The Signet Classic Book of Southern Short Stories

by Dorothy Abbott, Susan H. Koppelman (Editor)

Includes 33 stories of the American South from such literary luminaries as Edgar Allan Poe, Alice Walker, Kate Chopin, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty, Truman Capote, Alice Childress, Flannery O'Connor, and many others.  

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Southern

544 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 2, 1991

Reviews

[Ann Mat · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Chr*s Browning]

Been using this one as a travel pick and infill literature between longer works for a while now, but finally finished and it's a mixed bag. There's some established classics here - "Big Boy Leaves Home" and "A Christmas Memory," chief among them - and some new-to-me ones that were equally strong - the pieces from Ernest J. Gaines and Doris Betts towards the end in particular held my attention- but it does feel that there's a decent amount of eh, okay, it's the South stories that never quite clicked for me; I've never loved Kate Chopin and I think Carson McCullers is a much more accomplished novelist than short story writer. Not one I'll likely return to or one I'd use as a text in a class on Southern lit, but at least the anthologists seemed to have sought a balance: over half of these 34 stories were written by women and about a third are from Black writers, so they definitely could have done worse.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should love this, right? Famous authors. Revered classics. The reality is that I prefer to read more contemporary works, even if they describe historical settings. Our reading styles have changed. We (okay, I) like better, more immediate hooks and less rambling.

Which is not to say that there weren't stories I likes. I liked the one by Eudora Welty and the next-to-last story by Doris Betts. But overall, the majority of the stories are not ones I would go looking for. it's also important to keep in mind that I much prefer novels to short stories, but this is a group read for my writing workshop.

[Joe Cloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not every story in The Signet Classic Book of Southern Short Stories is a gem, but that is not rare among short story collections. Among my favorites are as follows:

"La Belle Zoraide" by Kate Chopin
"Drenched in Light" by Zora Neale Hurston
"Big Boy Leaves Home" by Richard Wright
"A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud" by Carson McCullers
"A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote
"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker

[Rox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truth? Did not finish.

[Cresta McGowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this collection of Southern Classics boasts some big names, there's a reason these stories weren't taught in your high school English classes...they are dreadfully written and terribly dull. With the exception of Kate Chopin and Zora Neal Hurston, I wouldn't punish a single person with this very sad collection. I'm so glad this wasn't my first exposure so some of these author's work or I may have missed out on truly great writing by them - this collection just wasn't it.

[Dolph · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have short story collection. Filled with wonderful visions of the South: Cable's New Orleans, O'Connor's gothic Revelation, Wright's violent conflicted Mississippi.

[Phil Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Varied trip through the South. Some fantastic stories here that demanded some time to ruminate before going on to the next one. Not a bad story in the bunch.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guys. This was better than I thought it would be.