Book Description
Down below the Mason-Dixon line, it's hardly the land of sleigh bells, snow shovels, and a winter wonderland. What could possibly go on in the South at Christmastime?
A Very Southern Christmas burrows beneath all the fluff and window-dressing and goes straight to the heart of our most cherished holiday. Discover writing by some of the South's best contemporary fiction writers, from Pulitzer Prize-winners Robert Olen Butler and Richard Ford to the work of long-established literary lights Barry Hannah, Lee Smith, and Donna Tartt to recently emerging talents such as Julia Ridley Smith. In a collection of ten heartfelt stories, writers gather all the elements of the Christmas season--past and present, joy and sadness, disappointment and surprise, confession and concealment, humor and pathos--to create unforgettable images of the holiday. Accompanied by Wyatt Waters's vibrant watercolors commissioned specifically for this collection, this beautiful anthology promises to be a treasured keepsake.
A Very Southern Christmas: Stories for the Holiday FROM THE PUBLISHER
A host of luminaries gathers all the elements of the Christmas season -- past and present, joy and sadness, disappointment and surprise, confession and concealment, humor and pathos -- in a stellar holiday collection. Here are ten standout stories that run the gamut of the emotional scale and are as classic and lasting as the holiday itself: bestselling author Donna Tartt's story of a children's Christmas pageant that goes awry; prizewinning author Richard Ford's story of a patchwork kind of family; poet laureate and acclaimed novelist Fred Chappell's barnyard of talking animals on Christmas Eve; Tim Gautreaux's comic tale of kindness to a homeless man on the holiday; Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler's story of an unlikely romance across cultures; and more. With Barry Hannah's moving preface and celebrated artist Wyatt Waters's paintings, A Very Southern Christmas offers up the best gift of all, a collection full of heart and humor.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Christmas can be a magical time and editors McCord and Tucker here capture the spirit of the Southern Christmas in ten stories by well-known Southern writers. Louisianan Tim Gautreaux's "Deputy Sid's Gift" is a rollicking tale of the manner in which one bayou resident grudgingly allows the spirit of Christmas to enter his heart as he helps a homeless man. Richard Ford's "Creche" offers a portrait of a dysfunctional "holy family" and their attempts to celebrate Christmas in an unfamiliar setting. In "A Christmas Pageant," Donna Tartt turns the traditional elementary school ritual upside down as a drunken man interrupts the Christmas play, threatening to kill his estranged wife. Valerie Sayers's "The Ayatollah of Due East" depicts a Christmas without much love or hope. Finally, Tim McLaurin (who died in 2002) poignantly captures the theme of Christmas: "Worry about the future next week or the next; this charmed day, this era in your life, will pass too soon." Other writers in the collection include Mary Ward Brown, Robert Olen Butler, Julia Ridley Smith, and Fred Chappell; Mississippian Barry Hannah introduces the volume, and Wyatt Waters's watercolor paintings (not seen) accompany the stories. This gorgeous little volume gives us the gift of its marvelous storytelling about what is for many one of the most glorious times of the year.-Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Lancaster, PA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Art & Photography
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