America's Queen [antikvár]

PREFACE The "Southernness" in Southern literature might be said to be like the "sex" in sex appeal—we know it's there, and we know how to respond to it, but frequendy there is no explaining why it works the way it does or precisely how it achieves its effect. —LOUIS D. RUBIN, JR., "From Combray to Ithaca; Or, the 'Southernness' of Southern Literature," The Southern Rmew, Winter 1990 For the past five years I have been trying—and failing—to come up with an all-encompassing definition for those deceptively simple words, "the South." Given the title of this annual gathering of short fiction, I've felt obligated. And, too, though I know I probably ought not admit this, I'm a person who likes rules and curfews and limits, so it makes me nervous not to have a nice firm definition in hand as I read each year's crop of stories. Life would be so much easier if I could say, "Well, I like that story and (but) its setting meets (doesn't meet) the criteria for 'South'." A firm definition of "the South" might make my life easier, but it wouldn't be good either for my character or for Southern literature. In any event, I don't believe anybody really wants exact boundaries on the South, for most people are born wary of sharp lines. I have had to struggle against my nature to finally VII