I did not like this book, it really should have been 2-4 different books.
(Is this really a Richard Grant book? I loved God’s Middle Finger, Crazy River, and Dispatches from Pluto. This book is just a mess.
Where is the humor you used to seem to have)? At the very least this should have been two totally desperate books:
One book about slavery
and one book about the people of Natchez and all their craziness.
These two subjects should never have been combined into one book. Also there is no real beginning or ending in this book.

If you want to write a book about slavery go for it. Write about what a horrendous despicable practice it was, how awful the people were treated. How a specific region of this country benefited by it and a select group of white people got obscenely wealthy because of it.
It was nice that the author included the fact that African slaves were often captured and sold by other Africans who were from a different tribe and saw nothing wrong with the practice, but the author continues to grind away at the guilt everyone must feel regarding what happened. I would remind the author no one wants to be lectured to, especially by a man from Britain. If you Mr Grant somehow are under the misguided notion that your country was any different than America, I suggest you spend some time in the Caribbean, specifically Barbados and Jamaica. We won’t even touch your country’s handling of South Africa and it’s legacy or India!
There is one fascinating story about a slave who is actually an African prince and what happens to him.
This alone would have been a great book!

As for the rest of the book- pretty much every other chapter-is nothing but gossip and hearsay about the crazy white people of Natchez, the rival lady’s garden clubs, the one upping of others, and their ridiculous pageants, behavior, and complete insensitivity to what their ancestors did and how they behaved.
There is no doubt that racism exists, there is no doubt it is ignored, there is no doubt some members of the white Natchez community are living in complete denial, or are insane. But this book only covers an overview of the topic.
As if all this wasn’t enough to cover,
The author then tackles the the problem of schools and education in general in Mississippi and in Natchez in particular. For the record the problems are nearly insurmountable, nepotism seems to be far more important than providing an education. This also could have been its own book.
Then for some strange reason the author interviews Greg Iles a mystery author who lives just outside Natchez, who is typical of liberals in that he believes much more needs to be done for the black community, the people, their schools etc. and more money needs to be spent but voted against raising property taxes to spend more on the schools and was pulled from the public school while growing up and sent to a private school because the public school was so bad, and won’t send his kids to the public schools and lives in a gated house on 70 acres of land.
This type of book is not where solutions will be found and it is far to short to accurately detail all the problems and ironies of life in Natchez. ( )

This was an awakening book - for me, a white (in an area of very predominately white) Wisconsinite, anyway. Let's put it this way, if you saw any male person of color in the 70's, it was a Green Bay Packer. Seriously. However, I must say, we were all brought up to respect. Plain and simple. I obviously empathize and have respect for all races. Like so many of us do.

But to be faced with a picture of the present South AND the past South together It's damn near interchangeable. What a damn shame. It certainly clarifies the political crap going on these past 6 years!

I would highly recommend. Especially if you grew up sheltered from the hatred. You'll root for the Prince and be disgusted by the idea of a garden club.

Discussion and respect needs to happen. ( )

Enjoyed this very much. I want to visit Natchez now. ( )

I’m a fan of history of all flavors, and this book doesn’t disappoint. Author Richard Grant blends together notable historical figures from the small Mississippi town of Natchez with current contemporary characters. Natchez is of course part of the Deep South with a long history of racial animus that has roots in the slave trade that helped build the town. These stories are largely unknown, but that doesn’t make them any less interesting or important. Lots of interesting tidbits of information to be discovered. The author also does a good job of trying to make the racial tensions that still exist in the south understandable. The small town of Natchez is also a character of its own in this story with a unique personality and flavor. A worthwhile trip into what makes the Deep South tick for those interested in the journey. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This book has lots to say, and says it with humor and style. It is a fascinating bunch of stories, an insightful examination of American race relations, and a very funny book. The subject is the Mississippi town of Natchez -- population just 15,000, but much larger in history, and in much much larger in its own mind. Natchez once had more millionaires than anywhere else in the United States. Their wealth came from the slave-based cotton economy, and they built beautiful houses, around which the town's current culture and key industry -- tourism -- is based. The contradiction between a culture that glorifies the Old South, and the racial reality upon which that South was based, is the fundamental subject of the book. But it is not a sociological examination. It's a series of stories about very interesting people, Black and White, and about their relations with each other. It illustrates the difficulty of racial relationships, even given good will on both sides. Beyond that, it's written with a keen journalistic eye and a deep knowledge of Natchez. Terrific read. ( )