New Stories from the South: The Year's Best, 2002

New Stories from the South: The Year's Best, 2002

EDITED BY SHANNON RAVENEL

(ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL, $14.95)

This 17th volume of regionally flavored short stories touches on as many types of Southerners as the number of emotions they express.

Dulane Upshaw Ponder weaves a tale of survival in "The Rat Spoon," as a beleaguered mother and her daughter resort to steeping pine needles for tea when Union troops bum through Georgia.

Andrea Lee's "Anthropology" takes a stab at the anachronistic social necessity of racial labels, as she argues with her cousin about the identity of her mixed-blood family.

The collection is framed by two tales of journeys: the first, a piece about an old woman trekking back to her roots (with a twist); the last, a story of a marriage's redemption in the face of death. Whether the writers have you crying or laughing, they will leave you believing in the power of the short story. J. WILEY MILLER

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Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Oct 2002
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