Gardening Sale!
 
 

Special Offers see all

Enter to WIN!

Weekly drawing for $100 credit. Subscribe to our Specials newsletter for a chance to win.
Privacy Policy

More at Powell's

Recently Viewed clear list

Interviews | May 16, 2013

Jill Owens: IMG Claire Messud: The Powells.com Interview

1 comment By Jill Owens

Claire MessudClaire Messud's new novel, The Woman Upstairs, is fiercely intelligent and urgently intimate, written with precision, humor, and an incredible... Continue »
  1. $18.17 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    The Woman Upstairs

    Claire Messud 9780307596901
spacer
Ships free on qualified orders.
$4.98
List price: $13.95
Sale Trade Paper
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
Qty Store Section
10 Burnside Sale Books- Literature
3 Burnside Literature- A to Z
5 Local Warehouse Literature- A to Z

The Southern Cross: Stories

by

The Southern Cross: Stories Cover

ISBN13: 9780547232782
ISBN10: 0547232780
Condition:
All Product Details

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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.

Review:

"This collection vividly depicts life on the pre- and post-Katrina Gulf Coast. In 'The Journeyman,' Clayton, reluctantly preparing to head out for a three-month stint of work in South America, meets a young girl, Kenyatta, who warns him that God and Jesus are going to punish the people of New Orleans and destroy the city. Amused by her earnest warning, Clayton chuckles and thanks her for the heads up. In 'The Redfish,' Luther, recently released from prison after a wrongful murder conviction (he has committed murder, just not the one he was convicted of), gets tangled up with a no-good woman and ends up bound and gagged with his now-ex-girlfriend's mother in her trailer as Katrina approaches. In 'Junebelle,' June, a reclusive widow unhappily stuck in a Baton Rouge retirement home after her well-meaning daughter installed her there, avoids interaction with the other residents and spends much time in fond remembrances. Throughout, water is a force, at times standing in for death, at others for peace and beauty. Horack takes in a wide swath of varied characters and finds the common humanity in their struggles." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"This collection vividly depicts life on the pre- and post-Katrina Gulf Coast. In "The Journeyman," Clayton, reluctantly preparing to head out for a three-month stint of work in South America, meets a young girl, Kenyatta, who warns him that God and Jesus are going to punish the people of New Orleans and destroy the city. Amused by her earnest warning, Clayton chuckles and thanks her for the heads-up. In "The Redfish," Luther, recently released from prison after a wrongful murder conviction (he has committed murder, just not the one he was convicted of), gets tangled up with a no-good woman and ends up bound and gagged with his now-ex-girlfriend's mother in her trailer as Katrina approaches. In Junebelle, June, a reclusive widow unhappily stuck in a Baton Rouge retirement home after her well-meaning daughter installed her there, avoids interaction with the other residents and spends much time in fond remembrances. Throughout, water is a force, at times standing in for death, at others for peace and beauty. Horack takes in a wide swath of varied characters and finds the common humanity in their struggles." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information Inc.

Review:

"Season by season, Horack's debut collection finds much to love, more to respect as he divulges the secrets, traditions, and memories that defy and define this iconic land and its people." Booklist

Review:

"These stories evoke places with a sharp, sensuous and at times magical skill. They also dramatize characters and states of mind with a fierce truthfulness and sense of understanding." Colm Tóibín
back to top

About the Author

Skip Horack was born and raised in Louisiana, attended Florida State University, and practiced law for five years in Baton Rouge. His work has appeared in Epoch, the Southern Review, Narrative Magazine, and other journals. Horack currently teaches at Stanford University, where he was also a Wallace Stegner Fellow. He lives in San Francisco.
back to top

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
A Book A Day, August 8, 2009 (view all comments by A Book A Day)
Having spent only a few weeks in N’awlins, these stories spoke to me with an unmistakable southern accent. The places feel real for good reason–they clearly resemble their namesakes. But the best thing about these stories is the people, the characters. Horack inflates them with life, and not a life from behind the confines of a white picket fence. Horack’s characters have a raw intensity that will captivate the reader. I had to pace myself to keep from reading the entire selection in one sitting; I wanted to savor these stories. No doubt my eyes will graze these pages again and discover even more than I already have.

