On May 2, 2002, editor Smirnoff sent a letter to Oxford American
advertisers announcing the impending closing of the magazine due to a lack of funds to print the spring issue. On May 10, the New York Times
picked up on the news with an essay entitled "A Mississippi Upstart, As It Lay Loudly Dying." The fate of the magazine is still unclear, but this collection should tide readers over for the present with its eclectic array of fiction, essays and poetry. In his introduction, Smirnoff explains the difficulty of choosing the best from a roster of writers that reads like a Who's Who of Southern Lit. After an eloquent foreword by Rick Bragg, these luminaries include William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, Walker Percy, Barry Hannah, Steve Martin, John Updike, Larry Brown, Rosanne Cash, John T. Edge, Steve Yarbrough, Roy Blount Jr. and John Grisham. Of course, there are many excellent pieces: Sister Helen Prejean's "Memories of a Dead Man Walking" is as powerful as it is plainspoken; Rick Bass enchants with "Turtlemania," in which he recalls a childhood encounter with a huge snapping turtle; Donna Tartt weighs in with a moving remembrance of Willie Morris. Despite the heavyweight lineup—or perhaps because of it—the arc of the collection is predictable, but those who like their writing home style will find much to savor here. (Aug.)
