Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic [Hardcover]

Brett Cox (Author), Andy Duncan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

As William Faulkner once observed, "The past isn't dead. It isn't even past." And the past of the American South lives on in a long literary tradition where fantasy and reality blur. It is evident in the writing of giants such as Faulkner himself, Flannery O'Connor, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Manly Wade Wellman, Truman Capote, Alice Walker, and many others. Steeped in this tradition and proud to be its inheritors, storytellers and editors F. Brett Cox and Andy Duncan have gathered together stories of the unseen and magical American South by some of the most brilliantly talented Southern writers of our time.

From darkly imagined, powerful tales by Bret Lott, Lynn Pitts, Kalanu ya Salaam, Brad Watson, and Don Webb to a deeply affecting and sensual story by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, to atmospheric works by Richard Butner, James L. Cambias, and Jack McDevitt, to wildly funny stories by Scott Edelman and Michael Swanwick, these original fictions will delight readers who appreciate the unique wealth and breadth of the Southern literary tradition and its natural affinity for the fantastic. With the addition of wonderful reprinted stories by Michael Bishop, Fred Chappell, Andy Duncan, John Kessel, Kelly Link, Sena Jeter Naslund, Daniel Wallace, and Gene Wolfe, this collection is a crossroads of styles and themes where Southern and Fantastic literary traditions meet.

Together these stories paint a wide canvas of the real and mythic South in all its fabulous, terrible, joyous, chaotic uniqueness. They are set in all the Southern landscapes of the mind, from the shores of South Carolina to the city of New Orleans, from small-town Mississippi to the streets of modern Atlanta, from the ghosts of ante-bellum splendor to the shadows of what might be. The contributors range from realistic to Gothic, from magic realists to satirists. What they share in common is the South and the endless stories it inspires.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The crossroads in the title of this unique anthology refers to the intersection between southern letters and the literature of the fantastic, encompassing sf as well as fantasy. All the contributors hail from the South and constitute a diverse medley of veterans, rising stars, and relative newcomers. Sf grandmaster Gene Wolfe contributes a grisly tale of Texas voodoo in "Houston, 1943," in which a child becomes trapped in his own nightmare. "My Life Is Good," by renowned sf editor Scott Edelman, puts a physicist in the awkward position of traveling back in time to prevent singer Randy Newman (a New Orleans native) from becoming president. In "Rose," perhaps the volume's most striking entry, best-selling mainstream author Bret Lott adds another grim detail to the life of Emily Grierson, the groom-slaying heroine of Faulkner's classic "A Rose for Emily." Twenty-six entertaining tales in all, from the darkly disturbing to the bitingly satirical, showcase southern writers' enduring penchant for fusing southern sensibility and magical realism. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"The memorable pieces of fiction in Crossroads, and there are many, are remarkable as stories first, for the tidings they bring of our shared human experience."
--Vince Brewton, Southern Scribe Reviews on Crossroads

"To my mind, Crossroads is clearly on the road to being one of the best anthologies of the year--in any genre. Or out of all genres. It's just a bunch of great writing with a southern theme."
--The Agony Column on Crossroads

"The crossroads in the title of this unique anthology refers to the intersection between southern letters and the literature of the fantastic, encompassing sf as well as fantasy. All the contributors hail from the South and constitute a diverse medley of veterans, rising stars, and relative newcomers. Sf grandmaster Gene Wolfe contributes a grisly tale of Texas voodoo in "Houston, 1943," in which a child becomes trapped in his own nightmare. "My Life Is Good," by renowned sf editor Scott Edelman, puts a physicist in the awkward position of traveling back in time to prevent singer Randy Newman (a New Orleans native) from becoming president. In "Rose," perhaps the volume's most striking entry, best-selling mainstream author Bret Lott adds another grim detail to the life of Emily Grierson, the groom-slaying heroine of Faulkner's classic "A Rose for Emily." Twenty-six entertaining tales in all, from the darkly disturbing to the bitingly satirical, showcase southern writers' enduring penchant for fusing southern sensibility and magical realism."
--Booklist on Crossroads


Praise for Andy Duncan:

"The finest writer of short fiction produced by American science fiction in some time."
--Nick Gevers, sfsite.com

"He is truly one of the brightest new hopes to appear on the SF scene in the past few years. . . . His voice is the true storyteller's voice, wonderfully crafted prose that reads as if it is rolling right out of his mouth extempore."
--Rich Horton, Tangent Online

"If Harper Lee and Gene Wolfe had a love child, Andy Duncan is it."
-- Craig Jacobsen, SFRA Review

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765308134
• ISBN-13: 978-0765308139
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,308,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine short story anthology with broad appeal, December 4, 2004

By 

Thomas E. Jackson "Science fiction fan and hi... (Cleveland Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic (Hardcover)

The two Southern writers who edited this book are apparently interested in the intersection of two Southern literary streams: Science fiction written by writers from the South, and literary fiction with a Southern flavor, as exemplified by William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.

