South, Towards Home
Porter Briggs’ grandfather was born on the heels of the Civil War. Porter grew up in the rise of Civil Rights. His father was Arkansas’ first pediatrician. His mother’s death from alcoholism, when he was eighteen years old, left its imprint even, or especially, on the one-night affair that produced his son.
After Cold War tank maneuvers and grad school in Germany, Porter advanced Arkansas, catfish-farming, and hospital associations—then historic preservation and restoration. In California, he drove an anti-nuke campaign with Paul Newman. Heading East, he blazed through Wall Street, massive greenhouses, and boxwood, the great American shrub—punctuated with a White House Fellowship, John Denver’s massive concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and hanging with Sting.
Porter was with Drexel-Burnham-Lambert the day it blew up, in Virginia when his life imploded, and two blocks from the White House on 9/11. He rebuilt his life and had a thriving passport business when love for Diane Wilder called him home to Arkansas.
Themes Explored
- Identity and Belonging: What does it mean to be Southern in the modern era?
- Family and Heritage: The weight of history and the promise of the future
- Place and Memory: How landscapes hold our stories
- Change and Tradition: Navigating the tension between preservation and progress
Praise for South, Towards Home
The book has received critical acclaim for its nuanced portrayal of contemporary Southern life, avoiding both romanticization and condemnation in favor of honest, compassionate observation.
Reading Group Guide
A reading group guide is available for book clubs and educational settings. The guide includes discussion questions, themed topics for deeper exploration, and suggestions for further reading.
Reviews
A masterful exploration of Southern identity that resonates far beyond regional boundaries.
— AR Democrat Gazette
Briggs writes with both tenderness and unflinching honesty about the South's complexities.
— Southern Literary Review
An important voice in contemporary Southern literature.
— Publishers Weekly