![]() ![]() He agrees, knowing it is most likely one of the “last chances to participate in such a Southern tradition because manual labor for such backbreaking work (is) being phased out.” In one chapter, his grandmother encourages him to pick cotton on a friend’s plantation to toughen him up. In addition to his own narrative, Sessum’s book reflects a changing South, a fact he registers even as a child. We don’t stand for no nonsense down here.” After all, his grandmother states in the book, “This is Mississippi. This behavior becomes increasingly worrisome to his teachers and relatives. Instead of complaining along with his relatives, Sessums prefers reading “Valley of the Dolls,” dressing up as the Wicked Witch of the West for Halloween, and orchestrating a Little Miss Goldwater pageant at his school. Meanwhile, young Sessums is dealing with his own set of problems, from childhood molestation to the death of his parents at an early age. If it isn’t the newly segregated school system, it’s that troublesomely liberal President Johnson. It’s the early 1960s, and conservative Mississippi is being turned upside down. Journalist Kevin Sessums does just that in his memoir “Mississippi Sissy,” a heartbreaking account of growing up gay in Mississippi. All you need is to be able to make your life sound more interesting than the other six billion people in the world. ![]() Today, fame is no longer a prerequisite for writing an autobiography. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |