Celebrate 30 years of the OA.
With original work from Imani Perry, Kristen Arnett, Diane Roberts, and so many others, our Spring Issue honors our past and looks into our expansive future.
Magazine
Issue 33, May / June 2000
“George Garrett used to say that it was literature if it bore ‘news of the spirit.’” — Hal Crowther, “Dealer’s Choice”
A Painted House by John Grisham, continued. Features by John Jeremiah Sullivan and Gary White. Fiction by John McManus.
Other contributors include Diane Roberts, James Hughes, Andrew King Collier, Jane Hirschfield, R.T. Smith, John T. Edge, Hal Crowther, Vicki Covington, Tom Piazza, P. Revess, Roy Blount Jr., and more.
SERIAL
A PAINTED HOUSE
Looking through windows and listening at doors, Luke is burdened with new secrets. Part Three.
by John Grisham
FEATURES
DIARIES OF A COUNTRY PRIEST
Thomas Merton’s seven-volume journals illuminate the spiritual journey of a truly modern monk.
by John Jeremiah Sullivan
MY 50 MARRIAGES
In Florida any employee of the Clerk of Courts can marry couples, even if like Steven Barthelme in “I Do, I Do” (pg. 54), they’re only doing it for the health insurance.
by Gary White
SHORT STORY
REAFFIRMATION
The hardest part of love is keeping the object of your affection from escaping.
by John McManus
DEPARTMENTS
LOCAL FARE
OUR DAILY BREAD
The biscuit, manna of the South, can be just as good coming through a fast-food window.
by John T. Edge
A SOUTHERNER ABROAD
LEARNING TO BE AT PEACE WITH WAR
War may be hell, but the “operations other than war” in Kosovo were sometimes disturbingly. . . fun.
by Bob Shacochis
LEGAL
OLD SPARKY
A brief history of Florida’s legendary electric chair.
by Diane Roberts
TALKIES
BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE THE TIME?
George Clooney, friend of the common man, comes to Mississippi as part of a new Coen brothers’ movie.
by James Hughes
THE WRITING LIFE
EVERYONE'S A CRITIC
Creative writing workshops are not for the faint of heart.
by Andrea King Collier
SOUTHERN MUSIC
THE MAN THAT RODE THE MULE AROUND THE WORLD
North Carolina crooner Charlie Poole shone briefly in the spotlight.
by Tom Piazza
COLUMNS
DEALER'S CHOICE
by Hal Crowther
MEDITATIONS FOR BAD GIRLS
by Vicki Covington
GONE OFF UP NORTH
by Roy Blount Jr.
POETRY
SELF-PORTRAIT IN A BORROWED CABIN
by Jane Hirshfield
IN HORSEHIDE SHOES FLEUR HOBBS EATS CHEESE, DRINKS CHINESE BEERS & LAMENTS THE NATURE OF HER ONE ARREST
by R. T. Smith
COMICS
OTHER DEPARTMENTS
DEAR OA
EDITOR'S BOX
UNCLE ART
OFF THE SHELF
MUSIC NOTES
SOUTHERN SCENES
On the Cover: “Eve" by Terry Rowlett