What southerners do, where they go, and what they expect to
accomplish in their spare time, their "leisure," reveals much about
their cultural values, class and racial similarities and
differences, and historical perspectives. This volume of
The New
Encyclopedia of Southern Culture offers an authoritative and
readable reference to the culture of sports and recreation in the
American South, surveying the various activities in which
southerners engage in their nonwork hours, as well as attitudes
surrounding those activities.
Seventy-four thematic essays explore activities from the familiar
(porch sitting and fairs) to the essential (football and stock car
racing) to the unusual (pool checkers and a sport called
"fireballing"). In seventy-seven topical entries, contributors
profile major sites associated with recreational activities (such
as Dollywood, drive-ins, and the Appalachian Trail) and prominent
sports figures (including Althea Gibson, Michael Jordan, Mia Hamm,
and Hank Aaron). Taken together, the entries provide an engaging
look at the ways southerners relax, pass time, celebrate, let
loose, and have fun.