"Southern Fiction is alive and kicking and going off in all kinds of directions as this old century stagers to an end." To prove their audacious pronouncement, George Garrett and Paul Ruffin have assembled thirty-one stories representing the best of recent Southern fiction. These stories weave together themes that underscore what being Southern is all about: the retelling of the past, the uncertainty of the future, the haunting presence of racial guilt, the inescapable influence of family-for better or worse, the struggle for survival, and the tragedy and humor of Southern life.