Were it merely a corporate body, Americans wouldn’t be so desperately at odds with, and in love with, one another. The parts of a body tend to instinctively work together to pursue things that will help the body to survive, whereas a soul will passionately tear itself apart. Near the end of the book, Smith recalls meeting a white woman at a poetry reading who rushes home to retrieve a recording of her grandmother singing old folk songs that remind her of Smith’s work. Smith writes: “I see the whole picture clearly before me. They’re filled with notions and phrases certain to upset me.” The songs were the soul of America but so, too, was the woman’s recognition of the harm they would cause.

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Persons: ” Smith, wouldn’t, Smith, “, They’re Organizations: America Locations: America, Kentucky