The Liberal Redneck Manifesto, Draggin’ Dixie outta the Dark, by Trae Crowder, Corey Ryan Forrester, and Drew Morgan, is well-written, persuasive, important, and hilarious. (Disclaimer: I am a seventy-something little old white lady, born in New Orleans during The War, raised a Yankee in Ohio, highly over-educated, and militantly retired after 46 years of university teaching right here on the Mason-Dixon line.) Even with all that against me, I highly recommend this book to everyone, liberal, conservative and non-aligned. You will certainly learn something, you will probably laugh out loud, and you will not be wasting your time.
First, as I have already said, The Liberal Redneck Manifesto is very well-written. Even considering the dialectal speech, which gives Mr. Mark Twain a run for his money, and the constant cussing, which loses its sting around page 3, the sentences are true to the rhythms, patterns, accents and grammar of actual human speech. The paragraphs are well-structured and the arguments, for the most part, unfold logically. The diction is a charming and dis-arming mix of dialectal speech and academic-ese: “In case y’all haven’t picked up on it, the South is poor. Did we mention that? Well, it is. But it would still be disingenuous to try to depict the experience of being poor in the South as a consistent one.”
The writing is persuasive because Mr. Crowder and his cronies provide historical background, precise definitions, and clear evidence before they even begin their arguments. They do genuine research, and they offer statistical data, usually from government sources. They liberally salt the meat of their argument with personal details provided by each of the three in their individual “Porch Talks.” Equally important, to my mind, they face up to unpleasant facts, acknowledge them, explain specific cause and actual effect, and then recommend that “we” do better. “We can’t fix stupid anywhere. Neither Aunt Tammy nor Tristan the barista is gonna change. But their kids might. Their friends might. We can’t save every one. We’re here for those who wonder if maybe, just maybe, things could be a little bit better. We’re here for the reckoning. Let’s get to it.”
Because this Manifesto brings into the open quite a few issues that have not been (to my personal knowledge) previously addressed in quite this folksy or big-hearted way, this book is important. While I consider myself mostly to the left of liberal, and rather snottily, I confess, I consider myself well-informed, I learned quite a bit from this book that I simply did not know. From the local definition of “Redneck” and human details of the “Draw” to the nuances of regional country music, the horrors visited upon families by alcohol and “Pillbillies,” and the facts behind Southern racism, I stand corrected and much better informed.
To top it all off, this “tome” of theirs is an easy read. No, actually, it is hilarious. From the first page I was laughing out loud and began to mark in the margins every time I did it again. By page78, I had made 37 check marks. That adds up to about one guffaw every two pages. If I were still teaching university English classes, I would require The Liberal Redneck Manifesto (or large parts of it) in every persuasive writing class. This is how it’s done, folks!
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Great book and FANTASTIC men!
For a mixture gift, of Father's Day and her father's approaching 44th birthday (September 22nd), our daughter got her father tickets to the WellRED Tour with Trae Crowder, Drew Morgan, and Corey Ryan in Boston, MA.In one of Trae's interviews, he said they were thankful for all of their fan support and that the guys would be happy to sign any book that was brought to one of their shows, so my (early) birthday gift to my husband was their physical book; The Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin' Dixie Outta the Dark (he received the Kindle version for Father's Day from our youngest daughter).Well, apparently, The Wilbur was running things a little differently than we'd anticipated and you were supposed to buy a VIP bracelet to meet the guys so they could sign stuff. Chris asked The Wilbur's manager if he could just have his book signed and that he didn't need to meet them. The manager asked the guys' road manager if that'd be okay and he said it would be, however, Chris was told due to his handicap power wheelchair and the stage not being handicap accessible he couldn't go up there himself. So our daughter was allowed up on stage to get the book signed for him. When she explained she'd brought her Dad to the show as a gift and that he and she were from a small town in Maine, the guys asked where Chris was. Rose pointed him out and explained he wasn't allowed on stage due to his non-ability to get up the stairs, so the guys (all three of them) jumped down from the stage and walked the distance to Chris to shake his hand and thank him for being there. They then walked back to the stage, crawled back up, and signed Chris' book. Chris was so excited that they'd gone that extra step to shake his hand and just say, "hello".Below is the book that they signed and the tickets that she'd purchased.This book is a fantastic read and even before the guys making my husband's night I would have recommended it to anyone who has seen any of their videos and/or podcasts and liked them. Now I must give a bigger shout out to the men themselves and recommend that you catch one of the shows in person in a town near you! (You might want to find out in advance the venue's rules on signing things, though.)
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2017
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- JReviewed in the United Kingdom on November 22, 2016
Lively, Funny, Sad. Informative. Totally loved this book!
