Flynt regularly teaches courses on Alabama and southern history. Charles Reagan Wilson has a knack for approaching a subject from an unanticipated direction. His studies of southern culture often diverge from the mainstream toward the periphery of Moon Pies, Goo Goo Clusters, Elvis, and professional wrestling.
Some readers find that off-putting.
Others consider it fascinating. Wilson's themes are familiar to all who have followed his career. He prefers to study popular religion, which operates outside formal church institutions and is transmitted through nonecclesiastical channels. The new ground Wilson breaks in this study is his attention to visual aspects of regional culture. Samuel S. Hill and others have long contended that southern religion is primarily oral, hence its preference for sermons over images, icons, symbols, and rituals.