New Stories from the South, 2005 - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565124693 ISBN 13: 9781565124691

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2005

Synopsis

Over the past two decades, New Stories from the South has been identified as “one of the most significant and eagerly anticipated annual collections of American short stories” (Booklist). The quality of the selections and the skill of its editor have been lauded: “Excitingly original stories from new and recently emergent writers make this now-venerable annual a must for readers who mean to keep up with contemporary short fiction. . . . Ravenel is one of the most resourceful and intelligent editors in the business” (Kirkus Reviews, starred). And NPR commentator Alex Chadwick sums it up best when he calls New Stories “A good answer to the question, 'Why read fiction?'”(NPR's Morning Edition).It's in these pages that readers first encountered many of the writers whose work they've now followed and enjoyed for years, and where they continue to find the freshest voices on the verge of stardom. In the 2005 volume, Ravenel treats us to works by Robert Olen Butler, Dennis Lehane, Moira Crone, Tom Franklin, Michael Parker, Rebecca Soppe, and Bret Anthony Johnston, among many others, and a preface by the inimitable Jill McCorkle.Whether it's a young woman taking her teacher to task for favoring his more beautiful students, or a couple on the edge of despair with their colicky baby, or a neighbor who takes too much interest in the girl next door, these selections illustrate the ways in which a good story can electrify a reader.

About this title

About the Author:

Shannon Ravenel has edited New Stories from the South since 1986. Formerly editorial director of Algonquin Books, she now directs her Algonquin imprint, Shannon Ravenel Books. She lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

From Booklist:

In the preface to the twentieth installment of this distinguished annual anthology, Jill McCorkle notes several southern characteristics but insists nonetheless on the commonalities of southern stories and those by other groups that "have been set aside or deprived by poverty or illiteracy or prejudice." In good stories anywhere she looks for "pain, sorrow, grief," and this collection has these in abundance, not only in individual lives but also in the portraits of whole communities struggling to connect themselves. In Stephanie Soileau's "The Boucherie," an estranged local and his neighbors from Sudan carry out a painful ritual of connection before the rest of the community. James Lee Burke's "The Burning of the Flag" also offers a stark image of a community ritual in its final scene, with two boys who have struggled against the abuse of another, defining themselves with the "proper" burning of a damaged flag: "good-natured firemen and the Dunlop family and the patrons of the watermelon stand stood in a circle around two small boys, whose exteriors were made of tallow, warping in the firelight." These are impressive, original stories. James O'Laughlin
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About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1565124693
• ISBN 13: 9781565124691
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328
• Editor: Ravenel Shannon