ARGUMENT

A MAN IN FULTON COUNTY 
Atlanta's reaction to Tom Wolfe's new novel.
by John Shelton Reed

FAMILY SCENES

MY GRANDFATHER'S FINGER 
One family's unusual heirmloom.
by Edward Swift

ARGUMENT

LETTER FROM SISTER: WHAT WE LEARNED AT THE P.O. 
On Eudora Welty's poor (fictional) relations. 
by Tony Earley

SOUTHERN ART

DIVINE VISIONS 
by Darcey Steinke

SPORTS/FISHING

FOR THE LOVE OF MULLET 
Why this "trash fish" has become a cause célèbre along the Gulf Coast.
by Diane Roberts

SOUTHERN GALLERY

AN INTERVIEW WITH Jimmy Carter

SHORT STORY

AN INTERESTING TRIP: INTRODUCTION TO "YOUNG NUCLEAR PHYSICIST"
by Shelby Foote

YOUNG NUCLEAR PHYSICIST
A Southern Gentleman looks for love in New York.
by Walker Percy

PROFILES

MY ACTUAL HERO
by Nancy Lemann

THE GIFT-GIVER
by Patrick Samway, S.J.

CONSIDERATIONS

IN BLACK AND WHITE 
Should black readers give Faulkner a second chance?
by Édouard Glissant

TRAVEL

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A GENIUS? IS IT COOL OR HARD? 
On the mathematician John Nash, game theory, and West Virginia.
by Greg Williamson

SHORT STORY

MR. PUNIVERSE 
May the force of desire be with you.
by Wendy Brenner

SCIENCE

THE BODY FARM 
It's not your average laboratory.
by Greg Smith

RECONSIDERATIONS

STILL STANDING 
Why the prophecies of the Agrarians should not have been ignored.
by Wendell Berry

SOUTHERN ART

THE LITERATE ART OF WILLIAM CHRISTENBERRY 
by Randall Curb

CUISINE

LIVING (AND DINING) IN THE NU SOUTH 
by John T. Edge

MUSIC

HOW TO SURVIVE THE NEW YEAR
by Tom Piazza

SHORT MUSIC REVIEWS

BOOKS

O REALITY! A YEAR IN SOUTHERN VERSE 
by John J. Sullivan

PLUGGED INTO THE MYTHIC PAST
by Anthony Walton

SHORT BOOK REVIEWS

VERSE

SNAPSHOT OF JONQUILS
by James Applewhite

EDITOR'S BOX

SOUTHERN SCENES

COLUMNS

DEALER'S CHOICE 
by Hal Crowther

GONE OFF UP NORTH
by Roy Blount Jr. 

Cover: By Evelyn Hofer