Southern Writers at Century's End

" Many of the essays represent the first serious critical attention paid to these writers. By examining the work of writers ranging from John Grisham to Bobbie Ann Mason, from Alice Walker to Cormac McCarthy, from Clyde Edgerton to Anne Tyler, the contributors reveal ways in which Southern fiction of the last twenty-five years differs from that which preceded it. In particular, these writers have explored a wider variety of settings and demonstrated a greater awareness of popular culture than earlier writers as they struggle with the human costs of rapid social change. This is the first volume to take an extensive look at the current generation of Southern writers, revealing what Hugh Holman has called "the fresh, the vital, and the new" in Southern literary culture.