There exists an unspoken rule for Southerners: as much as you try, you can never really leave the South. This is the simple theme of “Eat, Drink, and be from Mississippi”, the latest book from author Nanci Kincaid.
“Eat, Drink, and be from Mississippi” is a book about a brother and a sister from Mississippi who travel to California to pursue their dreams. But like mentioned earlier, the duo can never really leave the South, even though they physically relocate themselves. Surprisingly, there is a little black boy from the ghetto who turns out to be the siblings’ savior and brings them purpose.
Kincaid was married at a young age and was a stay at home mom working random jobs as a bank teller and at a doctor’s office. She began taking writing courses because she always loved English classes while in school. With some encouragement from the teacher, Kincaid decided to turn one of her short stories into a novel. Kincaid spent the next seven years working on the story and finally produced her first book, “Crossing Blood”.
Since that first book, Kincaid has written five others including “Verbena”, “Pretending the Bed is a Raft”, “Balls”, “As Hot As It Gets You Ought to Thank Me” (which was adapted into a movie titled My Life Without Me) and the newest, “Eat, Drink, and be from Mississippi”.
Dawn Pierce, a family friend of Nanci Kincaid, has read all of her books. Pierce says all of her books have witty dialogue with true Southern colloquialisms. Kincaid always uses a female hero and always incorporates some “grain of truth” in her plots.
“She uses a ‘child’s eyes’ to describe derogatory views of the South. So it’s easier for her to get away with it,” Pierce says, on the uniqueness of Kincaid’s southern fiction books.
Kincaid just completed a book signing in Auburn at the Auburn Public Library where she read a few chapters of her new book and answered questions.
Pat Giddens, a manager at J & M Bookstore, was a first-timer to Nanci Kincaid’s book signing.
“I’ve never been to a reading before, I didn’t know what to expect. But she [Kincaid] read with such passion and quenched my thirst enough to want to read the book,” Giddens says.
Kincaid is touring other big cities in the South doing book readings and signings for the book. After her book tour, she will return home to California to complete a work-in-progress about the women in Tutwiler Prison.



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