Southern Gothic Recommendations

[kelby_lake]

I think this best explains my interest in American Lit (save the capitalist American Dream books) as I adore Tennessee Williams plays, especially obscure ones like Orpheus Descending.

Any recommendations in that genre?

[JBI]

Short stories by Flannery O'Connor.

[mayneverhave]

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner contains elements of the Southern Gothic.

[JohnMelmoth]

Hello Kelby Lake, I don't know much about Southern Gothic so I can only recommend what you may already have read. Anyway I think Truman Capote has the SG sensibility and some of his short stories certainly have gothic ideas. He is such a beautiful writer so as well as his Complete Stories I recommend In Cold Blood.

[Dark Muse]

I am not sure what Southern Gothic would be, but it does sound interesting.

[The Comedian]

I'm not sure if this book is Southern Gothic, but it's southern and (maybe) Gothic: A Confederacy of Dunces.

[Wilde woman]

Short stories by Flannery O'Connor.

I second that recommendation. Her short stories are funny and somewhat macabre at the same time. I recommend her "Good Country People".

Also, Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily."

[sixsmith]

All the above.

Outer Dark, The Orchard Keeper, Child of God, Suttree - Cormac McCarthy
The Heart is a lonely hunter - Carson McCullers
The long home, I hate to see that evening sun go down, Provinces of Night - William Gay

[Mortis Anarchy]

Well, I don't know if it is considered Southern Gothic, but it is one of the first American Gothic novels. It is by William Brockden Brown and it is called Wieland. It is a little dry, but the story is absolutely enthralling. Amazing story line.

[Virgil]

Wikipedia has an entry with recommendtions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Gothic

Also you can try the novels of Walker Percy. He's southern but I'm not sure I would consider him gothic.

[kelby_lake]

I am not sure what Southern Gothic would be, but it does sound interesting.

As I understand it, it's about American South, written by Southerners, normally with characters that are misfits- like aging belle, etc- and picks up on issues of the South, often a bit disturbing.

[wessexgirl]

If you want to go for the more popular, bestselling end of the market, there's always Virginia Andrews, (or now her male successor writing as her). I haven't read her myself, but I know people who love her blend of modern Southern Gothic. I did some work recently on gothic, and although Patrick McGrath is English, he has now moved to America, and also writes modern gothic, so his settings may now be American. For an older author, I think you can class Poe as Southern Gothic.

[ThousandthIsle]

Southern Gothic is a genre I have been wanting to get into as well, but haven't yet. I have only heard that Carson McCullers is a prominant name in this genre.

[kelby_lake]

I liked the Ballad of the Sad Cafe. It was strange.

I'd recommend Tennessee Williams

[photogray]

I can walk to faulkner's house every day, it has a feeling about it. I recommend all his books
http://www.snagpic.com/users/img/2269/n09x0302vnsn/clear.gif

[Virgil]

I can walk to faulkner's house every day, it has a feeling about it. I recommend all his books
http://www.snagpic.com/users/img/2269/n09x0302vnsn/clear.gif
Welcome photogrey. That sounds great. Can you tell us a little more about it? Is that Oxford, Mississippi?

[metal134]

William Faulkner is THE Southern Gothic author.

[Gonzo]

No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

[the dude]

I've heard good things about Tideland by Mitch Cullin as far as more contemporary Southern Gothic goes. Never read it so I can't vouch for it, but I saw the movie (I know. That's hardly saying anything, but Gilliam has been fairly accurate in the past.)

Concerning this genre I've been trying to decide which to read first:

Absalom, Absalom!
As I Lay Dying
The Hamlet

Which do y'all prefer and why?

[kelby_lake]

No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

Not into thrillers.

[mayneverhave]

I've heard good things about Tideland by Mitch Cullin as far as more contemporary Southern Gothic goes. Never read it so I can't vouch for it, but I saw the movie (I know. That's hardly saying anything, but Gilliam has been fairly accurate in the past.)

Concerning this genre I've been trying to decide which to read first:

Absalom, Absalom!
As I Lay Dying
The Hamlet

Which do y'all prefer and why?

I have not read The Hamlet, but I would recommend As I Lay Dying before Absalom, Absalom! as As I Lay Dying is quite a bit easier to handle than Absalom, Absalom! Both novels are fantastic, but As I Lay Dying is one that should not be missed. It is both highly entertaining and one of the best tragicomedies I've read.

[Gonzo]

Not into thrillers.

I wouldn't describe it as one really.

[Virgil]

I've heard good things about Tideland by Mitch Cullin as far as more contemporary Southern Gothic goes. Never read it so I can't vouch for it, but I saw the movie (I know. That's hardly saying anything, but Gilliam has been fairly accurate in the past.)

Concerning this genre I've been trying to decide which to read first:

Absalom, Absalom!
As I Lay Dying
The Hamlet

Which do y'all prefer and why?

I also would recommend not starting with Absolom, Absolom. I would recommend Light In August.

[bookcollecting1]

Harry Crews is one of my favorite Southern Gothic writers. It is hard not to compare his writing to Flannery O'Connor. They both write about the underclass of the South. Both are "dark" in their storylines. O'Connor's stories are set earlier in time than Crews, however. Crews is like O'Connor on steroids. Where O'Connor is dark, Crews is pitch black. His stories are inventive, elequent, engaging and memoriable. I grew up in the South and feel like I know or have known each of Harry Crew's characters. Though I suspect they have a broader, more universal appeal as well. I started with Feast of Snakes - a short novel that I will long remember. I highly recommend Classic Crews: A Harry Crews Reader. The following is a quote from a Booklist Review:

"My compulsive need to look for the edge and live on it has marked me in more ways than I would want to know or try to explain. Never mind the marks it has left on my skin, let me go straight to the bone," Crews writes in the introduction to this collection. And, in each of the works, he is more than willing to open a few wounds. The book includes two of his full-length novels, The Gypsy's Curse and Car; his autobiography, A Childhood: The Biography of a Place; and three of his essays, "Fathers, Sons, Blood," "The Car," and "Climbing the Tower." Each piece is remarkable on its own, and the book takes special advantage of the illumination afforded by grouping the essays with the fiction in particular ways. For example, "The Car," an essay about Crews' youthful fixation with automobiles, precedes Car, a novel about a young man born to an auto-wrecker who takes such an obsession to a different realm. That character achieves fame and notoriety in Sarasota, Florida, by announcing his intention to eat a Ford Maverick in public view at a downtown hotel. The book promises to provide new insights to confirmed fans, as well as a valuable introduction for the uninitiated. Martha Schoolman "


A Great intro to Southern Gothic literature.