16 Aug 2010 23:47:21
It is amazing news, it is new book: New Stories from the South: 2010: The Year's Best," by Amy Hempel. It is not long awful stories. Now you can enjoy by reading the collection of short fiction marks the 25th anniversary of the series showcasing the work of writers connected to the South. Edited by the author Amy Hempel, it offers a range of compelling voices, some from established writers like Rick Bass and Elizabeth Spencer, but more often from lesser-known talents whose work appears in little magazines, regional reviews and periodicals.
Every story hard to put down, hard to let go of once you've finished.
The writers may have their connection to the South but the stories just as often take readers elsewhere. Brad Watson's "Visitation," for example, is set in a San Diego motel and its environs, where the mundane trappings of a troubled dad's weekend visit with his son become disturbing and spooky, opening a window to a menacing world.
"Discovered America," by Marjorie Kemper, traces a coming-apart California couple's trip around the country in the fall of 1963, ending in Dallas. It is an elegy to the couple and the country, both struggling on the verge of change, a poignant story made more so by the author's death last year.
The South is a cultural element at play in some of the stories. Tim Gautreaux's "Idols" is a kind of fable set in Mississippi that pays homage to Flannery O'Conner. In Spencer's "Return Trip," a woman is confronted by the arrival of an old flame — and a lingering, unsettling question — while sorting out her relationship with her husband and family at a North Carolina mountain getaway, not far from the Asheville of Thomas Wolfe.
A collection like this offers an excellent way for readers to be introduced to writers they might not otherwise see, in publications such as Tin House, Appalachian Heritage, AGNI Magazine and Five Points or McSweeney's, where some of these stories appeared last year.
The collection is dedicated to Barry Hannah, who died in March in Oxford, Miss. Hannah's startling, singular voice drew notice when it was featured in 1968 in "Intro 1," a collection of work by promising young writers of that era. It may not be matched here, although it is echoed in Wells Tower's "Retreat," an over-the-top tale of sibling rivalry. But Hempel and series editor Kathy Pories have done justice to Hannah's memory and the collection's 25th anniversary milestone.
Every story hard to put down, hard to let go of once you've finished.
The writers may have their connection to the South but the stories just as often take readers elsewhere. Brad Watson's "Visitation," for example, is set in a San Diego motel and its environs, where the mundane trappings of a troubled dad's weekend visit with his son become disturbing and spooky, opening a window to a menacing world.
"Discovered America," by Marjorie Kemper, traces a coming-apart California couple's trip around the country in the fall of 1963, ending in Dallas. It is an elegy to the couple and the country, both struggling on the verge of change, a poignant story made more so by the author's death last year.
The South is a cultural element at play in some of the stories. Tim Gautreaux's "Idols" is a kind of fable set in Mississippi that pays homage to Flannery O'Conner. In Spencer's "Return Trip," a woman is confronted by the arrival of an old flame — and a lingering, unsettling question — while sorting out her relationship with her husband and family at a North Carolina mountain getaway, not far from the Asheville of Thomas Wolfe.
A collection like this offers an excellent way for readers to be introduced to writers they might not otherwise see, in publications such as Tin House, Appalachian Heritage, AGNI Magazine and Five Points or McSweeney's, where some of these stories appeared last year.
The collection is dedicated to Barry Hannah, who died in March in Oxford, Miss. Hannah's startling, singular voice drew notice when it was featured in 1968 in "Intro 1," a collection of work by promising young writers of that era. It may not be matched here, although it is echoed in Wells Tower's "Retreat," an over-the-top tale of sibling rivalry. But Hempel and series editor Kathy Pories have done justice to Hannah's memory and the collection's 25th anniversary milestone.
