Emblems of Conduct

After publishing The Hero Continues, a novel based on the life of Tennessee Williams, in 1960, Windham started publishing recollections of his childhood in Atlanta in the New Yorker.^[1] The series of recollections grew into the personal memoir Emblems of Conduct.^[1][2] It was first published in book form by Scribner in 1963.^[3][4] The book is thus an account of him growing up in the city of Atlanta, and it follows The Warm Country, a collection of stories about the same city, published in 1962.^[5]

The book tells about Windham growing up in Atlanta during the Depression, as his family, which had once been prosperous, gradually becomes impoverished.^[3] The Victorian home of the family, a remainder of their prosperous past, is demolished, and young Donald keeps a piece of stained glass as a reminder of "fading grandeur".^[3][1] Meanwhile his mother is struggling to cope with the situation, and is forced to rely on her relatives.^[3] The book covers Windham's childhood, through his graduation from high school and his decision to move to New York City thereafter.^[6] It evokes "with faint but unmistakable nostalgia the Atlanta of the early decades of the modern century."^[7]

Emblems of Conduct is a highly-regarded personal memoir by Windham. The book was warmly received.^[1][2] The success of this work allowed Windham to publish the collection of short stories The Warm Country.^[1]