Living Blue in the Red States

Political pundits never tire of reminding us of the great cultural divide between conservative "red" states and liberal "blue" ones. But common sense tells us that not all people in these states can be politically like-minded. David Starkey, a former red-state resident, wondered what politically progressive creative writers were feeling in the wake of George W. Bush's reelection. How, Starkey asked contributors, does one live blue in a red state? This book supplies many answers. Writers as different as Jonis Agee and Stephen Corey, Robin Hemley and Lee Martin (a 2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist in fiction), Donald Morrill and Wyoming poet laureate David Romtvedt describe what it is like to live in a region that doesn't always share one's values. While pointedly progressive, the collection brings together the work of essayists who look beyond the passions of the moment - the war in Iraq, the rallying of the Right around social issues, the Democrats' failure in 2004 - to the need for unity. Sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant, always enlightening, these essayists' views testify to the power of writing to bring us together as one nation of whatever color.

ISBN 0803260083   Pages 416 ISBN13 9780803260085 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher University of Nebraska Press   Weight (grammes) 476 Imprint Bison Books   Published in Nebraska Format Paperback   Height (mm) 228 Publication date 13 Aug 2007   Width (mm) 155 Library of Congress PS648   Spine width (mm) 19 DEWEY 814.6080358   Academic level Professional / Scholarly, General DEWEY edition DC22

Pt. 1		West
1		Another way of saying by Sherry Simpson		17
2		Hauling water by Frank Soos		39
3		Red politics and blue in Wyoming by David Romtvedt		53
4		Running in the red by Jennifer Sinor		66
Pt. 2		Midwest
5		Election season by Lee Martin		83
6		Trapping by Jonis Agee		92
7		Here was Johnny by Steve Heller		103
8		America, where's your sense of humor? by Michael J. Rosen		111
9		Control issues by Robin Hemley		125
10		A campaign that failed by Deb Olin Unferth		136
Pt. 3		South
11		Playing Debussy in the heart of Dixie by David Case
12		The Kreskin effect by Jim Peterson		163
13		Faith by John Lane		182
14		How to ruin a perfectly good swamp in South Carolina by Gilbert Allen		192
15		Rescue the drowning, tie your shoe-strings by Sidney Burris		207
16		P is for... by Stephen Corey		230
17		Minority within minority : dynamics of race and culture in the new South by Anthony Kellman		243
18		Theater of operations by Donald Morrill		256
197		The world loves New Orleans, but America has not come to its rescue by Mona Lisa Saloy		281
20		Louisiana's new political landscape by Angus Woodward		295
21		Summertime by David Starkey		313
		More...

"By offering us an array of compelling stories, these writers protect us from the illusion that any one story can be adequate to the rich complexity of the world. This illusion is dangerous in religion, more dangerous in politics, and most dangerous of all when religion and politics join hands on the levers of power." Scott Russell Sanders, author of A private history of awe "It is important to be reminded, as the essays in Living Blue in the Red States do, of the range and complexity of opinion in our culture. This rainbow of comment and testimony against the stereotypes is something to celebrate; it is the lifeblood of democracy." Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek

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