Stories from the Blue Moon Cafe: Anthology of Southern Writers

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1931561095 ISBN 13: 9781931561099

Publisher: MacAdam/Cage, 2002

This collection of thirty Southern writers gathers some of the finest authors in the country—with stories, essays, and a poem. Demonstrating a range of styles, topics, and themes, these stories display each writer's craftsmanship and talent and together form a testament to the grand literary tradition of the South.

Contributing authors are:

Marlin Barton
Rick Bragg
Jill Connor Brown
C. Terry Cline, Jr.
Pat Conroy
Tom Corcoran
Beth Ann Fennelly
Patricia Foster
Tom Franklin
William Gay
Jim Gilbert
W.E.B. Griffin
Winston Groom
Melinda Haynes
Frank Turner Hollon
Silas House
Suzanne Hudson
Douglas Kelley
Tom Kelly
Barbara Robinette Moss
Michael Knight
Bev Marshall
Jennifer Paddock
Judith Richards
Richard Shackelford
George Singleton
Monroe Thompson
Sidney Thompson
Brad Watson
Steve Yarbrough

About the Author:

Sonny Brewer owns Over the Transom Bookstore in Fairhope, Alabama. He was editor of the city magazine in Mobile, Alabama, associate editor of an Alabama weekly newspaper, and a feature columnist; he edited an anthology of Fairhope writers and artists called Red Bluff Review, and is the author of a parable on aging cleverly disguised as a children's book, Rembrandt the Rocker, and a book of dime store philosophy called A Yin for Change.

Of course, he, like every other adult in America, is "gonna write a novel someday."

From Publishers Weekly:

Of the 30 short stories featured in this quixotic and eclectic collection, the most notable are perhaps the refreshing, well-chosen selections by lesser-known voices of the New South. Still, an impressive lineup of brand-name authors including Rick Bragg, Pat Conroy, William Gay, W.E.B. Griffin, Winston Groom, Melinda Haynes, Silas House, Brad Watson and Steve Yarbrough round out the mix. The common bond and creative wellspring of the collection is the annual gathering of authors called Southern Writers Reading, held the weekend before Thanksgiving in the artsy town of Fairhope, Ala. Local bookstore (Over the Transom) owner Sonny Brewer is the originator and driving force behind the loosely organized writers conference, and editor of the anthology. The addition of local luminaries W.E.B. Griffin and Winston Groom, and the inclusion of other locals C. Terry Cline Jr. and Judith Richards, was a natural extension of the idea. As the project took shape, like a snowball rolling downhill, it picked up other deserving writers in its path. If the stories (mostly previously unpublished) have anything in common, it is their brevity. But in the space of a few pages each, they range widely in setting and subject matter: from Griffin's "Going Back to the Bridge in Berlin," about an ex-serviceman's return to his post-WWII posting, to Richard Shackelford's "From Tucson to Tucumari, from Hatchabee to Tonopah," about an old trucker's death. The true accomplishment of this freespirited venture is the discovery of such gifted voices as Jennifer Paddock and local bookstore clerk Jim Gilbert. This collection may well become a yearly objet d'art.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.