“ I was under the tragic spell of the South, which you’ve either felt or haven’t. In my case it was acute because, having grown up in Indiana with a Yankee father, a child exile from Kentucky roots of which I was overly proud, I’d long been aware of a faint nowhereness in my life. Others wouldn’t have sensed it, wouldn’t have minded. I felt it as a physical ache. Finally I was somewhere, there. The South … I loved it as only one who will always be outside it can. Merely to hear the word ‘Faulkner’ at night brought gusty emotions.
John Jeremiah Sullivan, “Mr. Lytle: An Essay,” from Pulphead
A Yankee child of Southern lineage, I also lay (more dubious than JJS) claim to this feeling. Also so far Pulphead is so great! So great.
(via housingworksbookstore)
Indeed.
