NewSouth Books

10/18/2023

The pleasures of digging through cartons of used books cannot be exaggerated. Such activities recently turned up a book famous through the centuries but until now unfamiliar to us at The NewSouth Bookstore. The Perfumed Garden is an Arabian treatise on physical love by Sheikh Nefzawi, a classic handbook on lo******ng not unlike the K**a Sutra. The author lived in present-day Tunis and wrote the book for the Grand Vizier sometime in the sixteenth century. Our book is a first American edition, published in hardcover in 1964 by Gramercy Publishing Company. It is based on a translation from the French (from Arabic) by Sir Richard Burton written in 1886. The work is unabridged and unexpurgated. Keep in mind that The Perfumed Garden was introduced to the Western world only in the mid-1800s, at the time of the discovery of a manuscript copy of the work. One of the things we understand immediately on reading even a few pages is how reverentially — gorgeously, even — it discusses human sexual activity. But we also process how the words link us to a culture that produced a rare flowering of genius in works of philosophy, medicine, chemistry, astronomy, and mathematics over the centuries. Hold our copy of The Perfumed Garden in your hands, and it will entice you to learn more about this special volume and its history. And for the way in which one single book such as this one can beckon like that, we at The NewSouth Bookstore are ever grateful.

05/02/2023

Hello, friends of NewSouth Books! With the recent sale of NewSouth to the University of Georgia Press, we have been investing our resources in The NewSouth Bookstore, with the goal of making it the best independent bookstore serving the greater Montgomery area. Please follow us on social media to keep up with our activities. We are busy expanding the store and hosting an even greater array of fabulous events and authors. Lots to update you about! Thank you for your friendship and support!

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06/30/2022

The recent discovery of a 1955 arrest warrant for Carolyn Bryant Donham in the Emmett Till case makes us mindful of the importance of young activists who in the aftermath of Till's murder rose up to fight injustice (https://bit.ly/3ufgkSl). As recounted in the book In the Name of Emmett Till, their stories remain an inspiration.

06/29/2022

Ernie Suggs — award-winning reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — told ARTSATL.org that writing and touring with the book The Many Lives of Andrew Young has been “the professional highlight” of his life (https://bit.ly/3QQ43xD). Suggs is appearing with Ambassador Young at events across the country discussing the coffee table-styled biography/scrapbook that recounts Young’s amazing story through photographs, documents, and interviews. He told correspondent Gail O’Neill that Atlanta would be a much different city without Young’s leadership and vision. We know that there was no better author to tell Young’s story!

06/27/2022

Master photographer John Dersham — whose gorgeous book of black and white images taken over sixty years NewSouth recently published — is touring Alabama with talks on photography and photo workshops. He lead a group on a photography outing at Little River Canyon Center in the spring and recently spoke to an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute class in Birmingham about his large-format cameras and hand-printing techniques. Photo enthusiasts flock to his engaging presentations: watch for one near you or pick up a copy of Changing Moods and get better acquainted with Dersham’s amazing body of work.

06/24/2022

Little did Irene Wong know that when she married Mark Twain scholar Alan Gribben, she was also marrying a book. Throughout their life together, the couple has lovingly labored to bring Mark Twain’s Literary Resources into existence, with the reward that Volume Two of this monumental work has just been released. An exhaustive examination of the books Twain collected and read, Mark Twain’s Literary Resources offers a stunning portrait of the writer’s creative life. Congratulations to both Alan Gribben and Irene Wong!

06/23/2022

If everything old is new again, high gas prices would seem to be included. In a previous career, John Pritchard (Junior Ray and sequels) was a songwriter in Nashville. His 1979 creation The Answer to the Gasoline Crisis has resurfaced on YouTube (https://bit.ly/3HK0F3c) and on JBrummer’s List of Political Songs (https://bit.ly/3AfmO7V). Pritchard jokes that there are rumors that the 70s shortage was a sham created by greedy oil merchants. The more things change . . .?

06/22/2022

NPR's Book of the Day for June 22 is The Southernization of America by Frye Gaillard and Cynthia Tucker(https://n.pr/3tUw1ym). NPR notes that "Tucker and Gaillard make an argument about how the South shapes the nation's political and cultural landscape – for good and bad." Listen to their interview with Debbie Elliott. We agree that this book could not be more timely.

