New Stories from the South: The Year's Best, 2003

This amazing and well-written collection of stories from and about the South is destined to take top honors somewhere. The stories are clear, well-paced, and ultimately satisfying. Kudos to the people who put this group together and here's hoping we see more from them in the future. Also recommended: "Bark of the Dogwood," and "The Known World."

Many of the contemporary short stories I read I don't especially care for. Too often, I leave them with the same feeling with which I approached. Which is why this volume is a something of a mystery, meaning that I enjoyed every one of its tales. I especially appreciated Viswanathan's "Cool Wedding" and Vice's "Report from Junction." I even very much liked Prather's "The Faithful," and I stress "even" because the author once wrote a column which appeared in my weekly hometown paper and which I found to be wretched. Not so with this story. I look forward to next year's collection and pray the tastes of the editor will again align with my own.

This year I decided I'd like to pick up the New Stories from the South and check it out this year. Not bad. There were a handful of really good stories and a handful of really bad, and quite a few in the middle. It's not a bad addition to reading the Best American Short Stories (especially since both Pushcart and the O. Henry Awards are weakening). I won't say this is the best selection I've come across, but it's pretty good. I look forward to next year's edition.

This is the eighteenth instalment of New Stories from the South, and I've read all eighteen. I love the series, and this volume is good. With any compilation of this type some of the stories are bound to appeal to you, and others others will be dissappointing. I reccommend that you go ahead and buy the book: fall in love and get frustrated, it's worth it!But if you want some of the ins and outs: Dorothy Allison is probably the most famous contributor this year. Her story "Compassion" is strongest while dealing with a cancer patient. "Compassion" suffers from a lack of faith in the reader: in case you didn't get that a character (Arlene) was repressed and remote, Ms. Allison inserts the insultingly overt fact that she lives in "Castle Estates." In a different vein, Lucy Corin's "Rich People" seems to have nothing overtly to do with the South: not one reference in the story or in her bio...curious why its in there. For me Allison and Corin's pieces were the most dissappointing. But there are many other stories that enjoyed and savored and will read again. I loved every word of Broke Clarke's "For Those of Us Who Need Such THings." It is a wonderful attempt to build the a Southerntown (ala Dollard) from the ground up--but this time its Savannah. Patricia Lear's "Nirvana" is a similarly evocative collision of cultures. Taylor is perfectly rendered. The summer, the country, and love are all explored and discovered with emotionally-fresh approach. I think I would give Latha Viswanathan's "Cool Wedding" the prize for demonstrating how multifaceted the Souths can be. Donald Hays and Chris Offutt also deserve mention for solid stories. Don't take my word for it: go buy a copy and tell me which stories you liked.

For this book to have only 2 stars is absurd. I happen to be one of the writers in this collection and I know that Nirvana is one of the best stories I have ever written---and it has won more awards than being included in New Stories...from which I deduce that Ravenel was not momentarily deluded or something when she chose it, or the other stories in this collection. And apparently the previous reviewer liked my work just fine when she read me in the Best of the Decade New Stories collection. Man, the writers and the stories collected in the 2003 are the finest being done in this country---now and ever. If you love modern short stories, this book is the cream of the crop. And I for one thought Roy Blount was a gas, but then I was born in Memphis where that kind of humor totally works. Patricia Lear