Ebook243 pages5 hours
Arkansas/Arkansaw: How Bear Hunters, Hillbillies, and Good Ol' Boys Defined a State
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this ebook
What do Scott Joplin, John Grisham, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Maya Angelou, Brooks Robinson, Helen Gurley Brown, Johnny Cash, Alan Ladd, and Sonny Boy Williamson have in common? They’re all Arkansans. What do hillbillies, rednecks, slow trains, bare feet, moonshine, and double-wides have in common? For many in America these represent Arkansas more than any Arkansas success stories do. In 1931 H. L. Mencken described AR (not AK, folks) as the “apex of moronia.” While, in 1942 a Time magazine article said Arkansas had “developed a mass inferiority complex unique in American history.” Arkansas/Arkansaw is the first book to explain how Arkansas’s image began and how the popular culture stereotypes have been perpetuated and altered through succeeding generations. Brooks Blevins argues that the image has not always been a bad one. He discusses travel accounts, literature, radio programs, movies, and television shows that give a very positive image of the Natural State. From territorial accounts of the Creole inhabitants of the Mississippi River Valley to national derision of the state’s triple-wide governor’s mansion to Li’l Abner, the Beverly Hillbillies, and Slingblade, Blevins leads readers on an entertaining and insightful tour through more than two centuries of the idea of Arkansas. One discovers along the way how one state becomes simultaneously a punch line and a source of admiration for progressives and social critics alike.
Winner, 2011 Ragsdale Award
Author
Brooks Blevins
Vanessa A. Rosa is associate professor of Latina/o studies at Mount Holyoke College.
Read more from Brooks Blevins
Hill Folks: A History of Arkansas Ozarkers and Their Image Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cattle in the Cotton Fields: A History of Cattle Raising in Alabama Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSouthern Journeys: Tourism, History, and Culture in the Modern South Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrecarious Constructions: Race, Class, and Urban Revitalization in Toronto Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory and Hope in the Heart of Dixie: Scholarship, Activism, and Wayne Flynt in the Modern South Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUp South in the Ozarks: Dispatches from the Margins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Arkansas/Arkansaw
Related ebooks
Arkansas Ozarks Legends & Lore Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arkansas, 1800-1860: Remote and Restless Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Forgotten Tales of Arkansas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTerritorial Ambition: Land and Society in Arkansas, 1800-1840 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEarly Spokane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAppalachia: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arkansas: A Concise History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arkansas: A Narrative History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Civil War Arkansas: Beyond Battles and Leaders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jonesboro and Arkansas's Historic Northeast Corner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories of Survival: Arkansas Farmers during the Great Depression Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMonroe County Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClassic Eateries of the Arkansas Delta Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMississippi Mud Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arkansas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Die Is Cast: Arkansas Goes to War, 1861 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOut of the Mountains: Appalachian Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Treasure on Superstition Mountain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Remembering Arkansas Confederates and the 1911 Little Rock Veterans Reunion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlabama Scoundrels: Outlaws, Pirates, Bandits & Bushwhackers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost Restaurants of Tucson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTexas Ranger Indian Tales: Indian Depredations In Texas: Texas Rangers Indian Wars, #6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHaywood County Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Indian Depredations in Texas: Reliable Accounts of Battles, Wars & Adventures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Savory History of Arkansas Delta Food: Potlikker, Coon Suppers & Chocolate Gravy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeven Keys to Texas Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hard Times: An Illustrated Oral History of the Great Depression Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hard to Turn: A History of the Camp, Gabbert, Griffin, Huskey & Webb Families of Drew County, Arkansas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForgotten Tales of New Mexico Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Social Science For You
My Secret Garden: Women's Sexual Fantasies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Body Is Not an Apology, Second Edition: The Power of Radical Self-Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Witty Banter: Be Clever, Quick, & Magnetic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (Oprah's Book Club Selection) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All About Love: New Visions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Come As You Are: Revised and Updated: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denial of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fervent: A Woman's Battle Plan to Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Human Condition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Arkansas/Arkansaw
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
Arkansas/Arkansaw - Brooks Blevins
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1