Surreal South '07: An Anthology of Short Fiction and Poetry

by Laura Benedict (Editor), Pinckney Benedict (Editor), Katie Estill (Contributor)

Welcome to the dream world. What you are about to encounter is the unfiltered stuff of the dream, and that is wild, terrifying, provocative, and unsettling material. In this volume, some of the best living Southern writers are offering up a feast of their dreams, wonderful and awful in equal measure, for you to enjoy. These dream stories and poems will tell you what you have always known, but what you are too afraid to say out loud in the full light of day: that we are a race of chimeras, beings made up of the incompatible parts of innumerable mutually antagonistic creatures. Our pieces do not fit together. We are, when were willing to tell the truth about ourselves, surreal at our hearts. Welcome to the Surreal South.

Contents:

The echo of neighborly bones by Daniel Woodrell
Sales call by Susan Woodring
Help me find my spaceman lover by Robert Olen Butler
Willows / The swan by Rodney Jones
The river that was my father / Poem in the ninth month by Beth Ann Fennelly
Fat lighter by George Singleton
Sautéing the platygast by Dean Paschal
Pig helmet & the wall of life by Pinckney Benedict
The drinking gourd by Katie Estill
Swans by Benjamin Percy
The Bear Bryant funeral train by Brad Vice
Night by Jacinda Townsend
Dog song by Ann Pancake
The era of great numbers by Lee K. Abbott
Decirculating the monkey by Chris Offutt
Corpse bird by Ron Rash
Mother by Andrew Hudgins
The widow Sunday by Kathy Conner
Smonk gets out alive by Tom Franklin
Witches, all by Laura Benedict
The paperhanger by William Gay
Silver man / Dinner date by Joy Beshears Hay
Crazy ladies by Greg Johnson
Cactus Vic and his marvelous magical elephant / The best chicken in Arkansas by Jon Tribble
Birdfists by Julianna Baggott
The bingo master by Joyce Carol Oates
The truth and all its ugly by Kyle Minor
Contributors biographies & notes

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Short Stories

380 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2007

About the author

Laura Benedict is the Edgar- and ITW Thriller Award- nominated author of eight novels of suspense, including The Stranger Inside). Her Bliss House gothic trilogy includes The Abandoned Heart, Charlotte’s Story (Booklist starred review), and Bliss House. Her short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and in numerous anthologies like Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads, The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers, and St. Louis Noir. A native of Cincinnati, she lives in Southern Illinois with her family. Visit her at www.laurabenedict.com.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

lovely collection, most of it first rate, with a couple of real surprises that led me to authors I didn't know

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surreal. It’s heart-warming to see that this type of fiction, which used to be the prerogative of strict genre, now feels at home in high-brow, literary, writing. New blood is always welcome. When a writer breaks the bonds of reality, or any bonds for that matter, the result is the rejuvenation of fiction.

South. As someone who wasn’t born in this country, but who lived a long chunk of his life in the American North-East, my impression of the South is the land of rural rednecks, transplanted Northern urbanites, industrial African-Americans and maybe, on the exotic side, the Gullah. What can possibly be surreal and dreamy about this land, except, again for the Gullah magic? Unless even this magic is an invention of Hollywood.

[Read the rest of this review in The Bloomsbury review]

[Amberle Husbands · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection lived up to all of my expectations. There's shivers, there's weirdness, and there are plenty of moments where the thing on the page leaves your stomach curdled and your face frozen in a horrified grimace, guaranteed to bother whatever company you're being rude enough to read in front of. 'Sauteing the Platygast', by Dean Paschal, is certainly one of those; grimace-worthy from the very first line on. There's even a level of cuteness in some of these surreal tales -- Robert Olen Butler's wonderful story 'Help Me Fine My Spaceman Lover' is as sweet and strange a love story as I've ever read. And then there are stories of pure magic, as strange and primal as it can be in its natural state; stories like Ann Pancake's 'Dog Song', which happens to be my personal favorite from this collection of stories, heart-achingly lovely and gut-wrenching by turns.
There are also some pieces that -- at least for me -- were very nearly unreadable in their strangeness. Some, in fact, I just bulled my way through, telling myself they would either make sense in the end, or I'd just have to try them again in a few weeks... maybe years.
But, I think that the beautiful, well-crafted and haunting stories greatly outweighed the unreadable ones, and the whole collection is well worth tripping through to find the gems.

[Clifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

If anything, this book delivers more than a reader can absorb. There are sooo many good stories here that it was a mistake to try to read it straight through. It is better savored. Pick it up, read one, and come back later to read another. Ironically, since I'm not a Joyce Carol Oates fan, her story in this anthology is probably my favorite - although there are many others I also enjoyed very much.

[Sherrie Saint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! J.T. Ellison's Gray Lady story is the best. Creepy!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some of my favorite authors as contributors but I found the collection a little uneven overall. My favorite story was the final one by Kyle Minor.

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another reread! I read these short stories in 2018, and literally have not stopped thinking about them since. Went back doubting (hoping) that they were as good as I remember and they did not disappoint. Incredibly fascinating collection, very entertaining to pick apart each unique story. Might buy the physical copy to keep and annotate. My favorites are "Swans" by Benjamin Percy and "Dog Song" by Ann Pancake. Very deserving of 5 stars.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of short stories that I am have a hard time finishing. And they are surreal.

[Harry Heitman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of absorbing and varied short stories. Very enjoyable with an impressive
gathering of authors.