These stories are told from spring through summer, fall, and winter. They explore life, youth, love, passion, disappointment, and death. The southern reader will find an alarmingly authentic glimpse into their neighbor’s lives, and the rest of us will get a taste of a world often misunderstood and mislabeled. Skip Horack is a writer who will forever be on my must read list–I look forward to reading many fine stories from him in the future.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
report this comment
back to top

Product Details

ISBN:
9780547232782
Author:
Horack, Skip
Publisher:
Mariner Books
Foreword by:
Nelson, Antonya
Foreword:
Nelson, Antonya
Subject:
Stories (single author)
Subject:
Gulf Coast (U.S.)
Subject:
Short Stories (single author)
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
2009
Edition Description:
Trade Paper
Publication Date:
20090831
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
224
Dimensions:
8 x 5.31 in 0.46 lb
back to top

Other books you might like

  1. Pushkin and the Queen of Spades Used Hardcover $8.50
  2. Everything Ravaged Everything Burned Used Trade Paper $6.95
  3. The Dream of Perpetual Motion
    Sale Trade Paper $7.98
  4. Last Days of the Dog-Men: Stories by... Used Trade Paper $0.95
  5. There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried...
    Used Trade Paper $8.00
back to top

Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

The Southern Cross: Stories Sale Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$4.98 In Stock
Product details 224 pages Mariner Books - English 9780547232782 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "This collection vividly depicts life on the pre- and post-Katrina Gulf Coast. In 'The Journeyman,' Clayton, reluctantly preparing to head out for a three-month stint of work in South America, meets a young girl, Kenyatta, who warns him that God and Jesus are going to punish the people of New Orleans and destroy the city. Amused by her earnest warning, Clayton chuckles and thanks her for the heads up. In 'The Redfish,' Luther, recently released from prison after a wrongful murder conviction (he has committed murder, just not the one he was convicted of), gets tangled up with a no-good woman and ends up bound and gagged with his now-ex-girlfriend's mother in her trailer as Katrina approaches. In 'Junebelle,' June, a reclusive widow unhappily stuck in a Baton Rouge retirement home after her well-meaning daughter installed her there, avoids interaction with the other residents and spends much time in fond remembrances. Throughout, water is a force, at times standing in for death, at others for peace and beauty. Horack takes in a wide swath of varied characters and finds the common humanity in their struggles." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "This collection vividly depicts life on the pre- and post-Katrina Gulf Coast. In "The Journeyman," Clayton, reluctantly preparing to head out for a three-month stint of work in South America, meets a young girl, Kenyatta, who warns him that God and Jesus are going to punish the people of New Orleans and destroy the city. Amused by her earnest warning, Clayton chuckles and thanks her for the heads-up. In "The Redfish," Luther, recently released from prison after a wrongful murder conviction (he has committed murder, just not the one he was convicted of), gets tangled up with a no-good woman and ends up bound and gagged with his now-ex-girlfriend's mother in her trailer as Katrina approaches. In Junebelle, June, a reclusive widow unhappily stuck in a Baton Rouge retirement home after her well-meaning daughter installed her there, avoids interaction with the other residents and spends much time in fond remembrances. Throughout, water is a force, at times standing in for death, at others for peace and beauty. Horack takes in a wide swath of varied characters and finds the common humanity in their struggles." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information Inc.
"Review" by , "Season by season, Horack's debut collection finds much to love, more to respect as he divulges the secrets, traditions, and memories that defy and define this iconic land and its people."
"Review" by , "These stories evoke places with a sharp, sensuous and at times magical skill. They also dramatize characters and states of mind with a fierce truthfulness and sense of understanding."
spacer
spacer
  • back to top
Follow us on...




Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.