Smiley Anders's first book, "Best of Smiley," published by AuthorHouse, presented humorous excerpts from his six-day-a-week newspaper columns in the Baton Rouge, La., Advocate published between 1979 and 1990. This book not only contains funny stories from his columns published between 1991 and 2000, but also an account of his life, from his early days as a spoiled brat in Natchez, Miss., to his high school and college days in Baton Rouge and his journey in journalism that culminated in his...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “One of contemporary literature’s most revered essayists revives her raw records from a 1970s road trip across the American southwest ... her acute observations of the country’s culture and history feel particularly resonant today.” —Harper’s BazaarJoan Didion, the bestselling, award-winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Let Me Tell You What I Mean, has always kept notebooks—of overheard dialogue, interv...

The hidden history of the haunted and beloved city of New Orleans, told through the intersecting lives of nine remarkable characters.“Nine Lives is stunning work. Dan Baum has immersed himself in New Orleans, the most fascinating city in the United States, and illuminated it in a way that is as innovative as Tom Wolfe on hot rods and Truman Capote on a pair of murderers. Full of stylistic brilliance and deep insight and an overriding compassion, Nine L...

Raised by his grandmother in Tennessee, Gil Scott-Heron's journey from humble beginnings to becoming one of the most uncompromising and influential songwriters of his generation is a remarkable one. In this, his heartfelt, beautifully written and posthumously published memoir, we are given bright insights into the music industry, New York, the civil-rights movement, modern America, governmental hypocrisy, Stevie Wonder and our wider place in the world. It is also a fitting testament to the...

The story of the mill people of Jacksonville, Alabama. The mill was here before the automobile, before the flying machine, and they served it even as it filled their lungs with lint and shortened their lives. In return, it let them live in stiff-necked dignity in the hills of their fathers. So, when death did come, no one had to ship their bodies home on a train. This is a mill story; not of bricks, steel, and cotton, but of the people who suffered it to live.

The always outrageous, humor-contagious Lewis Gizzard is grousing his way back into our hearts once more, settling the score on the woes and wonders that plague him, such as: transplanted New Yorkers, too many ROCKY movies, and the value of alcohol for the elderly. He'll leave you laughing out loud and tearing up too....

In a coming-of-age story as enchantingly vivid and ribald as anything Mark Twain or Zora Neale Hurston, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., recounts his childhood in the mill town of Piedmont, West Virginia, in the 1950s and 1960s and ushers readers into a gossip, of lye-and-mashed-potato “processes,” and of slyly stubborn resistance to the indignities of segregation.A winner of the Chicago Tribune’s Heartland Award and the Lillian Smith Prize, Colored People is a pungent and...

PRAISE FOR LEWIS GRIZZARD“So this is what’s happened to the South since William Faulkner left! Lewis Grizzard, a great American, gives us the best collection of stories about a mother’s love, old folks, railroad trains, going home, and the No-Name Bar in Willacoochee, Georgia.”- The Chicago Sun-Times“If you’ve ever owned a truck, a good dog, or had to kiss a good woman good-bye, you need to be reading Lewis Grizzard.”- United Press International“Funny ...

“Betcha I can tell ya / Where ya / Got them shoooes. / Betchadollar, / Betchadollar, / Where ya / Got them shoooes. / Got your shoes on your feet, / Got your feet on the street, / And the street’s in Noo / Awlins, Loo- / Eez-ee-anna. Where I, for my part, first ate a live oyster and first saw a naked woman with the lights on. . . . Every time I go to New Orleans I am startled by something.”So writes Roy Blount Jr. in this exuberant, character-filled saunter through a place he has l...

“These are remarkable and poignant stories that need to be told.” —Ken BurnsMore than six million people watch Bob Dotson’s Emmy award-winning segment, American Story, on NBC’s Today Show. For the last four decades, Dotson has traveled the country searching out inspiring individuals who quietly perform everyday miracles. In the process, he has become the treasured cartographer of America’s heart and soul.Today’s news is overwhelmingly grim; it’s al...

Moving South? Feeling a little out of place? Craving pizza from home and faking a passion for sweet tea? Not generating much Southern hospitality? Wondering if you'll ever fit in?Well, honey, here's your complete guide to living in Dixie, providing migrating Yanks with tips on living, eating, greeting, driving, walking, talking, and what food to bring to a funeral. From his 'n' her Southern Hair Dos (and Don'ts) to The A to Z Dixie Dictionary, Suddenly Southern includes everything ...

Old friends from the class of 1960 at an Indiana high school share nostalgic memories as their fiftieth reunion draws near . . .This is the story of sixteen classmates who graduated from Indiana's Columbus High School in May, 1960. With their fiftieth high school reunion on the horizon, the "Columbus Crew" reconnected, and here the guys tell stories about growing up in the '40s, '50s, and '60s, and how those times impacted who they are today—offering both a glimpse...