An essential collection of classic stories that established Flannery O'Connor's reputation as an American master of fiction—now with a new introduction by New York Times bestselling author Lauren Groff In 1955, with the title story and others in this critical edition, Flannery O'Connor firmly laid claim to her place as one of the most original and provocative writers of her generation. Steeped in a Southern Gothic tradition...

Jill McCorkle tells the varied tales of today's southern women, the lives they end up leading, and the loves that distract them. Stuck in the slow lane, gunning their motors, they are women living the real life, hoping things will get better, but surprised when they occasionally do.

A grotesque human triangle in a primitive Southern town ... A young boy learning the difficult lessons of manhood ... A fateful encounter with his native land and former love ... These are parts of the world of Carson McCullers - a world of the lost, the injured, the eternal strangers at life's feast. Here from one of America's superlative writers are brilliant revelations of love and longing, bitter heartbreak and occasional happiness - tales that...

Introduction / by Robert Giroux -- The geranium -- The barber -- Wildcat -- The crop -- The turkey -- The train -- The peeler -- The heart of the park -- A stroke of good fortune -- Enoch and the gorilla -- A good man is hard to find -- A late encounter with the enemy -- The life you save may be your own -- The river -- A circle in the fire -- The displaced person -- A temple of the Holy Ghost -- The artificial nigger -- Good country people -- You...

A total of 42 stories that chronicle life and death in the South. A total of 42 stories that chronicle life and death in the South. This magisterial collection of short works by Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner reminds readers of his ability to compress his epic vision into narratives as hard and wounding as bullets. Among the 42 selections in this book are such classics as "A Bear Hunt, " "A Rose for Emily, " Two Soldiers, " and "The...

A collection of stories set in different places all over the world describes situations that illuminate uncomfortable relationships.

In ten stunning and bleak tales set in the woodlands, swamps and chemical plants along the Alabama River, Tom Franklin stakes his claim as a fresh, original Southern voice. His lyric, deceptively simple prose conjures a world where the default setting is violence, a world of hunting and fishing, gambling and losing, drinking and poaching-a world most of us have never seen. In the chilling title novella (selected for the anthologies New Stories from...

Author William Gay is the winner of the 1999 William Peden Award and the 1999 James A. Michener Memorial Prize. In his debut collection, Gay brings to life 13 stories about a diverse group of colorful characters living in the fertile Tennessee country land.