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Issue 69, Summer 2010

Best of the South Vol. V

“One thing I’ve noticed about the South is that many of its ‘bests’ aren’t out in the open, or obvious.” — Editor’s Note

Essays by Woodlief Thomas, George Singleton, Ellen Ann Fentress, Robin Kirk, William Caverlee, Thomas Cochran, and more.

Odes by Maud Newton, David Ramsey, Beth Ann Fennelly, William Giraldi, Kevin Brokmeier, David Gessner, Jamie Quatro, Colleen Kane, and many others.

Columns & Departments

Editor’s Box
by Marc Smirnoff

I Don’t Hate It!
THE REST OF THE BEST
by Jack Pendarvis

Local Fare
LOOKING FOR HONEST STORIES
by John T. Edge

Environment
GREEN WITH GUNS
by Diane Roberts

Psychology
ARE YOU A TREE BITCH?
by Ad Hudler

After the Storm
DOCTOR LOVE'S SECRETS
by Woodlief Thomas

Dining Out
A FINE RESTAURANT IN NOWHERE, SOUTH CAROLINA, RUN BY A MAN NAMED XUE
by George Singleton

History
INTIMATE STRANGERS
by Ellen Ann Fentress

Family
THE BEST-EVER DOG
by Robin Kirk

Literature
A GOOD SUMMER
by William Caverlee

The Past
OUR BEST GOLFER
by Thomas Cochran

After the Storm
RECOVERY WITH A VENGENCE
by Pia Z. Ehrhardt

Dealer’s Choice
SEX AND THE SOUTHERN POLITICIAN
by Hal Crowther

Writing on Writing
A GOOD LIFE
by Clyde Edgerton

Southern Scenes
photograph by Oraien Catledge

Features

RISING TIDE
a story by Elizabeth Spencer

SOMETHING YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT
a story by Matthew Neill Null

Fifth Annual Best of the South Odes

Maud Newton haunts a hotel

David Ramsey praises a puppetmaster

Brett Land seeks a psychic cure

Elizabeth Walton Wade cheers for college football

Dana Shavin gallops to adulthood

Alex V. Cook takes a transcendental dip

Beth Ann Fennelly heats up your reading list

Joni Tevis jams to antique tunes

Brad Land crosses the border

Michael Gillis reveals a family history

Dale Ray Phillips fishes for love

Diann Blakely prays for a sparrow

Russ Franklin hears the engines roar

Kevin Brockmeier selects 10 under 100

Amy Pence unlocks the past

William Giraldi admires bodacious legs

John Holman salutes a bird

Josh Weil fills up at a station without gas

Erin Sroka plays a game

Horace Mungin hauls in a bountiful catch

Drew Perry digs good dirt

Sharon Stone whispers to wild things

Drew Bratcher faces a primal fear

Mija Riedel stalks the Queen of cups

David Gessner hails a mighty book

Harold Whit Williams forgets his manners

Williams Bowers focuses on phallic art

Colleen Kane roams a city's ruins

Jamie Quatro arranges Barry Hannah's literary insights

Cover: "Backyard Defenders," East Austin, Texas, March 2010. Photograph by Noël Kristi Wells