{"product_id":"the-mississippi-delta-and-the-world-the-memoirs-of-david-l-cohn-library-of-southern-civilization","title":"The Mississippi Delta and the World: The Memoirs of David L. Cohn (Library of Southern Civilization)","description":"\u003cp\u003eNo one knew the Mississippi Delta more intimately or told its story more eloquently than did David L. Cohn (1894-1960). Between 1935 and 1960 he produced ten books including his best known  God Shakes Creation  later expanded into Where I Was Born and Raised -- and scores of articles and essays  including more than sixty such pieces in the Atlantic Monthly alone. One of his greatest frustrations  however  was not finding time to organize and prepare for publication the memoir he began in 1953. James C. Cobb discovered Cohns memoir in 1985 in the David L. Cohn Collection at the University of Mississippi. Struck by its richness and convinced that it should be published  he undertook the task of arranging and editing the material. What Cobb has brought forth is an immensely valuableand entertaining work of both literary and historical significance that plots one extraordinary mans course through the changes of the twentieth century. Cohn was in essence a \"cosmopolitan provincial \" an observer who realized that the problems and circumstances of the Delta were at the same time unique and universal. A native of Greenville  he was educated at the University of Virginia and Yale University Law School. A brief but highly successful career in business allowed him to pursue his dream of being a writer. He traveled widely but remained faithful to his Delta roots  counting among his close friends both William Alexander Percy and Hodding Carter. He was intensely interested in politics and served as speechwriter for Democratic party leaders  including Adlai Stevenson  George McGovern  and Lyndon Johnson. Lamenting the trend toward overspecialization  Cohn did not shrink from expressing his views on a wide array of topics: race and religion  free trade and internationalism  technology and culture  and materialism and matrimony  among others. Southern to the marrow and an almost zealously patriotic American  he was also a Jew  and he managed a harmonious integration of all three identities rather than the separation or suppression of any one. In his Introduction  Cohn describes his memoir as \"primarily an evocation of persons and places... the physical and spiritual terrain of my youth \" a period that takes him from birth through approximately 1934. Cobb picks up the thread in a concluding essay  surveying Cohns later life and analyzing his literary career in light of his southern origins  racial views  ethnic ties  and internationalist perspective. Perhaps better than any other single work by Cohn  The Mississippi Delta and the World reveals that he was a truly learned commentator on the human condition  one who benefited enormously both from his travels and from his determination to maintain his ties to the place where he was \"born and raised.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44946704072757,"sku":"ByrdShop_0807119911","price":64.58,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780807119914.jpg?v=1769962066","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-mississippi-delta-and-the-world-the-memoirs-of-david-l-cohn-library-of-southern-civilization","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}