About the Book: We live in a world that is structured by the surreal images created in Hollywood and reality seems to go unchecked because of this. John H. Hayes book, If You Don’t Like the Possum, Enjoy the Sweet Potatoes is a welcome reality check. It is a book that draws upon real experiences and conveys real insights of real living The book is a collection of homilies, vignettes, insights, and life suggestions that are utterly delightful The book contains the wisdom of a man who arose from the poverty of the Old South's sharecropper system to become a major scholar in his field. John Hayes gives us precise insights into an era that has long since passed, and into our own humanity today. From the opening account of the preparation, baking and serving of possum and sweet potatoes (I shudder at the thought), to the narration of his experiences growing up white in the segregated South with a black youth as his best friend, this book preserves an invaluable glimpse of a world that has long-since disappeared. This book is a must read.
About the Author; John H. Hayes is Emeritus Professor of Old Testament at emory University’s Candler School of Theology. He is also the author of Understanding the Psalms and coauthor of A History of ancient Israel and Judah, 2nd ed, and A New Chronology for the Kings of Israel and Judah. His newest book, Abanda, is due out this year.
My Thoughts: Hayes packs fifty-two tales in a slim book that offer up some wonderful principles for travel along the road of life. The titles are humorous and filled with down to earth advice on life and how to live it to the fullest. Chapter twenty-nine entitled, “Try to Bequeath Your Children More Than a Copy of Your Bankruptcy Statement begins with the we demonstrate that our life has been more than a dash between two dates on a tombstone.thought .” Having just dealt with the estate of my parents this one was near and dear to my heart. Hayes says, “Like it or not, what we leave our children in the way of finances says something about how we have lived. How we have spent what we had, how we have used what we had, how much we have given away of what we had – these all speak volumes too. All of these are ways we demonstrate that our life has been more than a dash between two dates on a headstone. Parents who burn the economic candle at both ends oftern leave the children only the smoke of a smoldering wick. Such parents spend their final years living on their memories and off Medicare and their social Security checks, unless, of course, the children pitch in and become parent redeemers.” This book is a must on my reading list and a must for my library. You should run out an get one for yourself today! I promise you won't regret it.
Disclaimer: I was loaned an autographed copy of this book by a neighbor and was asked to write a review about it if I liked it. No money exchanged hands and it was my pleasure to write a review about this amazing book.
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