Reviews – Page 3 – Southern Review of Books

‘One Writer’s Beginnings’ Forges Connections Across Time and Place

By: Jonathan Haupt February 8, 2021February 8, 2021

ReviewsEudora Welty, Nonfiction, One Writer's BeginningsLeave a Comment

The new edition of Eudora Welty’s instructive memoir ‘One Writer’s Beginnings’ features an introduction by Natasha Trethewey.

A Golden Ticket to Prosperity in ‘The Fortunate Ones’

By: Michel Sabbagh February 3, 2021February 3, 2021

ReviewsEd Tarkington, Fiction, The Fortunate OnesLeave a Comment

Ed Tarkington’s new novel ‘The Fortunate Ones’ points out the chinks in the gilded armor adorning – and weighing down – followers of the cult of wealth.

Sticky-Sweet Summers in ‘So We Can Glow’

By: Allison Manley February 1, 2021January 28, 2021

ReviewsFiction, Leesa Cross-Smith, Short Stories, So We Can GlowLeave a Comment

Addictively readable, Leesa Cross-Smith’s short story collection “So We Can Glow” is the literary equivalent of someone biting their lip and looking up at you.

Wrestling with the Angel in ‘Hallelujah Station’

By: Rachael Greene January 29, 2021January 29, 2021

ReviewsFiction, Hallelujah Station and Other Stories, M. Randal O'Wain, Short StoriesLeave a Comment

M. Randal O’Wain’s ‘Hallelujah Station and Other Stories’ play out across a range of Southern urban settings from Memphis to Asheville and feature a cast of modern misfits encompassing diverse voices.

A Correlation Between Artistry and Solitude

By: Matthew Duffus January 27, 2021January 26, 2021

ReviewsAt the Center of All Beauty, Fenton Johnson, NonfictionLeave a Comment

Fenton Johnson’s ‘At the Center of All Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life’ examines artists from Thoreau to Rabindranath Tagore to Nina Simone to study the relationship between solitude and artistry.

Grief and Compassion in ‘The Collected Breece D’J Pancake’

By: Justin Evans January 25, 2021January 25, 2021

ReviewsBreece D'J Pancake, Fiction, Short Stories, The Collected Breece D'J PancakeLeave a Comment

‘The Collected Breece D’J Pancake,’ a new edition from The Library of America, contains the complete collection of stories along with story fragments, selected letters, and a new introduction by Jayne Anne Phillips.

‘Naked Came the Florida Man’: A Love Letter to Florida

By: Michel Sabbagh January 22, 2021January 20, 2021

ReviewsFiction, Naked Came the Florida Man, Tim Dorsey1 Comment

Tim Dorsey’s mystery novel, ‘Naked Came the Florida Man,’ is both a love letter to and deconstruction of the Sunshine State.

A Tapestry of Connectivity in ‘I Have Been Assigned the Single Bird’

By: Jonathan Haupt January 21, 2021January 20, 2021

ReviewsI Have Been Assigned the Single Bird, Memoir, Nonfiction, Susan CeruleanLeave a Comment

Susan Cerulean’s recent memoir ‘I Have Been Assigned the Single Bird’ chronicles both her end-of-life care for her octogenarian father and her stewardship of seabirds on an isolated Florida island.