William Alexander Percy

The Curious Life of a Mississippi Planter and Sexual Freethinker

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Gay Studies, Biography & Memoir, Literary, History, Americas, United States
Cover of the book William Alexander Percy by Benjamin E. Wise, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Benjamin E. Wise ISBN: 9780807869956
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: March 12, 2012
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Benjamin E. Wise
ISBN: 9780807869956
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: March 12, 2012
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

In this evocative biography, Benjamin E. Wise presents the singular life of William Alexander Percy (1885-1942), a queer plantation owner, poet, and memoirist from Mississippi. Though Percy is best known as a conservative apologist of the southern racial order, in this telling Wise creates a complex and surprising portrait of a cultural relativist, sexual liberationist, and white supremacist.

We follow Percy as he travels from Mississippi around the globe and, always, back again to the Delta. Wise's exploration brings depth and new meaning to Percy's already compelling life story--his prominent family's troubled history, his elite education and subsequent soldiering in World War I, his civic leadership during the Mississippi River flood of 1927, his mentoring of writers Walker Percy and Shelby Foote, and the writing and publication of his classic autobiography, Lanterns on the Levee. This biography sets Percy's life and search for meaning in the context of his history in the Deep South and his experiences in the gay male world of the early twentieth century. In Wise's hands, these seemingly disparate worlds become one.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this evocative biography, Benjamin E. Wise presents the singular life of William Alexander Percy (1885-1942), a queer plantation owner, poet, and memoirist from Mississippi. Though Percy is best known as a conservative apologist of the southern racial order, in this telling Wise creates a complex and surprising portrait of a cultural relativist, sexual liberationist, and white supremacist.

We follow Percy as he travels from Mississippi around the globe and, always, back again to the Delta. Wise's exploration brings depth and new meaning to Percy's already compelling life story--his prominent family's troubled history, his elite education and subsequent soldiering in World War I, his civic leadership during the Mississippi River flood of 1927, his mentoring of writers Walker Percy and Shelby Foote, and the writing and publication of his classic autobiography, Lanterns on the Levee. This biography sets Percy's life and search for meaning in the context of his history in the Deep South and his experiences in the gay male world of the early twentieth century. In Wise's hands, these seemingly disparate worlds become one.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book "That Ain't Your Name": An Engaged Identity and Other Gifts from a Dysfunctional Southern Family by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book Remembering the Civil War by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book All That Is Native and Fine by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book Why Rural Schools Matter by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book Hallelujah Lads and Lasses by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book Untidy Origins by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book Virtus Romana by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book Isma'ili Modern by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book What Do We Need a Union For? by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book The Civil War in the West by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book The Works of James M. Whitfield by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book Sympathy and Science by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book Funeral Oratory and the Cultural Ideals of Italian Humanism by Benjamin E. Wise
Cover of the book Vicksburg by Benjamin E. Wise
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy