Mississippi Sissy
Mar 2008 · Macmillan + ORM
4.3star
6 reviewsreport
eBook
324
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About this eBook
“A book I’ve been waiting for most of my life . . . by a writer who is equally at home with Flannery O’Connor and Jacqueline Susann.” —Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author
Mississippi Sissy is the stunning memoir from Kevin Sessums, a celebrity journalist who grew up scaring other children, hiding terrible secrets, pretending to be Arlene Frances and running wild in the South.
As he grew up in Forest, Mississippi, befriended by the family maid, Mattie May, he became a young man who turned the word “sissy” on its head, just as his mother taught him. In Jackson, he is befriended by Eudora Welty and journalist Frank Hains, but when Hains is brutally murdered in his antebellum mansion, Kevin’s long road north towards celebrity begins. In his memoir, Kevin Sessums brings to life the pungent American south of the 1960s and the world of the strange little boy who grew there.
“Mississippi Sissy is an unforgettable memoir. I think it will strike a strong chord with many, many readers. It’s a far different book than Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but it cast the same kind of spell over me while I was reading it.” —Mark Childress, author of Georgia Bottoms
“What a writer! What honesty! Kevin Sessums seamlessly weaves his heart-breaking, funny, outrageous, can’t-put-it-down story. Read it! Read it! Read it! Then read it again.” —Ellen DeGeneres
“Kevin Sessums is a brilliant writer. He is also a courageous one. Mississippi Sissy is beautifully told—hilarious yet harrowing, tragic yet inspiring. This book will deeply touch anyone who has ever felt different, which means every single one of us.” —E. Lynn Harris, New York Times–bestselling author
Mississippi Sissy is the stunning memoir from Kevin Sessums, a celebrity journalist who grew up scaring other children, hiding terrible secrets, pretending to be Arlene Frances and running wild in the South.
As he grew up in Forest, Mississippi, befriended by the family maid, Mattie May, he became a young man who turned the word “sissy” on its head, just as his mother taught him. In Jackson, he is befriended by Eudora Welty and journalist Frank Hains, but when Hains is brutally murdered in his antebellum mansion, Kevin’s long road north towards celebrity begins. In his memoir, Kevin Sessums brings to life the pungent American south of the 1960s and the world of the strange little boy who grew there.
“Mississippi Sissy is an unforgettable memoir. I think it will strike a strong chord with many, many readers. It’s a far different book than Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but it cast the same kind of spell over me while I was reading it.” —Mark Childress, author of Georgia Bottoms
“What a writer! What honesty! Kevin Sessums seamlessly weaves his heart-breaking, funny, outrageous, can’t-put-it-down story. Read it! Read it! Read it! Then read it again.” —Ellen DeGeneres
“Kevin Sessums is a brilliant writer. He is also a courageous one. Mississippi Sissy is beautifully told—hilarious yet harrowing, tragic yet inspiring. This book will deeply touch anyone who has ever felt different, which means every single one of us.” —E. Lynn Harris, New York Times–bestselling author
Ratings and reviews
4.3
6 reviews
A Google user
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Can't rate the book because I never read it. Was googling for a lady named Diane O' and came across this book as Diane is mentioned in it by Kevin as being the prettiest girl in school ... He was right. I knew of Kevin and went to school in Forest myself from 6th to 10th grade ... Kevin was 3 years older than I. Always thought he was a little on the feminine side. He had a sister named Carol a year younger than me, tall and lanky and one heck of a basketball player, in fact, Kevin wasn't a bad player himself. Forest was a little town where everyone knew everyone else, very quiet and very conservative with a proud southern heritage. Up North (I lived up there awhile also) you rarely saw a black back then. In Mississippi, you went to school with them, you played with them, their parents helped and worked for your parents doing odd jobs and the blacks were very mannered and respectful of others. Always Yes'm and No'm from the smallest 4 year old to the older and wise senior citizens that could tell you exactly where to throw your line to catch a catfish and how to tie a hook on a line. Seeing that Kevin has "come out", I can see where he might have been a lost sheep in that small town.
Back to my original sentences about Diane .... had a crush on her from 8th grade to 10th, though I was 3 years younger. Sadly, I moved to Tennessee in the middle of my tenth grade year. We rode together in a church bus once back from a Christian seminar in Atlanta to Forest in 1974. As she would catch naps, her head would lay on my shoulder ... I was in Heaven. Wonder where she is now?
Kevin, good luck to you. Being a firm believer in the words of the Bible, I can't agree with you or others that it is a "lifestyle choice" being gay, can only pray that you and others I grew up knowing can find peace through our Lord and Savior.
Mark W
Tim Kynerd
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2 March 2015
Sessums's tale of growing up and coming of age in Mississippi is compelling reading.
About the author
KEVIN SESSUMS is currently a contributing editor at Allure magazine after spending fourteen years at Vanity Fair in that same capacity. Before joining Vanity Fair, he was executive editor for Andy Warhol's Interview magazine. His work has also appeared in Elle, Travel + Leisure, Playboy, Out, and Show People magazines. He was born and raised in Mississippi and now lives in New York City.
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