Carryin' on: And Other Strange Things Southerners Do

By R. Scott Brunner

Book Overview

Pat Conroy said that R. Scott Brunner's Due South "delivers the goods and delivers them Southern fried"; Rick Bragg said that Brunner "writes like people down here talk, with beauty." Carryin' On more than delivers on the promise of its predecessor, with more of the disarming and hilarious insights that made Due South an instant classic. Here are the essays like "Common Is as Common Does" (what kind of behavior is just plain tacky, and what isn't), "Tastes Like Summer" (a beautiful meditation on bean poles), "Real Southern Places" (a wry look at Steve Wynn's attempt to create a southern resort), "Paschal's" (a paean to a haven of classic southern culinary comfort -- in the middle of the Atlanta airport), and "The Last Time I Saw Parrish (a fond ode to his grandparent's Alabama hometown).

Carryin' On celebrates culture, the food, the eccentricities, the habits, the language, the spirit, the talk -- the overall carryin' on that makes the American South a magical place.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812992539
• ISBN13: 9780812992533
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Yet another gem from a master of southern sketches

From the opening phrase "Common is as common does" R.Scott Brunner once again returns his readers to the south, a land he obviously enjoys. These short stories cover many things about everyday life, with the southern bent that makes it so unique to anyone from or living in the south. Whether examining the strange (to others) bit and pieces of language..."I swan", to "tote" someone somewhere, "to grind on one's last nerve" or to find a "slew" of something...it was like being home for a visit (and I didn't have to explain my language choices to my Utah neighbors, oh my heck!). He examines our foiables and strengths ans presents them with a gentle humor. My favorite, the piece "Common Prayers" with its look at the prayer as a form of problem solving. It is true, I was raised to be ready to pray at the drop of a hat! Mant write about the south, but few seem to enjoy their life ther or resonate such a love as Brunner. Another charmer of a book.