For more than 20 years, John Shelton Reed has written about the South, and "My Tears Spoiled My Aim," his eighth book, combines academic resources, surveys, examples from popular culture and wit to support his thesis that "no matter how much it changes, the South is still the South."
Utilizing the ethnic analysis approach to establish Southern identity, Reed explores: What is the South today? Where does the South begin and end? What is a Southerner? Is the South changing, and why? and Why are Southerners so devoted to the region? In addition, Reed studies a new perception of Southern women by examining 25 years of Playboy.
Reed maintains that as Southerners leave the South and Yankees move in, "what is important in defining the South is less the region than the regional group that it defines and that defines it." He concedes that there may be many Souths incorporating different economics, landscapes, and social strata. But in spite of social and economic changes, he believes that like immigrant ethnic groups, Southerners share ethnic commanalities based on their shared history and cultural distinctiveness in the present. One notable example of this is Southern indirectness, observable in Southern manners.
"My Tears Spoiled My Aim" is an important addition to Southern studies. A summation could well be one of Reed's homily similes: "The South is like my favorite pair of jeans. It's shrunk some, faded a bit, got a few holes in it. There's always the possibility it might split at the seams. It doesn't look much like it used to, but it's more comfortable, and there's a lot of wear left in it."
- Evalyne G. Robinson is a Peninsula resident.
* MY TEARS SPOILED MY AIM
By John Shelton Reed
Harcourt Brace 148 pages. $8.95 paperback