Volume 36, Number 16 · October 26, 1989
The Narcissistic South
By C. Vann Woodward
Encyclopedia of Southern Culture
edited by Charles Reagan Wilson, edited by William Ferris
University of North Carolina Press, 1,634 pp., $49.95
It is common knowledge that Jimmy and Billy Carter were their legal names. It may be less commonly realized how representative of their native region this folksy naming practice is. The southern delegation in Congress during the mid-1980s, for example, included an Andy, a Billy, a Cathy, a Jamie, a Jerry, a Larry, a Lindy, and a Ronnie, all legally recorded names. When formal names do exist for popular luminaries they are often ignored or forgotten. William Franklin Graham, Jr., is a complete unknown, but Billy Graham is a household word, as are Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.
Review, 5360 words
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