New Southern Harmonies: Four Emerging Fiction Writers

This book is a hidden gem. Every story in it is breathtakingly good. Not only that, the stories are incredibly diverse -- some are hysterical, some are heartwarming, some are clever, some are moving and socially significant, some are pleasurable flashes of imaginative brilliance. It's no surprise that these authors are all award-winning, or that most of the stories have already been published in some of the best magazines for short fiction. Nor is it surprising that, as I just read on the publisher's site, this book received an IPPY award in 1999 from Independent Publisher magazine as the best book of short fiction by an independent press in North America. What is surprising is that all four of these authors appear to live in, or at least be from, the same region. Fascinating, and you wouldn't know it by the sheer variety of material and styles therein. Quite a find, and a book to treasure.