Frye Gaillard and Cynthia Tucker are old enough to remember Jim Crow in the South. But they recognize the part of the country they grew up in for both its flaws and its significant role in the history of the country. In their new book, The Southernization of America, Tucker and Gaillard make an argu...

06/21/2022

Don Noble does an excellent job of describing the twists and turns of the plotline for Drifting Into Darkness by I. Pinsky in his review of the true-crime book (https://bit.ly/3QAG2dG). The taut storytelling highlighted by Noble makes the book a literary stand-out in the genre.

06/20/2022

Mark Twain studies continue to evolve, with a new exhibit at Elmira Colleg and the monumental second volume of Mark Twain's Literary Resource by Alan Gribben, soon to be published by NewSouth Books. Twain continues to fascinate into the second century after his death.

The Mark Twain Exhibit in Cowles Hall is free and open to the public

06/17/2022

The Jack Brooks Foundation honored Vermont Governor , Virginia State Senator Jennifer McClellan, and Virginia Delegate with the second Jack Brooks Award, given to elected leaders working to remove barriers to voting at all levels. Brooks, who served for forty-two years in the U.S. Congress, was known for bi-partisianship and selfless service, traits in short supply in today's political landscape. You can read more about this remarkable public servant in The Meanest Man in Congress. Congratulations to the recipients of the Jack Brooks Award, and may their efforts to ensure equal access to voting bear much fruit.

06/16/2022

‘A Rare Titanic Family’ is a family biography about Sylvia, Albert and Alden Caldwell.

06/15/2022

WABE News says you should add The Southernization of America to your Summer Reading List, calling it “one of the best new reads” for 2022. And Steven Hubbard of Alabama Writers' Forum, Inc. agrees. In his glowing review he notes that "Gaillard and Tucker’s reflections leave me with a clearer understanding that some of the greatest threats facing American democracy have a long, often complicated history that should be better known. Read this book. While it won’t be the last word, it is a book for going forward, intentionally, as a democracy.” Pick up a copy for your reading list today.

06/13/2022

The Daily Beast features a powerful excerpt from The Moment: Changemakers on Why and How They Joined the Fight for Social Justice by Steve Fiffer (https://bit.ly/3NNDPtL). In “Is There Life After Hate? This Former Neo-Nazi Says Yes,” Christian Picciolini traces his story from becoming radicalized into the neo-Nazi movement as a teenager to the moment when he realized that hatred and violence occur because people like himself as a teen have no one to turn to. Picciolini founded Life After Hate and encourages adults to have “those conversations with young people we need to have, exposing our own vulnerability with them.” His is a compelling story and a vital cause in today’s society. Look for The Moment in November 2022.

06/10/2022

Release of a new book which describes the tragic 2004 murders of Charlotte and Brent Springford by their son drew a lot of attention from Montgomery, Alabama media yesterday and a good crowd of people at NewSouth’s wholly-owned bookstore, Read Herring where author Mark I. Pinsky was invited to give a talk. Drifting Into Darkness, which pinpoints the “intellectual author of the murder,” was the subject of a story in the Montgomery Advertiser (https://bit.ly/3aOdFYX) and and an interview on WSFA-TV's Today in Alabama (https://bit.ly/39miCIf) Pinsky told WSFA’s Bethany Davis that he hopes the local community will realize after reading the book how hard the Springfords tried to save their son and get him the proper treatment for his mental illness, while being consistently thwarted by Caroline Scout, the woman who married Brent Jr. and urged him to kill his parents so she could obtain an inheritance, and who later died before being investigated by police. Pinsky pointed out to the Advertiser’s Destini Ambus that his motivation for pursuing the story was “justice. I wanted to give Carolyn Scoutt the trial she’d never had.”

06/08/2022

Robert Kennedy was assassinated this week (June 6) in 1968. In his memoir A Hard Rain, Frye Gaillard recalls his first thoughts when learning of Kennedy’s death: “I remember thinking of a tiny personal moment—a time when I shared the back seat of a car with Kennedy and his friend John Glenn on a twenty-minute ride to Vanderbilt University. Somehow, I had known that one of his sons had been sick, and I asked Kennedy how the boy was doing. 'He’s better,' the senator replied. As the conversation began to drift to other topics, Kennedy turned back to me. 'Thank you for asking that,' he said. It was, of course, a small and ordinary exchange, but it injected something personal into the hemorrhaging sadness I shared with millions.” That personal exchange exemplifies a kind of solicitude for others often lacking in contemporary society. Kennedy was a model of this behavior, making his passing all the more poignant. May future politicians look to and learn from his example.

