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Replies: 43
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National Champion [7261]
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Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 12:38 PM
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Grew up in Texas reading McMurtry, and Fehrenbach, and McCarthy.
Now that I live in the true South, I've come to appreciate Conroy, Foote, Penn Warren.
Lately I've been trying to read Faulkner. It hath been ... punishing.
Please you Southern bibliophiles -- please suggest another great Southern author of the 20th (or even 21st) century I can get into as summer winds down and lake/beach days become few and far between.
I'm not very intellectual. I love a good story, simply told. And I've read most all of the histories.
And don't say Harper Lee, or Twain. Been there, done that.
Thanks in advance.
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National Champion [7557]
TigerPulse: 100%
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I assume you've read All the Kings Men from RPW.
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Aug 11, 2025, 12:47 PM
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That's a great one.
Flannery O'Connor is another good Southern author, though I'm more familiar w her short stories. Ron Rash is a good one and went to Clemson.
I liked Faulkner, but definitely have to be in the mood. The Sound and The Fury, and As I Last Dying were both great. I've never been able to make it through Absalom, Absalom, which is supposed to be one of the greatest novels ever written... but not for me so far.
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Orange Blooded [2363]
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Re: I assume you've read All the Kings Men from RPW.
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:09 PM
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Very much agree with Flannery O'Connor. She only wrote one or two novels and the one I read was a slog. But her short stories are spectacular - the best of that form in my opinion. I have a book of her collected works that you might be able to find on Amazon or somewhere.
Carson McCullers is another good one, but she's not light reading.
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110%er [3822]
TigerPulse: 100%
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The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Aug 12, 2025, 8:12 PM
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Loved that one in college . . . read it in southern lit class with . . . bill koon i think his name was . . . read another book in that class by a local guy, a Clemson grad named Ron Rash . . . book was One Foot in Eden . . . it was a good one . . . also McCarthy "outer dark"
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Associate AD [1050]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: I assume you've read All the Kings Men from RPW.
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:49 PM
[ in reply to I assume you've read All the Kings Men from RPW. ] |
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Last year, after nearly 25 years of fits and starts I finally got through Absalom, Absalom! I downloaded an audio version of it and would listen to a chapter and then read the same chapter. After several chapters done this way I actually found myself reading ahead of the audiobook! It wasn’t easy but I am glad I read it. But, could partly be because of how much of an accomplishment it felt like to finally have finished it haha!
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National Champion [7261]
TigerPulse: 100%
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I'm reading his three short novels and it's
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Aug 11, 2025, 2:44 PM
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not unlike having my ears boxed.
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National Champion [7261]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Yes to All the Kings Men.
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Aug 11, 2025, 2:37 PM
[ in reply to I assume you've read All the Kings Men from RPW. ] |
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Twice.
I'll look up Ron Rash as well as Flannery O'Connor. I just finished Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. She's from away but figured why not as she was the first woman to win a Pulitzer for fiction.
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Paw Master [17833]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Joined: 1999
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All-Time Great [96818]
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:07 PM
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Starter [263]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:10 PM
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Any book by Ferrol Sams. Will make you laugh.
Brad Taylor - Pike Logan series
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All-Conference [417]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:13 PM
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Read Pat Conroy. Most, if not all, are set in the low country of South Carolina. These include Prince of Tides, Lords of Discipline (based on The Citadel), The Water is Wide, etc.
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Game Changer [1833]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:16 PM
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Lewis Grizzard
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Associate AD [1050]
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:44 PM
[ in reply to Re: Southern writers ] |
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Read Pat Conroy. Most, if not all, are set in the low country of South Carolina. These include Prince of Tides, Lords of Discipline (based on The Citadel), The Water is Wide, etc.
I second Pat Conroy! His non-fiction book was great too.
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National Champion [7261]
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Plowed through most of Conroy last year.
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Aug 11, 2025, 2:38 PM
[ in reply to Re: Southern writers ] |
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TigerNet Eternal Icon [184684]
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Joined: 2007
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:27 PM
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Ron Rash
Chester Native, Clemson graduate
Saints at the River and One Foot in Eden are great. I need to read his newer stuff.
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TigerNet Elite [76716]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Posts: 17765
Joined: 2018
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Clyde Edgerton is pretty entertaining. Check out Walking across Egypt.***
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:32 PM
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Associate AD [1050]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:42 PM
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I remember enjoying Clyde Edgerton books but has been a while since I read them. Would recommend “walking through Egypt.”
I think I finally figured out Faulkner… I listen to the audio versions. Reading him has always seemed impossible but when someone else read it to me I could finally get into him. Plus printing out a list of characters helps…
Jan Karon has traditionally been billed as writing for women but my wife loves them and she talked me into reading the first novel which is set in a fictional version of Blowing Rock. I won’t lie, I really enjoyed it and actually went on to read the first 4 or 5. After that they did start getting a little sappy.
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Associate AD [1050]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:59 PM
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Walking ACROSS Egypt. My bad
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Game Day Hero [4174]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 2:57 PM
[ in reply to Re: Southern writers ] |
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It seemed like my mom bought Jan Karon's various "Mitford" books before the ink was dry. If anybody's churches still have libraries you can probably find them there. She creates characters that you feel you know who tend to make their lives more complicated than they should. Probably an "Andy Griffith" level of drama.
