"Keenly observed and written with his insightful and deadpan sense of humor, [Rick Bragg] explores enduring Southern truths about home, place, spirit, table, and the regions' varied geographies, including his native Alabama, Cajun country, and the Gulf Coast. Everything is explored, from regional obsessions from college football and fishing, to mayonnaise and spoon bread, to the simple beauty of a fish on the hook. Collected from over a decade of his writing, with many never-before-published essays written specifically for this edition..."--Provided by publisher.

Includes index.

Introduction: South toward home -- Home. The roses of Fairhope ; Mama always said...choose your words carefully ; My brother's garden ; Pretty girl ; Crazy cat lady ; The porch ; Take your medicine, boy ; Time for the year's best nap ; My time machine ; All-night gospel ; Saving face ; Endless summer ; Happy as a pig ; Red dirt -- Table. For a vegetable, I'll have white gravy ; Back to the bayou ; Traveling food ; Fully dressed ; Your first oyster ; Bad slaw ; Never-ending Grace ; The plane truth ; Magic on the plate ; Seasoned in the South ; Summer snow ; The impossible turkey ; Honor thy matriarch ; Requiem for a fish sandwich -- Place. What stands in a storm ; No place like home ; Trade day ; Lost in the dark ; The eternal gulf ; Donkey business ; Armadillo ; Dixie snow ; Merry and bright ; Shopping ; My kind of town ; The lost gulf ; The Yankee mystique ; Cotton ; Stillness -- Craft. Why I write about home ; The fine art of piddling ; The color of words ; The blank notebook ; Fish story ; The quill and the mule ; Words on paper ; Wood, paint, nails, and soul ; Grandpa was a carpenter ; Stuck for good -- Spirit. Down here ; For the love of the game ; All Saint's Day ; When fireworks go South ; O Christmas Tree ; Wheels of time ; The gift of loafering ; Holiday lies ; O Christmas Sock ; Cowboys are her weakness ; A cast of characters ; Nick of time ; 109 yards returned, two points denied, and one twist left in the road ; Long time coming ; Born too late.