A WEEK IN ROBERT'S WORLD: The South

Robert Lee Harris lives in the small town of Huntersville, North Carolina"" but there is little beyond the red clay road and the pines to make this specifically Southern and nothing to make it distinctively Negro (among other things, he goes to an integrated school). What we have are photos of an alert, attractive youngster, some of which call attention to themselves (a lowering sky, a dramatic angle), most of which show him at school, at play, at home, at church -- where nothing particular happens. That he is black and Southern and yet ubiquitous may have some value as a subtle leveller; the book just has no character.