For eccentric, flawed characters, sinister events, and explorations of race, class, decay, and isolation, get into Southern Gothic novels, including Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward.
Get to know the American South, including its diverse voices and unique points of view, through these audiobooks set in the South.
Get to know the grittier side of the South and its stories about crime and the long arm of the law through these Southern noir books.
To understand the culture and the themes of literature from the U.S. South, read one, or all, of the Southern plays on this list--and watch them if you can.
"Last night I found myself surrounded by books about the South, as well as my North Carolina guidebook, eating a Moon Pie and drinking a peach Nehi soda. You could say I was a little homesick."
Where to start with the work of Robert Penn Warren, the only person to win Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction (once) and poetry (twice).