Customer Reviews

Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic

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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.

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.

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.