06/07/2022

Excitement is in the air as we prepare for a truly unique publication event: the release of Mark Twain’s Literary Resources, Volume II. This masterful study and exhaustive catalog of works known to have been read by Twain is the culmination of a career’s worth of work by Alan Gribben, a leading Twain scholar. R. Kent Rasmussen notes, “When it comes to innovative reference tools, Mark Twain’s Literary Resources stands alone,” adding, “to call this reference work ‘monumental' is almost an understatement.” Begun when Gribben was a young scholar tapping away at his electric typewriter in the last century and completed in today’s digital age, this reconstruction of Mark Twain’s personal library will serve scholars well into future ages.

06/03/2022

Congratulations to military historian Dan Haulman, who received the prestigious Air Force Historical Foundation's Major General I. B. Holley Award for lifetime achievement in documenting Air Force History. The presentation took place at the Army Navy Country Club. Dan is the author of numerous books, including Killing Yamamoto, The Tuskegee Airmen, An Illustrated History: 1939-1949, The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology, Tuskegee Airmen: Questions and Answers for Students and Teachers, and the forthcoming Misconceptions About the Tuskegee Airmen. This award is a richly deserved honor for one of the nation’s leading experts on the Tuskegee Airmen.

06/02/2022

Anne Frank famously said, "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” In the spirit of this statement, we are excited to announce a new book due out in early fall, The Moment: Changemakers on Why and How They Joined the Fight for Social Justice. In The Moment author Steve Fiffer profiles nearly forty social activists who reflect on the instance that moved them to action. The group includes people of diverse races, backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses who share a commitment to making the world a better place. Among those profiled are Edwidge Danticat, Doug Glanville, Ashley M. Jones, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Renee Montgomery, Christian Picciolini, Bryan Stevenson of Equal Justice Initiative, and Anthony Tamez-Pochel. These reformers encourage us all to take advantage of the moments we have in which to make a difference.

05/31/2022

Mark I. Pinsky joined Dan Zupansky on the True Murder podcast to discuss Drifting Into Darkness, his book about the murders of Charlotte and Brent Springford by their son Brent Jr. Zupansky noted that "journalists solving murders is a time-tested trope in movies, mysteries, and on television, but cops and cop reporters know that rarely happens in real life, except when it does.” Pinsky explained that Caroline Scout, the wife of Brent Jr., whom Pinsky calls the "intellectual author" of the murders, died of natural causes before she could be brought to justice. He hopes that his book serves as the murder trial that Scout never had. In the interview, he explains how he became involved in the case, and how he discovered Scout's role. Fascinating listening for anyone with an interest in police investigations and justice and just good storytelling.

05/26/2022

highlighted Margaret Stagmeier's success in transforming a gritty, crime-ridden Atlanta neighborhood in a recent interview (https://bit.ly/3MP6XA1). Stagmeier’s vision began with renovating an apartment complex and continuing through establishing after-school programs and increasing apartment security. Stagmeier enthuses that after a couple of years into the efforts, “you get to see families thrive.” Her new book Blighted: A Story of People, Politics, and an American Housing Miracle, tells the whole remarkable story. Due out in September, this is an inspirational read for community activists, developers, those in city government and more.

05/25/2022

Ambassador Andrew J. Young our friend and the subject of our recently released The Many Lives of Andrew Young by Ernie Suggs, will be the recipient of the 2022 Clinton Global Citizen Award at the 2022 Clinton Foundation Gala. The former United Nations ambassador and Atlanta mayor’s remarkable life is chronicled in the new release The Many Lives of Andrew Young. He has been and continues to be a force for civil rights, peace, and reconciliation throughout the world. This honor is richly deserved!

05/24/2022

Veteran investigative journalist Mark I. Pinsky spoke with the Montgomery Independent how he became involved in researching a notorious murder case, recounted in his book Drifting Into Darkness. The killing of Charlotte and Brent Springford by their young adult son sent shockwaves through the community of Montgomery, Alabama in 2004. Pinsky told the Independent how he got involved in the case, what new evidence he discovered, and how his book serves as the trial for the woman he calls the "intellectual author" of the murder. The official publication date is today. Tru-crime fans, this is a must read!

