Recs if you like A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories...

a multigenre syllabus on the history, identity, and culture(s) of the american southeast - a region often known otherwise as simply “the south” or “the deep south,” consisting in part of “the bible belt” (most of it) and parts of appalachia.

Classic works of literature with Catholic themes or authors

featuring dysfunctional families, troubled relationships with religion, underlying decay, the southern gothic, and just a sprinkling of cannibalism

Ethel Cain’s bookshelf. Haunted churches, dirt roads, and hymns gone sour.

Where the setting is cooler than the main character.

Ethel Cain + True Detective (S1) vibes

The feeling of growing up two miles from a Dollar General and getting yea ma’am-ed at 12 years old. People love to use Southern slang and talk about Waffle House like it’s a reality TV show but refuse to do their actual research into the South. If I see one more person acting like only inbred white supremacists live in the south (and only in the south) to eat their raw okra and liver mash I’m gonna lose it.

Short story, poetry, and anthology collections whether they meet the definition of “rhapsody” or not.

Every pretentious little name dropped book.

Books I have and need to read (short term)