Books to Read if You Live in the South

What is Southern Gothic literature, and why do we need it? The Southern Gothic genre is grotesque. It takes negative characteristics from “The South” and magnifies them so that we’re forced to acknowledge them. Everything from rape/incest, child molestation, mental disabilities, racism, corrupt “Men of God”, violence/murder, social issues, decay, religion, class, and repressed homosexuality. (There’s a lot in this genre that deals with types of sex you’re really not supposed to be having. ) Basically it forces us to look at ourselves, and own our own shit. Being from Texas, I’m well aware that Southerners like to sweep issues “under the rug” so to speak.

For instance:

Sally isn’t mentally unwell, she’s just “nervous”.

Tom may have molested a child, but “God will forgive him”.

Jeremy isn’t racist, he’s “just old-fashioned”.

We need Southern Gothic literature to call us out. We need it in order to recognize what’s wrong in our society. Above all, we need it to give representation to those voices that are never heard. Those people with opposing opinions on what their quaint South is really like.

Here’s a list of novels, plays, short stories, etc. that I think should be required reading for everyone who lives in The South.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
3. The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor by Flannery O’Connor
4. August: Osage County by Tracy Letts
5. The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry
6. The Complete Stories of Truman Capote by Truman Capote
7. The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty
8. The Yellow King by Richard Chambers
9. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
10. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
11. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
12. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown
13. Preacher by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon
14. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
15. Killer Joe by Tracy Letts
16. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
17. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
18. Beloved by Toni Morrison
19. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
20. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories by Carson McCullers

Also, I’ve still got a lot of reading to do. So this is an ever evolving list, but if you’ve either never read a Southern Gothic Novel, or you want to but you haven’t yet, feel free to use this list for recommendations.