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Telling Dixie Goodbye

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Pub Date Sep 29 2026 | Archive Date Oct 21 2026


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Description

Born into the provincial mores of the Ark-La-Tex, Scott Oglesby spends a lifetime trying to outrun his Dixie roots. From fraternity hazings and racial justice detours to the kaleidoscopic chaos of seventies counterculture, his journey winds through Cleveland classrooms, California stages, and New York reinventions—where humor, heartbreak, and a few cringy choices shape a life lived on the edge of belonging. As sobering loss, family reckonings, and hard-won wisdom accumulate, Oglesby confronts the complicated inheritance of place—revealing that leaving is only the beginning of understanding where you belong.  

Born into the provincial mores of the Ark-La-Tex, Scott Oglesby spends a lifetime trying to outrun his Dixie roots. From fraternity hazings and racial justice detours to the kaleidoscopic chaos of...


A Note From the Publisher

Scott Oglesby is an Assistant Non-Fiction Editor for Bellevue Literary Review. A New York City transplant from Louisiana, he worked as a disability analyst, actor, singer, photographer, teacher, homemaker, café-owner and budtender before becoming a writer. Among his publications are a novel, Riding High; creative nonfiction in the literary magazines Gravel and Bellevue Literary Review; nonfiction/humor articles in indie newspapers West Side Spirit, The Villager, and Village Sun; essays in the American Book Review, Reddirtpress.com, Jerryjazzmusician.com, and a memoir in the 2023 anthology, Rooted 2: The Best New Arboreal Nonfiction. Scott and his cat-allergic wife, Ann, pine for kitties and divide their time between a house upstate and a West Village walk-up.

Scott Oglesby is an Assistant Non-Fiction Editor for Bellevue Literary Review. A New York City transplant from Louisiana, he worked as a disability analyst, actor, singer, photographer, teacher...


Advance Praise

“In this fine memoir, Scott Oglesby confronts his self-doubt as he barrels through numerous states, romances, risky hustles, and creative endeavors, taking us on a wildly entertaining and acutely observed romp of characters. An authentic, often laugh-out-loud, dramatic, rewarding trip.” – Suzanne McConnell, author of Kurt Vonnegut: Pity the Reader

Telling Dixie Goodbye is a hilarious and heartbreaking memoir where madcap scenes with famous jazz singers, soap queens and rednecks mix with personal stories and family tragedies. Scott’s intimate narrative feels like sitting around a campfire, hearing tall tales that are true and small tales, large with meaning.” – Terrence Ross, novelist, writer/director of the award-winning film El Padrino.

“In this funny and insightful memoir, Scott Oglesby wobbles through the troubled region of his birth, adolescence, and beyond. Shadowed by a fearsome beauty queen sister, Oglesby forges a life of his own, but never leaves the best of the South behind, reminding us that home is not a place outside ourselves, but resides within our hearts.” – Margo Hammond, co-organizer, Dalí Museum Literary Salon, St. Pete, FL

Telling Dixie Goodbye is a sneakily moving, rollicking story of an Arkansas boy, morphing into a bohemian actor/writer and budtender, drifting North, West and East in a kind of dazed innocence, Oglesby will remind you what it was like for the not-famous, not-crazy, offbeat, and hopeful multitude.” – Margaret Diehl, editor, novelist; three NYT Notable Books, and an NEA Fellowship.

“Scott Oglesby is a gifted Southern American writer, special in his authentic understanding of the deep South. Telling Dixie Goodbye is a hopeful work that explores a new America at work on itself.” – Carman Moore, world-renowned composer, conductor, author, music critic and educator.

"At its core, this memoir shows readers that figuring out our past is really about learning to forgive ourselves and giving things time. If you’re a fan of books that capture the true essence of an era, this is a must-read. Very highly recommended." — Readers' Favorite

“In this fine memoir, Scott Oglesby confronts his self-doubt as he barrels through numerous states, romances, risky hustles, and creative endeavors, taking us on a wildly entertaining and acutely...


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Press Release/One-Sheet

Goodreads book page Social media outreach

Live virtual events

Customized book announcement email

Editorial reviews

Strategy calls with publicist

NetGalley campaign


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9798901743829
PRICE $19.99 (USD)
PAGES 266

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