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Reviews
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry
tigerlillymelody's review against another edition
4.5
My love for Imani Perry is not a secret. One of my favorite histories of the South that both feel like a warm homey blanket and reveals things I took for granted about my environment growing up. It’s definitely up there for me with other instant classics like Jack E. Davis’ The Gulf, Clint Smith’s How the Word is Passed, and Sarah Gerard’s Sunshine State. Absolutely recommend to all Southerners - no wait actually all Americans.
drugae's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
This is not an easy book, or a perfect book, but it felt like a necessary book. Perry covers a lot of ground both literally and figuratively. The flow from topic to topic is interesting and often illuminating, but I wish there had been more section breaks within chapters so it would be easier to pause and reflect on what you just read.
dinasamimi's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. What can I say about this book? It's powerful and it's truth and it's nonlinear and expansive. Imani Perry is a master at language -- her writing is so beautiful and emotive. But this is more than that -- she weaves these threads of history and lineage and storytelling in a totally original way. You may need a moment to be fully absorb and settle into the style, but once you do you'll be on a journey. This is a book that needs to be appreciated slowly, taking in every gulp.
erinkilmer's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
surefinewhatever_'s review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Halfway through switched from hardcover to audio since my physical book was finally due back at the library.
At times, some truly stunning writing was happening here, other times this felt a little dense. Regardless, a worthwhile read on the history of the south.
At times, some truly stunning writing was happening here, other times this felt a little dense. Regardless, a worthwhile read on the history of the south.
srjennings's review against another edition
I was listening to the audio version. It just didn't keep my attention and wasn't the content i was looking for.
katmccoy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
aliceing's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
This review took a while because I have a lot of conflicting thoughts! The TLDR is: great if you are interested in the conceptual South and looking for a personal history, less great if you are looking for factual history or compact language and writing.
As a white person from the northern South with a very long Appalachian heritage, this was a very important book to read. I went into it hoping for history flavored with reflection and that's definitely what I got - along with a lot of personal stories (generally good), generalizations (hard to evaluate), and dualities. Personal histories like this are a little hard to evaluate because they are somewhere between biography, memoir, and pop history - all polarizing genres. I was surprised that Perry opened with the northern south, although I appreciate the inclusion of DC and Maryland because they are often forgotten. The evaluation of the northern South, including Virginia and West VA, felt extremely cursory, especially given the immediacy of the Civil War and the long legacy of Appalachian whiteness/class relative to Applachian Blackness/class, plus the rampant environmental justice issues - she gets there in Louisiana, but not West VA!
I think the core issue is twofold: 1) this is an incredibly ambitious book, perhaps too ambitious, and 2) I listened to the audiobook. The writing is very nice but VERY verbose and could definitely have been tightened up in spots - this is very obvious in the audio version and grating after a while. Distillation only makes a thing stronger when the core is already there, as it clearly is here. The length combined with the writing and the awkward organization made for challenging listening, although I appreciate that Perry read it herself.
Some other less good aspects:
As a white person from the northern South with a very long Appalachian heritage, this was a very important book to read. I went into it hoping for history flavored with reflection and that's definitely what I got - along with a lot of personal stories (generally good), generalizations (hard to evaluate), and dualities. Personal histories like this are a little hard to evaluate because they are somewhere between biography, memoir, and pop history - all polarizing genres. I was surprised that Perry opened with the northern south, although I appreciate the inclusion of DC and Maryland because they are often forgotten. The evaluation of the northern South, including Virginia and West VA, felt extremely cursory, especially given the immediacy of the Civil War and the long legacy of Appalachian whiteness/class relative to Applachian Blackness/class, plus the rampant environmental justice issues - she gets there in Louisiana, but not West VA!
I think the core issue is twofold: 1) this is an incredibly ambitious book, perhaps too ambitious, and 2) I listened to the audiobook. The writing is very nice but VERY verbose and could definitely have been tightened up in spots - this is very obvious in the audio version and grating after a while. Distillation only makes a thing stronger when the core is already there, as it clearly is here. The length combined with the writing and the awkward organization made for challenging listening, although I appreciate that Perry read it herself.
Some other less good aspects:
- Several other reviews discuss the organization which is really haphazard. There are a lot of short stories in each section that feel somewhat random when listened to - there may be formatting that distinguishes it in the print book, I'm not sure.
- There is a lot of projection onto minor interactions, which is a real weak point in the book - those are perfectly valid stories and we all live within the structures of our society, but we really cannot claim to know deep inner thoughts or experiences of random airport workers or Uber drivers.
- The blitz through Cuba and Bermuda, while interesting, felt very rushed compared to the sections about the Deep South, and more than one reviewer has noticed factual inaccuracies there. There's a lot of merit to exploring beyond the geographic borders of the South, but I think existing as a tourist alters your perception of a place to such a degree that these sections didn't hold water for me.
This review feels more negative but I'm glad I read it and there is a lot of wonderful, useful reflection here. Ultimately, this is a beautiful and thought provoking personal exploration of an individual's history, emphasis on the personal.
heather3879's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0