| How Am I to Be Heard?: Letters of Lillian Smith Contributor(s): Gladney, Margaret Rose (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0807845809 ISBN-13: 9780807845806 Publisher: University of North Carolina Press OUR PRICE: $45.13 Product Type: Paperback Published: February 1996 Annotation: This compelling volume offers the first full portrait of the life and work of writer Lillian Smith (1897-1966), the foremost southern white liberal of the mid-twentieth century. Smith devoted her life to lifting the veil of southern self-deception about race, class, gender, and sexuality. Her books, essays, and especially her letters explored the ways in which the South's attitudes and institutions perpetuated a dehumanizing experience for all its people--white and black, male and female, rich and poor. Her best-known books are "Strange Fruit" (1944), a bestselling interracial love story that brought her international acclaim; and "Killers of the Dream" (1949), an autobiographical critique of southern race relations that angered many southerners, including powerful moderates. Subsequently, Smith was effectively silenced as a writer. Rose Gladney has selected 145 of Smith's 1500 extant letters for this volume. Arranged chronologically and annotated, they present a complete picture of Smith as a committed artist and reveal the burden of her struggles as a woman, including her lesbian relationship with Paula Snelling. Gladney argues that this triple isolation--as woman, lesbian, and artist--from mainstream southern culture permitted Smith to see and to expose southern prejudices with absolute clarity. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Literary Figures - Biography & Autobiography | Political - Biography & Autobiography | Women |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 93020225 |
| Series: Gender and American Culture |
| Physical Information: 0.98" H x 6.06" W x 9.22" (1.33 lbs) 406 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Cultural Region - South - Sex & Gender - Lesbian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This compelling volume offers the first full portrait of the life and work of writer Lillian Smith (1897-1966), the foremost southern white liberal of the mid-twentieth century. Smith devoted her life to lifting the veil of southern self-deception about race, class, gender, and sexuality. Her books, essays, and especially her letters explored the ways in which the South's attitudes and institutions perpetuated a dehumanizing experience for all its people--white and black, male and female, rich and poor. Her best-known books are Strange Fruit (1944), a bestselling interracial love story that brought her international acclaim; and Killers of the Dream (1949), an autobiographical critique of southern race relations that angered many southerners, including powerful moderates. Subsequently, Smith was effectively silenced as a writer. Rose Gladney has selected 145 of Smith's 1500 extant letters for this volume. Arranged chronologically and annotated, they present a complete picture of Smith as a committed artist and reveal the burden of her struggles as a woman, including her lesbian relationship with Paula Snelling. Gladney argues that this triple isolation--as woman, lesbian, and artist--from mainstream southern culture permitted Smith to see and to expose southern prejudices with absolute clarity. |
Contributor Bio(s): Gladney, Margaret Rose: - Margaret Rose Gladney is associate professor of American studies at the University of Alabama. |