Counterfeit Gentlemen - John Mayfield - Bog

This is a stunning reappraisal of Southern manhood and identity that uses humour and humourists to carry the reader into the very heart of antebellum culture. If all Mayfield did was remind us that Old Southerners laughed, he would have accomplished something. But he also offers a sophisticated analysis of the social functions humour performed and the social anxieties it reflected.