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Issue 53, Spring 2006

Best of the South Vol. I

“I had begun to figure out that there was much in the South that was beautiful and sublime provided you adjusted your old or soft or foreign way of looking.” — Marc Smirnoff, “The Best What?”

Odes by John Updike, Michael Martone, Nic Pizzolatto, Richard Bausch, Wells Tower, and more. “Writing on Writing” by Chris Bachelder and William Caverlee. Fiction by Kevin Brockmeier, Karen Russell, James Whorton Jr., and Jason Ockert.

Essays by Gideon Lewis-Kraus, David Ramsey, and others. Matt Dellinger and Ada Liana Bidiuc look at the remnants of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

Columns & Departments

Editor’s Box
by Marc Smirnoff

Gone Off Up North
THE BEST OF BAD GAYNELLE
by Roy Blount, Jr.

Local Fare
ODES TO MY FAVORITE THINGS
by John T. Edge

In West Virginia
THE WATER RUSH
by Gideon Lewis-Kraus

Poetry
FEASTING
by Neisha Tweed

The Moviegoer
A CROWDED HOUSE
by Gary Hawkins

After the Storm
THE TERRIBLE OPPORTUNITY
by Matt Dellinger

After the Storm
LOVE IN THE RUINS
by Ada Liana Bidiuc

Writing on Writing
THAT PECKER
by Chris Bachelder

Writing on Writing
THE BEST SOUTHERN SHORT STORY EVER?
by William Caverlee

Dealer’s Choice
THE REBEL WITHOUT A PAUSE
Anne Barden (1924–2006)
by Hal Crowther

Southern Scenes
MARDI GRAS (2006)
by William Joyce

Features

THE PERFECT MAN
The World’s Greatest Pac-Man Player
by David Ramsey

THE VIEW FROM THE SEVENTH LAYER
What if a mysterious force could help us understand everything?
a story by Kevin Brockmeier

THE WORLD’S GREATEST SENSATIONAL MYSTERY
She knew something had to happen.
a story by Karen Russell

FLASHES
We can try to put it out of our minds, but the past never leaves us.
a story by James Whorton Jr.

JAKOB LOOMIS
What happens when boys grow up.
a story by Jason Ockert

Best of the South Odes

Moon Winx Lodge Sign
by Michael Martone

Gone With the Wind
by Pearl Cleage

Gone With the Wind, Too
by Carolyn Parkhurst

Pretty Ugly Truck
by Michael Parker

Memphis Night
by Richard Bausch

Lake Charles
by Nic Pizzolatto

Strange Procession
by Bobbie Ann Mason

My Hurting Left Hand
by John Updike

The Starlite
by Wells Tower

Warren Oates
by Jack Pendarvis

Chicken's Feet
by J. David Stevens

Slick Politico
by Kirby Gann

World’s Largest Statue of an American Hero
by Cristina Henríquez

Monster Hunter
by Richard Parks

Crab Shack
by Pamela Duncan

Carnival
by Sheryl St. Germain

My Backyard
by Robert Anthony Siegel

Tasty Pie
by Marianne Gingher

Master Jewel Thief
by Ashley Fantz

Rental House
by Sarah Blackman

The End
by John Simpkins