cover image LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS WOMEN: A Memoir

LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS WOMEN: A Memoir

Frank Sikora, . . Univ. of Alabama, $12.95 (144pp) ISBN 978-0-8173-5148-9

In a nod toward James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men , which described how the Depression affected Alabama, journalist Sikora gives an account of poverty and race in the state during the turbulent mid-1960s. As if he were telling the tale from a porch swing, Sikora takes his time, weaving together personal history, jokes and political thought as he ambles through the difficult lives of some resilient people. An Ohio native, Sikora moved South when his Alabama-born wife, Millie, tired of cold weather and the constant sickness of their four children. After a run of bad financial luck, the family moved into Millie's parents' ramshackle house. Although Sikora occasionally attempts to tackle larger issues, like how rural Alabama residents dealt with civil rights, he excels most at describing the languid pace of an impoverished family. With no money for entertainment, he and his in-laws spent a great deal of time simply talking while throwing rocks at trees. Sikora's respect for the family's women is also apparent—he often marvels at their resourcefulness in stretching a dollar—although he has difficulty warming up to his ornery, angry mother-in-law. The portrait he draws of '60s smalltown life in the South is affectionate while remaining realistic about bigotry and exclusion, and gives a valuable glimpse of one family's experience during a momentous decade. (Feb.)