Best of the South: From Ten Years of New Stories from the South

I bought Best of the South a few years ago and have returned to it for rereads many times. Writers from the American south really do seem to have a corner on the market when it comes to character development. Anne Tyler does an extraordinary job of picking the stories for this volume. You won't be disappointed. My favorite is the lively, poignant story by Mark Richards entitled "The Birds for Christmas". "Heart" by Marly Swick is another sketch from a child's point of view that packs a punch. All the stories are excellent, but for me the anthology is worth the price just to be able to read about the two boys in the hospital who want to see "The Birds" on Christmas Eve on the ward's old rickety TV set, to the horror of the nurses. This anthology is filled with literary excellence, characters that jump off the page and into one's heart, and profound, painful moments that hold an unexpected mirror up before the reader, all told in the unforgettable flavor of the American south.

The very first story in the collection by Leon Driskell was delicious and perfect. As I read on I could not believe that, one after another, the choices that make this book are equal to the first one. As a regular reader of the Houghton-Mifflin Best American Short Stories annual, I have come to accept that what makes a great collection is a great editor. If you want to see what I mean, look at Anne Beattie's volume, or John Updike's, or John Gardner's; these editors know what makes a story great. The same is true of Anne Tyler, and in each of these stories we see what makes her writing remarkable: development of engaging characters. The primary focus in all of these stories is on character, but you will also find that these stories appeal to us on a human interest level and as lovers of writing. If you are interested in reading and/or writing good fiction, this is a book to read.

This is the best collection of short stories I've read in recent memory. Two favorites are "The Birds for Christmas," by Mark Richard and "The Rain of Terror" by Frank Manley, but almost all typify the finest in short story writing today.

I love this book and I find myself dipping back into it over and over for some favorites ("Charlotte" by Tony Earley is a classic). I took the book on my honeymoon and it is part of the reason why I remember that as such a wonderful time. There really is something here for everybody: memorable characters, quiet and not-so-quiet human drama, and -- that gorgeous language! A must-have for fans of Southern fiction.