The Hipsters

The impact of cultural shifts on a writer is traced in this hodgepodge compendium bracketing the heyday years of the late New Journalism trailblazer, novelist, and screenwriter Southern (The Magic Christian), thoughtfully edited by Southern’s son, Nile. An air of menace permeates a handful of strong, early stories that show Southern stretching his legs in the style of Poe and Flannery O’Connor. In “The Stranger Breed,” a ranch hand heeds a bad omen when bucked by a horse; in “Janus,” an American couple touring Italy is spooked by grifters, then stranded in the dead of night. Once immersed in the café culture of postwar Paris, Southern left Southern Gothic behind. His unfinished novel The Hipsters, a riff on his Left Bank experiences, bustles with beat artists, philosophers, and fledgling revolutionaries. (“A child can master a technique,” argues one character, defending bop from Duke Ellington’s criticisms. “What you’re talking about is stonecutting or something.”) While not yet brandishing the knack for satirical absurdity that would animate his best work, these pieces show Southern honing his technique and mastering the rules he will later scramble. “Easy Ridin’ in Biker Heaven,” a harebrained Easy Rider reboot written in 1983, suggests Southern (1924–1995) may have gotten stuck in the kaleidoscopic ’60s. Overall, this entertains by showcasing the evolution of a wild imagination. (May)