Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady - by Florence King (Paperback)

About the Book

Florence King's hilarious memoir of being reared in an eccentric Southern family by a grande dame grandmother who tried to hammer her into the shape of a true Southern lady. Was Granny successful? That is for the readers to decide, but they'll laugh uproariously as they do.

Book Synopsis

Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady is Florence King's classic memoir of her upbringing in an eccentric Southern family, told with all the uproarious wit and gusto that has made her one of the most admired writers in the country. Florence may have been a disappointment to her Granny, whose dream of rearing a Perfect Southern Lady would never be quite fulfilled. But after all, as Florence reminds us, "no matter which sex I went to bed with, I never smoked on the street."

Review Quotes

"The damndest adventures in autobiography hilarity to come down the pike in recent years...She is a Bombeck with bite, a female Art Bushwald with Southern sass, an A-one original American humorist down to her wicked, wicked bones." --Susan Brownmiller

"An outrageous commentator on men, women, and other sources of amusement, particularly the Southern variety...Florence King never loses her warmth, her humor, or her ability to be delighted by life's inherent contradictions." --Chicago Sun-Time

"Miss King, who lives in Virginia, is among the few writers who can make you laugh and gasp out loud...She is a social commentator who wipes away the thick-as-molasses layers of Southern sham...Write on, Miss King." --Chattanooga Times

"She lesves more Old South traditions in shreds than Gen. William T. Sherman...Confessions of Failed Southern Lady should appeal to all belles, Southern not, failed or not." --Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Witty, intelligent, freewheeling...Surely the author told these stories before she wrote them, stretching and perfecting them with each telling, mining them for humor." --Newsday

About the Author

Florence King (1936-2016) is the author of Southern Ladies and Gentlemen, With Charity Toward None, and other books. A prolific writer of essays, articles, and books under various pseudonyms, she was best known for her columns "The Misanthrope's Corner" and "The Bent Pin" in National Review, and for her semi-autobiographical book, Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady.