Have Words–Will Write 'Em

After one of those healings years ago, an elderly woman died, but her death could never be directly connected to the church, since her body was dumped in her own garden. But now, Jess’s brother Christopher has died, and Jess may have been a witness. Adelaide, who is deeply mistrustful of Chambliss, has tried to protect the children from him following the woman’s death. She considers Chambliss “the face of evil.” Eventually, she finds herself part of Barefield’s investigation. Soon, accident, betrayal, and violence emerge in a remarkable tale that falters primarily because two of the narrators — Jess and Sheriff Barefield — prove less than credible as characters.

Click the image below to read my review in the May 5, 2012, edition of  the Boston Globe.

Here’s a partial list of authors whose stories will appear in The Best American Short Stories 2011, guest-edited by Tom Perrotta.

Let me know if you know of or are the author of an included story. I’ll be adding to the list as I discover more about stories that’ll be included.

Here’s the partial list:

Carol Anshaw, “The Last Speaker of the Language,” New Ohio Review

Taylor Antrim, “Pilgrim Life,” American Short Fiction

Roxane Gay, “North Country,” Hobart

Mike Meginnis, “Navigators,” Hobart

Lawrence Osborne, “Volcano” Tin House

Edith Pearlman, “Honeydew,” Orion Magazine

Eric Puchner, “Beautiful Monsters,” Tin House

Jess Walter, “Anything Helps,” McSweeney’s

Adam Wilson, “What’s Important Is Feeling,” The Paris Review