My Mississippi
by: Willie Morris (Author), David Rae Morris (Photographer)

Hardcover. University Press of Mississippi, 1st, 2000, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, text by Morris, color photos by David Rae Morris. The author's last book, written in his characteristically limpid, lyrical prose, offers a heartfelt appreciation of his home state, a place often dismissed as poor and backward by "outlanders," Morris' term for non-Mississippians. This is not a defensive recitation of Mississippi's virtues nor is it a whitewash of its less-than-attractive features. First, Morris wants the reader to understand the state's beauty--"physically beautiful in the most fundamental and indwelling way, [in that] it never leaves you." Then, with both pride and understanding, he brings into sharp focus Mississippi's peculiar tensions and ambivalence and also its passions--"we are a singular people," he says of his native folk. The second half of the book is an album of full-color photographs taken by Morris' son, a professional photojournalist. These shots informally capture ordinary moments in the lives of Mississippians, from a young couple standing next to their truck with their new baby in their arms to a group of local citizens hanging out in front of the main store in a small town. Together, the text and the photographs showcase Mississippians doing what they do best--being themselves completely without artifice. Clean copy.