Cornbread Naion 1

Southern Living Selects

EDITED BY JOHN EGERTON

(THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS, $16.95)

This enjoyable collection of essays, short stories, articles, and poems combines some of the best recent writing on Southern food. Divided into the sections "People," "Times,""Things," "Places," and "Southern Foodways," the book beautifully describes how food has shaped Southern, as well as American, culture.

In Jack Hitt's "A Confederacy of Sauces," he tells of a modern-day civil war in which a mustard-based barbecue sauce pits brother against brother. Set in South Carolina, this battle nearly splits the family, and the state, in two.

The first story in "Times" places you at Rick Bragg's family home in Alabama as he shares memories of down-home Southern cooking for the holidays. As a displaced Southerner in New York City, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author tells of his longing for food that can't be found in his new environment. But when he's home, he says, "I eat until it hurts, and my brother Sam will grin at me, because he lives here, works at the cotton mill, and can eat it all the time."

The first volume of what's planned as an annual publication, Cornbread Nation 1 will appeal to everyone who has ever experienced a love affair with Southern food. -TAI HICKS

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Oct 2002
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