Arkansas/Arkansaw

<div>What do Scott Joplin John Grisham Gen. Douglas MacArthur Maya Angelou Brooks Robinson Helen Gurley Brown Johnny Cash Alan Ladd and Sonny Boy Williamson have in common? They're all Arkansans. What do hillbillies rednecks slow trains bare feet moonshine and double-wides have in common? For many in America these represent Arkansas more than any Arkansas success stories do. In 1931 H. L. Mencken described AR (not AK folks) as the apex of moronia. While in 1942 a Time magazine article said Arkansas had developed a mass inferiority complex unique in American history. Arkansas/Arkansaw is the first book to explain how Arkansas's image began and how the popular culture stereotypes have been perpetuated and altered through succeeding generations. Brooks Blevins argues that the image has not always been a bad one. He discusses travel accounts literature radio programs movies and television shows that give a very positive image of the Natural State. From territorial accounts of the Creole inhabitants of the Mississippi River Valley to national derision of the state's triple-wide governor's mansion to Li'l Abner the Beverly Hillbillies and Slingblade Blevins leads readers on an entertaining and insightful tour through more than two centuries of the idea of Arkansas. One discovers along the way how one state becomes simultaneously a punch line and a source of admiration for progressives and social critics alike. <div> <p>Winner 2011 Ragsdale Award</p> </div> </div>