Search  for anything...
NA

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation

  • Based on 1,194 reviews
Condition: New
Checking for the best price...
$8.99 Why this price?
Save $10.99 was $19.98

Buy Now, Pay Later

As low as $2 / mo
  • – 4-month term
  • – No impact on credit
  • – Instant approval decision
  • – Secure and straightforward checkout

Ready to go? Add this product to your cart and select a plan during checkout.

Payment plans are offered through our trusted finance partners Klarna, PayTomorrow, Affirm, Afterpay, Apple Pay, and PayPal. No-credit-needed leasing options through Acima may also be available at checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Free shipping on this product

30-day refund/replacement

To qualify for a full refund, items must be returned in their original, unused condition. If an item is returned in a used, damaged, or materially different state, you may be granted a partial refund.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

Availability: Only 4 left in stock, order soon!
Fulfilled by Amazon
Arrives Sunday, Sep 7
Order within 21 hours and 48 minutes
Available payment plans shown during checkout

Recently Viewed

Description

WINNER OF THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTIONINSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South—and thus of America—by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration.” —Isabel WilkersonAn essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South—and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand AmericaWe all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole.This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life.Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. With uncommon insight and breathtaking clarity, South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line. A Recommended Read from: The New Yorker • The New York Times • TIME • Oprah Daily • USA Today • Vulture • Essence • Esquire • W Magazine • Atlanta Journal-Constitution • PopSugar • Book Riot • Chicago Review of Books • Electric Literature • Lit Hub Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ecco (February 28, 2023)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062977377


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 73


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.97 x 9 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #42,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #114 in Discrimination & Racism #166 in Black & African American Biographies #321 in U.S. State & Local History


#114 in Discrimination & Racism:


#166 in Black & African American Biographies:


Frequently asked questions

If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Sunday, Sep 7

Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

  • Klarna Financing
  • Affirm Pay in 4
  • Affirm Financing
  • Afterpay Financing
  • PayTomorrow Financing
  • Financing through Apple Pay
Leasing options through Acima may also be available during checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Similar Products

Top Amazon Reviews

    • The Road Less Traveled
Brava, Dr. Perry! As a native Washington, D.C. African American Ivy, Cornell C'82, who grew up in Maryland, reading "South to America was a keenly informative and highly insightful factual account of, not only how American history cannot ignore the South of the past, but must embrace it's teachings for the future if there will ever be the possibility of overcoming the "problem of the color line.' ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2024 by Amazon Customer
    • Exceptional insight at times, other times rambling personal impressions
I was enticed to read this book after listening to a NPR podcast interview by Terry Gross. The author is engaging, and clearly hyper-qualified and extremely knowledgeable, with some superb passages and insight that awed me with her novel perspective on key aspects of our American culture. Her descriptions of history were fascinating and much of it novel and educational. However, the book seemed to wander frequently, lacking coherence, and read more like a shared diary at times, overly personal and taking on the vibe of personal grudges. Forgiveable that ? Certainly, but those traits takes away from the more important and impactful writing that the author is so capable of, and detracted from the scholarly aspects and critique of America that were much more interesting. So, four stars instead of five, looking to read more from Imani Perry. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2023 by John R. Washington
    • The Most Captivating History Book I've Ever Read
Growing up in Connecticut, I really had no knowledge of the South. The most we ever learned in school was, "Civil War: North Good, South Bad." This in-depth look into the South, ESPECIALLY written by a Black woman, allows you to dig deep into the subject from the most personal perspective. I honestly could not put it down. I promise you will love it just as much as I do. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2024 by AHC
    • Terrific Take on Southern Culture
As a white man growing up in rural Arkansas, I found this book to be a wonderful examination of Southern culture from a viewpoint so outside my own experiences. I think she does a great job of blending unbiased observations while including her personal viewpoint. I truly enjoyed the language analysis performed on certain phrases and words within Southern Culture. I recommend this book to anyone looking to peek at the Black perspective of Southern Culture. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2023 by Amazon Customer
    • Uneven
Legitimate sense of outrage, but very uneven and at times superficial. As one long-time resident of Atlanta in my book club commented, she didn't begin to do justice to that complex city. Enjoyed her references to African American intellectual and artistic culture, as well as the chapter on Savannah. Some very interesting historical information, new to me, but not organized in a way that made it possible to effectively process and absorb it. Factual information felt piled on rather than thoughtfully presented. A difficult read, hard to get through. Not a book I would recommend to someone legitimately interested in understanding the South today. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2024 by JDE
    • A literary phenomenon!
Dr. Perry writes with such linguistic dexterity she transforms the heart and mind of the reader. Her research and devotion to exposing the depth of the diasporic experience is evident in her presentation. I have a much firmer grasp on why my heart is drawn to the South. In spite of the all too familiar stories passed down from one generation to another of the horrifying impact Jim Crow had on our families. Thanks again Dr. Perry. This is a must read in light of the attempts to sanitize American History. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2023 by Kayson
    • Doesn't Always Add Up
South to America blends Imani Perry’s personal experiences, historical events and reporting on the current cultural moment into a work of creative non-fiction about the American South. When done well, the combination of memoir/history/cultural commentary is a powerful format for exploring and explaining a place. (See Fintan O’Toole’s history of modern Ireland, We Don’t Know Ourselves for an excellent example of the form.) Perry travels from Appalachia to the Gulf of Mexico, stopping mainly in cities. She is an accomplished academic, and the best parts of the book are the historical reflections on the experiences of black people in America. This writing provides useful context about the places she visits and adds to the ongoing corrective project of seeing slavery plainly for the brutal, immoral system of economic exploitation that it actually was. Perry has roots in rural Alabama, and she her own story of upward mobility is thoughtful and well told. But too many of the other personal experiences are superficial encounters with friends or with colleagues at academic gatherings that don’t deepen the story line. Her insights into modern circumstances in the South are similarly glancing. I kept wishing she’d make a more visceral connection between the historical South and the current psychology of white, black and mixed race Southern citizens. A notable exception is the New Orleans chapter, where the separate segments of Perry’s survey catch fire. She weaves history, personal connections and the tragic present of New Orleans into a passionate take on a complex and often misunderstood part of America. This chapter demonstrates the heights to which this book can rise. In too many other places, though, it feels like Perry is just passing through. Perhaps she was trying to cover too much ground without allotting enough time for the ambitious journey she intended to take. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2023 by Bestgb
    • Home of the Blues
I was born 1951 and raised in Memphis in a Jim Crow world Educated in an all white segregated public school. My parents were passive racist and I was surrounded as a child & teenager by two separate realities. Ms Perry's book is outstanding and should be required reading for CRT curriculum.We I am Mary Alberdi's husband Bob Hale, Mary is from the Florida panhandle which was accurately captured in the gulf coast cities she wrote about . Great book Would love to meet Imani sometime Thank you ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2023 by Mary Alberdi

Can't find a product?

Find it on Amazon first, then paste the link below.
Checking for best price...