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Associate AD [1050]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 4:22 PM
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“Andy Griffith level drama” is a great way to think of it. You can definitely find all of them on the shelves at my house haha - some are even autographed! My wife and her mom have read every one of them multiple times… I was skeptical but at the time my wife finally talked me into reading the first one my life was in utter chaos and sitting down in the evenings to read about Mitford had an incredibly peaceful effect on me…
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Scout Team [80]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Rick Bragg
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:43 PM
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Tells stories about his family and culture growing up poor in Western Alabama. All of them are good but start with All Over but the Shoutin or Avas Man
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National Champion [7261]
TigerPulse: 100%
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I've read Bragg and it was great.
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Aug 11, 2025, 2:39 PM
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Game Day Hero [4174]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Rick Bragg
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Aug 11, 2025, 2:50 PM
[ in reply to Rick Bragg ] |
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Definitely agree with Rick Bragg. He has written a column in Southern Living for years and I gave my mom a couple of his books. He has also had some segments on Saturdays in the South. The man knows football, his mama's cooking, and dogs - closest thing we have to Lewis Grizzard these days.
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Ring of Honor [23106]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Joined: 2010
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Fitzgerald was decidely not a Southern Writer
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Aug 11, 2025, 1:52 PM
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But A1ASauce® he loved the South and sometimes wrote about the South especially in his epic short stories. F. Scott's wife Zelda Sayre's hometown was Montgomery, Alabama. For Southern flavor, suggest you read:
1) The Ice Palace,
2) The Jelly-Bean, and
3) The Last of the Belles.
While you're at it, read the greatness in:
1) Winter Dreams,
2) May Day,
3) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,
4) The Rich Boy,
5) Babylon Revisited,
and several dozen more ...
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Head Coach [947]
TigerPulse: 97%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 2:04 PM
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Brad Watson
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Paw Warrior [4999]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 2:04 PM
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Flannery O'Conner or Carl Sandburg (plays). Both good writers.
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National Champion [7261]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Love some of Sandburg's poetry.
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Aug 11, 2025, 2:42 PM
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"Chicago" being at the top of the list.
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Solid Orange [1312]
TigerPulse: 96%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 2:59 PM
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I've never really understood the popularity of "To Kill a Mockingbird". Sue me.
The Bible isn't a southern book, but it probably in every house in the south - even in die hard atheists homes.
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National Champion [7261]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Hated Mockingbird.
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Aug 12, 2025, 3:02 PM
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Bored me to tears and so did the movie. So you're not alone.
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110%er [3623]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 3:03 PM
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Flannery is the queen. But it’s not light reading and she definitely is making a point. But she’s amazing.
Wendell Berry and Walker Percy are really good, fairly contemporary writers.
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110%er [3623]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 3:03 PM
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Flannery is the queen. But it’s not light reading and she definitely is making a point. But she’s amazing.
Wendell Berry and Walker Percy are really good, fairly contemporary writers.
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Solid Orange [1312]
TigerPulse: 96%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 3:09 PM
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would read again
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Orange Phenom [14941]
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Tim Gautreaux is a hoot, plenty of good reads.
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Aug 11, 2025, 4:23 PM
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He taught creative writing for years at SE Louisiana. Welding with Children is a good collection of short stories. Next Step in the Dance good novel.
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Campus Hero [13771]
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 4:37 PM
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How could you forget Thomas Wolfe, from Asheville. My old boss used to play a lot of golf with his cousin Henry Westall.
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Heisman Winner [83919]
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 5:17 PM
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Try this from a Clemson alumnus. Cathy Rigg is a great friend and just released her first book.
That Which Binds Us
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Heisman Winner [83919]
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Joined: 2019
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Trainer [43]
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 5:49 PM
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Definitely Flannery O'Connor. Her stories are the most recognizably Southern to me, and they also helped to lead me to becoming Catholic.
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Game Changer [1726]
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 6:00 PM
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Surprised no one mention John Grisham, but it is sort of dated. Not my favorite author, but the ones I read I found pretty entertaining reading.
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National Champion [7261]
TigerPulse: 100%
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I read the sequel to The Firm in a long plane ride.
Aug 12, 2025, 3:04 PM
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It was pretty dern fun. I love Grisham.
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Standout [235]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 7:32 PM
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I like Archibald Rutledge. Was poet laureate of S.C. years back. Great outdoor and hunting short stories. Also a fantastic poetry writer.
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Game Changer [1726]
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Archibald Rutledge
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Aug 12, 2025, 8:58 AM
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..was a close friend of my grandfather in McClellanville. I still remember meeting him when I was a small boy. For my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary he wrote them a poem “Autumn Sung”. which I have a copy of in his old handwriting. I tried attaching it here.
He was a great South Carolinian.
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Ultimate Tiger [38707]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 7:38 PM
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Try Horace Kephart’s “ Our Southern Highlanders.”
Non-fiction
Kind of
🥸
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Game Changer [1922]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
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Aug 11, 2025, 8:06 PM
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Walker Percy “The Moviegoer” is exceptional. Nola guy.
I also think Isaacson and Michael Lewis are great authors too - southern roots but more historical than southern gothic.
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Rival Killer [3044]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Re: Southern writers
Aug 12, 2025, 4:42 PM
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If you want crazy characters and great stories how about John MacDonald (Travis Magee novels) and Carl Hiassen. Funny Florida tales.
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Replies: 43
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