In the end, it was pretty good. Despite my gripes with the author's voice I ended up liking the book a lot. Thankfully, he keeps his annoying personal asides to a minimum and focuses on the people he meets.

Since this is my very first travel book, I cannot say whether it's unusual, but I would assume so, as it focuses on people, not so much places. The few descriptions, including those of the author's back yard, are very poetic, though. And this means something coming from me, since I usually hate descriptions.

The theoretical chapters dealing with some key aspects of the South were also very interesting.

Smug sense of superiority aside, I've got to hand it to the man: he writes very well and he is well-read and perceptive and seemingly has a way of getting people to open up to him because they tell him the darnedest things.

Having made my own (far too short!!) first trip to the South very recently, I subscribe to the author's statement that people are welcoming and kind. They are. And being greeted when passing by felt surprisingly nice. But the South is not a happy place, even though I was very happy visiting it. It's tensions and conflicts are brought to light very clearly in the book and in a complex way. All in all a great book to read, in-depth, honest and thoughtful.