Hence the subtitle of the book, "Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic." This book features prominent science fiction writers, such as Gene Wolfe, Jack McDevitt, Michael Bishop, Michael Swanwick and John Kessel (and for that matter, the editors), and it's published by noted SF publisher Tor. Yet there are also stories here by non-science fiction writers, such as Daniel Wallace (whose novel "Big Fish" was made into a movie) and Sena Jeter Naslund, who wrote "Ahab's Wife: or, The Star Gazer." The anthology is a mixture of original stories and reprints. A fantastic element is present in many but not all stories, with the editors settling for violence in a few cases.

About the only safe generalization I can make is that all of the stories are well-written. I have read many science fiction anthologies in my time, and this one is well above average. I liked some stories better than others, as happens whenever one reads a story collection, but because all of the stories were well-written, everything here is at least very readable. Because of the variety of literary backgrounds of the authors, the reader is likely to discover good stories by authors he has never heard of before.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not much South but some Fantastical elements, October 15, 2004

By 

Gayle Surrette "omnivorous reader" (Brandywine, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic (Hardcover)

Crossroads contains 26 short stories. The title is supposed to imply that there is a crossing of southern literature and the literature of the fantastic which includes science fiction, fantasy, horror and other subgenres.

In reading the book, I found that most of the stories (14) are not particularly southern. You could exchange the town/city name for any town/city of the US and it wouldn't change the story or it's atmosphere. It's more a book of US stories rather than southern stories. However, several of the stories had a very southern flavor such as A Plate of Mojo by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers and Houston 1943 by Gene Wolfe.

Many of the stories were light on the fantastical element. A Plate of Mojo by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, while an outstanding southern story had no fantastical elements other than an off-hand mention of a crow that belonged to the main characters mother. The Wounded by Richard Butner seemed to be a nod to Lovecraft; but it was missing the ambiguous feeling of fear and lacked focus. Alabama by Kalamu ya Salaam, wasn't really a story at all but an essay on justice and murder/suicide in the south. Interesting and well done but not really fantastical.

The stories that best displayed the elements of the fantasic included Houston 1943 by Gene Wolfe where a young boy is pulled out of his body by voodoo and tries to get his body back. Rose by Bret Lott is a creepy horror story of a lonely woman who seeks love in an unusual way. Michael Bishop's The Yukio Mishima Cultural Association of Kudzu Valley, Georgia is a hilarious romp where a careless remark causes a series of events to increasingly spin out of control. Mankind Journeys Through Forests of Symbols by Fred Chapell deals with dreams that become reality and the problems that can cause a small town police force. The Mikado's Favorite Song by Marian Moore plays with the theme of the path not taken crossing the path you take in life.

The stories are all worth reading. However, if you buy the book actually expecting fantastical, southern literature you will be disappointed. If, on the other hand, you just want to read well told tales with plot and characters whether they be southern or fantastical then you'll probably enjoy this book.

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A South of the Future., April 2, 2005

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic (Hardcover)

Southern fiction today, for the most part, shows the changes which began before the Civil War and 'accelerated' afterwards. We have TVA and Tullahoma with its wind tunnel (a part of the U.S. space program) in Tennessee, Missile development in Huntsville, Alabama, the Houston, Texas space center, and Cape Canaveral in Florida.

I enjoy the fantasy works of Stephen Donaldson, which is nothing like the short pieces included here. All of the writers have some connection to the South (however, one was born in L.A., Calif.), but many moved East as did James Agee and Richard Marius. At UT, we have professors determined to change Southern writing, one in particular who plans his own version of Agee's A DEATH IN THE FAMILY.

Some of these writers have had books published, like Fred Chappell. These stories are not necessarily 'of the South' nor literary. We are not a "crossroads" per se, but a destination. You might be surprised to learn how many transplants claim the South, but they don't talk Southern. No way.