, but here it doesn't quite work: there's a disconnect. A bit of a snotty tour of the South.
Sure, I had some laughs and learned some things, but...
The old Ten Speed Press books on white trash cooking are funny yet also connected, so it can be done.
I bought this book while exploring southern culture awhile back. I usually hang on to books more than I should. But this thin, slick little thing got sold.
In contrast, Grady McWhiney's "Cracker Culture" is insightful, original and astonishing. And I've kept it.
 Excellent, insightful read.
Roger Lyle Brown has successfully penetrated the mass psyche of the Southern festival culture. At first glance, one might not consider "festivals" to be an engaging topic, but Brown explores this subject like a psychoanalyst, providing real insight into the southern mind via one of its most cherished traditions - the festival. A unique piece of work.
From the Associated Press:
"Every so often, a book comes out that is entirely, refreshingly new -- not just in approach and style, but in idea, scope and theme. Rodger Lyle Brown, while doing doctoral work at Emory University, decided to weave his journeys to Southern festivals into a tale that has most ambitious task: to show that the way Southerners celebrate history and heritage is part of a tapestry of melancholy that illustrates the fading of community. He succeeds mightily....For anyone interested in the South, social history or the human condition, this is a book that is not to be missed." --Ted Anthony, Associated Press National Writer. April, 1998.
Mediocre
The author somehow loses his direction from the time he came up with the idea for the book and the time it was written...Though there is a dearth of books in this particular area, Brown misses the opportunity to make it a really spectacular piece, by getting off on lofty,philosphical,anthropological rhetoric which the lay person will find particularly boring. The historical origins of the festivals and the information about the festivals themselves was particularly good....Is this man a true Southerner? His depracating remarks about some of the festival participants would indicate that this is not the case. How can he in good conscience ridicule his Southern "kin"?
Provides excellent insights into the contemporary South
Cool book. Great for the lay reader and also for use in the classroom
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