Several Pulitzer Prize-winners are snubbed in favor of the lightweight “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” for the book that best represents Louisiana in the “50 States of Literature” series at Columbia University.
Louisiana is a treasure trove for authors, who can mine all matter of bacchanalia, corrupt politicians, racial struggles and voodoo culture for their literary endeavors. With so many good books to choose, it’s just a surprise the nod was given to the Ya-Yas, although I know the book was incredibly popular.
But so was “The Confederacy of Dunces” and “All the King’s Men,” both Pulitzer winners, and Walker Percy’s “The Moviegoer.”
“Divine Secrets” is entertaining, but the Ya-Yas just don’t really do it for me. And the book seems more of a “Southern” novel than one that evokes Louisiana. What do y’all think? Is it a good pick for Louisiana?
50 States of Literature
Responses to “‘50 States’ goes lightweight in Louisiana”
April 11th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I lived in New Orleans for a number of years, and I live in New York now. And what the latter doesn’t understand about the former, or the rest of America, could fill a book bigger than all of Columbia’s selections combined, so it is no surprise to me that the people at Colombia chose “Yaya” over the numerous others that are more representative and more worthy of the fine state of Louisiana.
April 11th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I would go with “The Moviegoer,” I guess because it’s one of my favotite novels (& walker percy’s best). but don’t forget Ernest Gaines’ “A Lesson before Dying” and Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” or, even earlier, “The Grandissimes,” by George Washington Cable. But choosing Ya-Ya is caving to popular taste and doesn’t not reflect well on the state’s literary accomplishments.
April 12th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
I can agree with all those great novels but YaYa is a very fine book and was well acclaimed, not just by me (I loved it). I have to ask you all if you are dishing this fine novel because it’s about women and their issues? I find that books that deal with emotional issues, romance and anything female are considered less than literary. But then society doesn’t hold much for female traits either — or humor for that matter. Ever notice how many comedies win an Academy Award? And let me tell you as a writer it’s harder to write humor than drama.
But off my feministic and inequalities in Hollywood soapbox, I do think there are plenty of great books that represent Louisiana (my Web site lists dozens of writers and it’s not scratching the surface) and this is a valid argument. Just please don’t dish YaYas because you think it’s simple popular fiction.
April 12th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
No, no. I’m not dissing the novel because it’s about women (I am of that gender myself), and I did say it was popular and entertaining. I’m just saying it’s not the book I would choose to represent Louisiana.
April 20th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I used to work and live in Alexandria, La., where the author, Rebecca Wells, grew up. I think the novel does a good job of depicting a certain reality within not only Louisiana but small-town America generally. That reality is one of secrets — sexual, economic, social, violent, political, etc. It also does a good job of depicting a certain type of Southern woman who keeps these places going and keeps the secrets from overwhelming the naifs whom these women love (children, men, etc.). The toll this dynamic takes on the women is, I guess, the key secret exposed in the novel.
As to how well the novel represents Louisiana, I’d have to say it does quite well. Louisiana is really three states: New Orleans, Acadiana (a whole other country) and redneck North Louisiana, which has more in common with Mississippi and East Texas than it does with either of the other two “states” within Louisiana’s borders.
Alexandria, which is basically the community depicted here, lies at the border of Acadiana and North Louisiana. It is about as Catholic as it is Baptist — the state’s main Baptist college, Louisiana College, is across the Red River from Alexandria. It’s more cosmopolitan and tolerant than Shreveport, in my estimation, but lacks the joie de vivre — and the blatant baudiness — of the French Quarter.
But, frankly, if I were asked to name a book representative of Louisiana, this is not the one I’d choose. I’d go for one of James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux mysteries.
April 20th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
My feelings, the team picking these books are choosing based on appeal to college-aged female students, and not focusing on classic representations of the state. That being said, I’m surprised they didn’t opt for Cane River; besides, Confederacy of Dunces already enjoys a college-aged male following. ;D
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