The title, Dispatches from Pluto, leads readers to expect a sci-fi thriller, but British journalist Richard Grant's delightful memoir of his first year living in the Mississippi Delta quickly disabuses us of that notion. Escaping from expensive, cramped quarters in New York City, Grant and his fiancée impulsively purchase an old plantation house in Pluto, Mississippi, and move in. They battle fire ants, cottonmouths, armadillos, and—most important—their own preconceived notions as they settle into a still-segregated but somewhat fluid society, where races and classes interact and blend in startling ways. Part sociological study, part loving tribute to a community that embodies the principles of Southern hospitality, Dispatches from Pluto provides a sincere and amusing look at quintessential American paradoxes.
A Reader Review by Pam Cooper of Indian Springs, Alabama

This book is part of our Bas Bleu Book a Month 2019 package