The Hysterical Society

In The Hysterical Society, author Clay Mercer explores the intricacies, customs, and culture of Southern small towns. This subject is familiar to anyone who has ever watched an episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" or read To Kill a Mockingbird. Indeed, it might be said that the subject has been discussed beyond the point of ad nauseum. However, The Hysterical Society looks at life in a small town in Georgia in the Twenty-First Century, in a place that has kept pace with the modern world of technology, yet managed to retain the social ceremony and milieu of days long gone in many parts of modern society.The Hysterical Society demonstrates that, while circumstances may change in a multitude of ways, human nature (including ambition, intrigue, and Machiavellian maneuvering) does not. How can a core group of a small town's highest society engage in such machinations, involve so many peripheral players, exhibit emotions and actions from the mature to the juvenile without losing their sanity? Fortunately the answer lies within the pages of The Hysterical Society.To quote the author, "In writing The Hysterical Society, I wanted to tell another chapter in the story of The South. Not necessarily Margaret Mitchell's "South," or Harper Lee's "South," or even, "The South" as brought to us by the late, great Lewis Grizzard. I wanted to tell the story of 'my' South: South Georgia, as it exists in the Twenty-First Century, populated by the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the pioneers who settled this wonderful place and made it our own."