05/23/2022

Alan Cross shares new intriguing findings from his research into how the South, and Montgomery, Alabama in particular, developed from a stronghold of slavery to the seedbed of the civil rights movement (https://bit.ly/3wNxt7H). In a piece for the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, he adds to the conclusions published in When Heaven and Earth Collide: Racism, Southern Evangelicals, and the Better Way of Jesus (NewSouth Books, 2014). Cross discovered that answers lay in the stories of White Baptists abolitionists and Black Baptist preachers. He praises in particular Black church leaders who laid the foundations for the ministry of civil rights icons such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Abernathy. Those extraordinary leaders themselves stood on the shoulders of giants.

05/19/2022

Julie Williams, Author and Speaker continues to be one of NewSouth Books’s most popular speakers. She has two entertaining programs about historic events that always fascinate audiences: the sinking of the Titanic as recounted in her book A Rare Titanic Family - The Caldwell Story of Survival and the creation of the first civil aviation school by the Wright brothers, a history described in Wings of Opportunity: The Wright Brothers in Montgomery, Alabama, 1910. Her one-woman Titanic program done in period dress is especially wonderful! This summer, Julie will be speaking about the Titanic on a Zoom program for the TitanicMuseum-Attraction IR on June 18 at 10amCST; in person at the Public Library of Anniston-Calhoun County on June 21 at 2pmCST; in person at the Springville Library in Birmingham on July 13 at 2pmCST; and in person at the Titanic Conference in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee on August 25. She will talk about the Wright brothers at the Museum of Coastal Carolina on August 16, 6pmEST. For a great talk on popular history, Julie Williams is just the ticket!

05/18/2022

It’s always a thrill to receive a review from a critic who really “gets” a book. Whit Griswold of The Martha's Vineyard Times praises The Southernization of America by Frye Gaillard and Cynthia Tucker as "a compact but potent collection of essays by two distinguished Alabama journalists; compelling reading for those who worry about the country’s future, who long for the re-emergence of the tenets that the country was built on." (https://bit.ly/37Vh5Iq)We couldn't agree more.

05/17/2022

Popular mystery writer Tony Dunbar just released the first in a new series. The Story of the Sarasota Assassination Society inaugurates Florida Fables, set in and around Sarasota. All novels in the series are based on true events. NewSouth is proud to be the publisher of Tubby Meets Katrina, the first in Dunbar’s very successful Tubby Dubonnet series of 10 titles. Michael Ollove says, "Take one cup of Raymond Chandler, one cup of Tennessee Williams, add a quart of salty humor, and you will get something resembling Dunbar’s crazy mixture of crime and offbeat comedy.” Serve up your own recipe of several Dunbar tales today!

05/16/2022

Jacqueline Allen Trimble and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers spoke “in conversation” to celebrate the paperback book launch of The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois, in a Crowdcast event hosted by HarperCollins and the Black Bookstore Collective (https://www.crowdcast.io/e/the-love-songs-of-w-e-b-). Trimble admitted to being “fangirl Trimble” when it comes to Jeffers’s work and said she didn’t want the book to end because “I don’t want to let go of these people!” High praise from an amazing poet with her own assured voice whose next collection How to Survive the Apocalypse will be published by NewSouth Books in August.

05/12/2022

We are proud to announce that NewSouth Books has been acquired by the University of Georgia Press. Effective July 1, UGA Press will continue to support the existing catalog of titles under the NewSouth Books imprint while adding new titles acquired by NewSouth principals Randall Williams and Suzanne La Rosa (https://bit.ly/37G3HYx). Lisa Bayer, director of UGA Press, says, "NewSouth Books has always punched above its weight in representing the culturally complex and socially significant Deep South to the world. We are thrilled to honor Randall’s and Suzanne’s work by becoming the new publishing home for these award-winning, critically important books, and are delighted to continue the imprint as part of UGA Press.” La Rosa, co-owner and publisher at NewSouth Books, adds, "NewSouth has succeeded due to the talented authors who have trusted us with their research and creativity and to the support of our readers. Both groups will continue to be well served by our alliance with the University of Georgia. Now in its third decade, NewSouth Books looks forward to this important new chapter in its trade publishing life."