Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Other Dangers of Southern Living — Bailey White

I was look­ing for some­thing more recent by White but she doesn’t seem to have done any­thing oth­er than a christ­masy book since her hey­day in the late 90’s. So I reread this because every­one needs to have an aunt who teach­es an alli­ga­tor to bel­low on com­mand and a moth­er who… well Ms. White is a force of nature but often that nature is most­ly with­out ref­er­ence to mod­ern mores and con­ven­tions. Most of these pieces aren’t real­ly long enough to be sto­ries, they are more in the line of anec­dotes. But the lit­tle bits of south­ern life and the eccen­tric­i­ty of Bailey and her rel­a­tives are worth while.

(pub. 1994)

 

* Mama’s mind is a weird and won­der­ful place — just don’t stand too close *