Howard's unparalleled history of "queer" life in the South shows how homosexuality flourished in the conservative institutions of small-town life, interspersing the life stories of both the ordinary and the famous. 22 halftones. 4 maps.

As in his highly acclaimed Growing Up Gay in the South, James Sears masterfully blends a symphony of Southern voices to chronicle the era from the baby boom to the dawn of gay rights and the Stonewall riot. Sears weaves a rich historical tapestry through the use of personal reminiscences, private letters, subpoenaed testimony and previously

The darkly humorous stories in I'm A Registered Nurse Not A Whore take dead aim at how easily our desire to be good is perverted or undermined by a desperate need for love and recognition. Despite a world of fading optimism and advancing catastrophe, plans are formulated, deals drawn, bargains struck, and hope prevails. Beautifully flawed, well-meaning yet easily sidelined, the characters in these eight stories catapult off the rails of ordinary life before raising themselves up - if only for a moment - in oddly heroic ways. These stories will make you laugh, reflect, and yearn to carry on.

In this unique book, David Fillingim explores country music as a mode of theological expression. Following the lead of James Cone's classic, "The Spirituals and the Blues, Fillingim looks to country music for themes of theological liberation by and for the redneck community. The introduction sets forth the book's methodology and relates it to recent scholarship on country music. Chapter 1 contrasts country music with Southern gospel music--the sacred music of the redneck community--as responses to the question of theodicy, which a number of thinkers recognize as the central question of marginalized groups. The next chapter "The Gospel according to Hank," outlines the career of Hank Williams and follows that trajectory through the work of other artists whose work illustrates how the tradition negotiates Hank's legacy. "The Apocalypse according to Garth" considers the seismic shifts occuring during country music's popularity boom in the 1980s. Another chapter is dedicated to the women of country music, whose honky-tonky feminism parallels and intertwines with mainstream country music, which was dominated by men for most of its history. Written to entertain as well as educate and advance, "Redneck Liberation will appeal to anyone who is interested in country music, Southern religion, American popular religiosity, or liberation theology.

A collection of essays on the unique characteristics of the South and its politics.

Discusses gender roles, human sexuality, prejudice, discrimination, lesbian and gay politics, AIDS, gay culture, and the homosexual in literature