Just as I was readying a post proclaiming my utter fatigue thanks to a week of spreadsheet organizing and MS Project learning--not to mention the Braves playing in the Pacific time zone--along comes a press release from the good folks at Oxford American announcing what looks to be another great issue. They're calling it The Best of the South. First, look below for details of the issue, then hit your newsstand and buy a copy. How can you pass this up:
The Oxford American proudly announces the publication of our first-ever BEST OF THE SOUTH issue, which we would be happy to send to you. This issue has something for everyone—food, fun, great writing and art, post-Katrina reports, and much more.
In our quest to unearth the most wondrous bounty for this BEST OF THE SOUTH issue we relied, as ever, on the quirkiest and smartest group ofexperts in the whole wide world—our writers. To judge from the stuff they dug up, the South is brimming over with mysterious, weird, yummy, goofy, sublime, and often unexpected attributes.
SOME HIGHLIGHTS
A huge special section devoted to OA ODES, a colorful no-holds-barred assortment of exaltations to: a neon sign, a pickup truck, a street, a Louisiana lake town, a grave marker, a movie theater, a historic novel, an actor, a food, a house, and a thief by some of the greatest writers around, including John Updike, Michael Martone, Pearl Cleage, Michael Eastman, Carolyn Parkhurst, Richard Bausch, Bobbie Ann Mason, Jack Pendarvis, Cristina Henriquez, Pamela Duncan, Nic Pizzolatto, and many others.
The ever-unpredictable David Ramsey (whose last piece in THE OA was selected for the BEST FOOD WRITING 2005 anthology) on a Floridian, Billy Mitchell, who is the greatest Pac-Man player on the planet.
A rollicking presentation of new fiction by some of the hottest young talent in the South:
Kevin Brockmeier (author of the recently published A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD) offers an otherworldly tale, "The View from the Seventh Layer."
Karen Russell (author of the upcoming story collection ST LUCY'S HOME FOR GIRLS RAISED BY WOLVES) climbs inside a giant conch in what may be the wackiest story we've published, "The World's Greatest Sensational Mystery."
James Whorton Jr. (author of the novels APPROXIMATELY HEAVEN and FRANKLAND) explores memory and enduring love in "Flashes".
Jason Ockert (author of the story collection RABBIT PUNCHES) twists the lives of three men into a gripping and darkly humorous narrative, "Jakob Loomis".
Gideon Lewis-Kraus on the weirdest festival in the South: the Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, annual International Water Tasting.
Our movie columnist Gary Hawkins, who is also a revered filmmaker, on the best Southern movie of 2005: JUNEBUG, by North Carolinian playwright Angus MacLachlan and director Phil Morrison.
William Caverlee on the best Southern short story of all time: Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find."
AND, OF COURSE, WE HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN OUR NEIGHBORS ON THE GULF COAST....
Two powerful writers address the ongoing situation in our AFTER THE STORM section:
Matt Dellinger on the possibly bright future of the Gulf Coast, where a dramatic reconstruction effort is being undertaken by a visionary and controversial architect Andres Duany and his team of New Urbanists.
Ada Liana Bidiuc, a precocious college girl from Georgia (she's originally from Eastern Europe), spends her spring break in New Orleans, helping rebuild houses and falling in love.
The always-amazing William Joyce (whose work frequently appears on New Yorker covers) presents a vision of this year's Mardi Gras festival. He's also set up a foundation to support artists affected by Katrina.
PLUS:
Our beloved columnists Roy Blount, Jr., John T. Edge, and Hal Crowther tackle their own Best of the South picks with aplomb and zest. (If you've never heard of a reporter named Gaynelle, you're in for a treat!)
AND MUCH MUCH MORE! Please visit our website to see more details....
Comments