The Southern Cross: A Prize-Winning Short Story Anthology Full of Humor and Heart

by Skip Horack

The sixteen short stories featured in Skip Horack’s prize-winning debut collection paint a richly textured vision of the American South. Set in the Gulf Coast over the course of a year torn halfway by the arrival of Hurricane Katrina, these stories, filled with humor, restraint, and verve, follow the lives of an assembly of unforgettable characters. An exonerated ex-con who may not be entirely innocent, a rabbit farmer in mourning, and an earnest young mariner trying to start a new life with his wife—all are characters that populate the spirited cities and drowsy parishes in Horack’s marvelous portrait of the South. "A knockout winner" for guest judge Antonya Nelson, The Southern Cross marks the arrival of a standout new voice.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Southern, Short Story Collection

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had The Southern Cross sitting in my bookshelf since 2018 - 6 years, which means I'd brought it in our move from Florida to Virginia. It went up in ratings in that time frame. How'd I know? I write it down the date in the book of when I purchase the book and the rating.

There are 16 short stories in The Southern Cross. They take place in the course of the year Hurricane Katrina took place in various states in the South. I wish I had loved the stories more. I tend to enjoy short stories, but I didn't care for 6 of them.

These stories are broken up into Sections, 4 stories to each: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Spring
#1 - I liked
#2, #3, #4 were okay

Summer
#1, #2 were okay
#3 #4 I liked

Fall
I liked all 4

Winter
#1 #2 I liked
#3 I didn't
#4 was okay

In the Fall - The High Place I Go - I've been to Lookout Mountain/Rock City in Tennessee (where the story takes place) many years ago when my children were young. Legend has it that Indian lovers ran off together. Their family were feuding tribes. The male was captured by the Cherokees and thrown to his death off Lookout Mountain. The Cherokee maiden ended up jumping off from the same spot - and this spot is called Lover's Leap. Americans are so good at making up romantic tales such as these with Indians, because I've been to 2 other places, one in Alabama, the other in Virginia (or it could had been West Virginia) where this same type of love story has "happened".

[Alex Lyon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Skip Horack's stories to be entertaining but lacking in serious depth. He has a particular ability to capture the essence of the south as only southern writers either of short fiction (such as this book) or longer fiction (as in novels) that seems to escape writers from other regions of the country and that is what first drew me into his collection of short stories and is what kept me reading. As a fellow southerner I was there with his characters. However, the lack of real plot and depth to his characters left me wanting. No doubt Mr. Horack has skill but alas not all of it was on display in these stories. I was hoping for more, much more in the stories.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked every story in the whole book.

[Sully Augustine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a library softbound that I originally got for Linda over the past few evenings. Almost every one of the generally very short stories is a gem, and there are no duds.

[Adam Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories here are set in LA, MS and north Florida, and the first thing you notice is how Horack gets everything right--the trees, tides, fish, food, accents and pickups. He's a lot like Rick Bass in that way--the atmosphere is always pitch-perfect. I lived in Louisiana for a few years, and this collection really transported me. The real feat of this book is the people, though. Horack specializes in working class, hardscrabble men who try to eek out existences off the land. Their dreams are muted, and all the more powerful for it: A bear's gall bladder holds the key to freedom from a suffocating family; a fish-tracking tag might reunite a man with his estranged girl; a submerged cypress tree might return a man's lost history. Personally, I think the main reason to read a short-story collection is to get variations on a theme, and here Horack shows great range. His narrators are men women, young and old--he's deft at bringing forth utterly compelling characters, regardless of class, color or age. So while the themes of this book focused tightly on Southern outliers who get a last shot at meaningful connection, the range of the book is huge: aristocrats, beekeepers, bible girls, Gulf war vets, rabbit skinners, lawyers, murderers and on and on. Pull Southern Cross off the bookstore shelf and read the exquisite story "The High Place I Go" and I promise you'll go home with this book in your back pocket.

[Aeron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories set in the South, and it is a wonderful read. While the stories aren't directly related to each other, they work together well, creating a tapestry of regional life that is very real and moving. Hurricane Katrina sits in the background like a shadow, but non of the stories are really about the hurricane. I have to say as a disclaimer that I took a class from Skip, the author, at Stanford, but I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who loves beautiful writing and short stories.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, Horack can really write. He does just about everything well in the collection - voice, sense of place, dialog, use of time, pacing - all of it, except for writing good endings. Too many of these stories left me unsatisfied. It's not that his stories are open-ended; it's that they just end, sometimes seemingly out of nowhere. That's not to say that all the stories in the collection are that way, but too many for me to really love the collection as a whole. Horack is certainly a young writer to watch, however.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skip's a friend, so I suppose I should admit to bias. But I know that I would love this collection even if I stumbled on it blind. Horack's language and depiction of setting are both pitch-perfect, and these stories each have an emotional resonance that lingered long after I put the book down.

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never before been so moved by fiction. The rabbit story, especially -- barely more than a dozen pages, but I felt as if I had lived a lifetime of emotion. This what short fiction is about -- making every word count. Horack does it masterfully.

[Caroline Gerardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skip's short stories will hug you so tight your brain will want to stop. He takes a wand and combines nature, cityscape, and raw emotion with violence and grinds it in a mortar to haunt you.
Skip can write dialogue that each word has not just meaning, but sound and fury. ( think Faulkner there)

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible collection of short stories...

[Sharonbrown · Rating 3 out of 5]

short stories -- some very, very good and some you just want to ask him why did you include this one with the collection??

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories are better than others, wish you could continue with a few to see where it all goes. The writing style takes a little getting used to.. alot of forward/backward transitions.

[Kossiwa]

I read his short stories in Narrative Magazine, such as The High Place I Go and I look forward when I'm able to purchase this debut collection and read it.

[Christin Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of stories!