One of the great collections, the range found here is impressive: from new journalism to absurd parodies and theatrical sketches; from absurd short riffs to Southern’s most classic and lyrical early works of fiction. “Red-Dirt Marijuana,” the insightful, funny, and moving story of the relationship between a white boy and a black man, is paired with the horrific knock-down, drag-out of “Razor Fight.” One of the most scandalous stories ever published, “The Blood of a Wig,” combines an insider’s look at the “Quality Lit” biz, the drug underground of Greenwich Village, and a vision of necrophilia involving one of America’s most sacred cows. There is an imaginary encounter between Freud and Kafka in “Apartment to Exchange,” a skewering of the liberal white man and his efforts to befriend a black jazz musician in “You’re Too Hip, Baby,” an exploration of race relations, moonshine, and the baton-twirling subculture in the personal essay “Twirling at Ole Miss” (identified by Tom Wolfe as the first instance of “New Journalism”), and many more pieces with Southern’s signature dark satire, unconventional storylines, and pitch-perfect dialogue.

 

Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes is a wild, funny, and dazzlingly diverse trip through the American culture of the 1950s and 1960s.