“Finding Purple America,” by Jon Smith

Reviewed by Sadie Shorr-Parks  The songs of American Idol winner Ruben Studdard may not be the typical vehicle for dismantling the myth of the solid South, but author Jon Smith did not intend to write the conventional southern studies book. Clearly disappointed with the current state of American Studies, Southern studies, and the oh-so-hip American […]

Sadie Shorr-Parks

Sadie Shorr-Parks is a nonfiction writer from Philadelphia. She has a book review forthcoming with The Iowa Review. Her nonfiction and poetry can be found in Defunct Magazine, Blueline, and Lines + Stars, among other literary magazines. She currently teaches in the English department at West Virginia University.