Rick Bass

Foreword What is the secret of a good short story? When I took on the job of series editor of The Best American Short Stories, I expected that a year of reading would result in some answers to that age-old question. Now, nearly two thousand sto- ries later, I am beginning to suspect that it...

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...

In April, the light is beautiful in Rwanda—soft and warm upon the incredible new green that bursts from the fields and mountains, a living green that surrounds us as we near the end of the rainy season. The roads are filled with people walking. A very few ride bikes, and fewer still ride little...