In the twenty-fourth volume of this distinguished anthology, Madison Smartt Bell chooses twenty-one distinctive pieces of short fiction to tell the story of the South as it is now. This is a South that is still recognizable but no longer predictable. As he says, "to the traditional black and white recipe (ever a tricky and volatile mixture) have been added new shades and strains from Asia and Central and South America and just about everywhere else on the shrinking globe." Just as Katrina brought out into the open all the voices of New Orleans, so the South is now many things, both a distinctive region and a place of rootlessness. It's these contradictions that Madison Smartt Bell has captured in this provocative and moving collection of stories.
Here you'll find the well-known-Wendell Berry, Elizabeth Spencer, Jill McCorkle-alongside those writers just making their debuts, in stories that show the South we always thought we knew, making itself over, and over.

The Eye You See With - the first and only collection of Robert Stone's nonfiction - was carefully selected by award-winning novelist and Stone biographer Madison Smartt Bell. Divided into three sections, the collection includes the best of Stone's war reporting, his writing on social change, and his reflections on the art of fiction. This is an extraordinary volume that offers up a clear-eyed look at the twentieth century and secures Robert Stone's place as one of the most original figures in all of American letters.

Aunque el nacimiento de una nueva ciencia siempre constituya un hito histórico, no es frecuente que una revolución científica tenga como telón de fondo una revolución política. El destino quiso que Antoine Lavoisier fuese exponente de ambos acontecimientos: un genuino representante del Siglo de las Luces, que vio su vida segada por el Régimen del Terror.Gracias a sus prodigiosas dotes intelectuales, a la fortuna que amasó con sus propios esfuerzos y a la colaboración de su inteligente esposa, Lavoisier ocupó un lugar prominente en el panorama científico de finales del siglo XVIII. Desde esa posición privilegiada tomó parte en la disputa por descubrir los procesos químicos que tenían lugar durante la combustión. Bajo la atenta mirada de la comunidad científica internacional, Lavoisier y su principal rival, el inglés Joseph Priestley, descubrieron el oxígeno por separado. Pero fue Lavoisier quien, mediante su teoría de las reacciones químicas, basada en novedosos experimentos realizados con la más avanzada tecnología instrumental, acabó con los últimos vestigios de la alquimia medieval y señaló el comienzo de la química moderna. El tratado donde formuló la nueva ciencia salió publicado apenas cuatro meses antes de la toma de la Bastilla.

Madison Smartt Bell is one of the most versatile and gifted authors of his generation, a literary stylist with few peers. Doctor Sleep, one of his best novels, is a taut and satisfying psychological thriller planned to be released as a major motion picture under the title Hypnotic. Adrian Strother is a hypnotherapist who, paradoxically, can't get to sleep. He plies his trade in a depressed section of London, doing the occasional job for Scotland Yard, which brings him into contact with an unsavory drug trafficker. As little girls become the target of a serial killer, Adrian treads the line between tortured wakefulness and surreal sleep, and the gifts of his insomnia are called upon to unlock the secrets of a man who believes he has discovered the key to immortality. Part spiritual pilgrimage, part thriller, Doctor Sleep is witty, menacing, and deeply satisfying, a bravura performance by one of today's finest writers.

Unavailable for more than fifty years, EIMI finally returns. While sometimes termed a "novel," it is better described as a novelistic travelogue, the diary of a trip to Russia in the 1930s during the rise of the Stalinist government. Despite some contempt for what he witnesses, Cummings's narrator has an effective, occasionally hilarious way of evoking feelings of accord and understanding. As Ezra Pound wrote, Cummings's Soviet Union is laid "out there pellucidly on the page in all its Slavic unfinishedness, in all of its Dostoievskian slobberyness....Does any man wish to know about Russia? 'EIMI' "

A stylistic tour de force, EIMI is a melange of styles and tones, the prose containing many abbreviations, grammatical and syntactical shifts, typographical devices, compounds, and word coinages. This is Cummings's invigorating and unique voice at its finest, and EIMI is without question one of his most substantial accomplishments."

Port-au-Prince, the 1960s: Baby Doc Duvalier and his militia are systematically eliminating opponents to the regime. Daniel Leroy, editor in chief of the opposition newspaper, has just been arrested. To find out what has become of him, his wife, Nirvah, visits Raoul Vincent, secretary of state at the Office of Public Safety. This fearsome head of the secret police is instantly smitten, and to ensure her husband's survival and protect her family, Nirvah submits to the official's desires. Becoming the mistress of a strongman in the regime is not without its benefits. Still, she has to endure her neighbors' inquisitive looks and the silent questions of her own children. Kettly Mars's Savage Seasons describes a pivotal and painful period in Haitian history by weaving together two stories: the personal story of Nirvah and her family and the universal story of Duvalier's dictatorial regime and its abuses.

"This new and valuable book delves into the 'interior' experience of voodoo, as opposed to the usual outsider focus on ritual and cosmology. In telling the story of her own initiation and painstaking education in voodoo, Beaubrun takes us into the mystical dimensions of this ancient religion."--"The Guardian UK"
Like all the great religions Vodou has an external, public practice of rituals and ceremonies--and also an internal, mystical dimension. Before "Nan Domi," works about Vodou have concentrated on the spectacular outward manifestations of Vodou observance--hypnotic drumming and chanting, frenetic dancing, fits of spirit possession. But practically all reports on Vodou are outsider accounts, which means that they are stopped at the threshold.
Mimerose Beaubrun, educated as an anthropologist, set out to write another such work, but in the process she met the woman who would become her ultimate teacher and guide to the religion's internal mysteries: Tante Tansia, whose knowledge, wisdom and spiritual power govern the text of "Nan Domi."
"Nan Domi" is the only account of Vodou's private, mystical, interior practice that has been offered to the public so far. Its content stands in the same relation to ceremonial Vodou as Zen to conventional Buddhism, Sufism to conventional Islam, the practice of the desert saints to conventional Christianity. Mimerose Beaubrun has been a student of Vodou for half of her life, but she is also an adept, and in this uniquely valuable work, she divests herself of all scholarly apparatus to speak from Vodou's purest heart.
This English edition includes a fascinating introduction by Madison Smartt Bell, placing the religion and Beaubrun's memoir in historical context.
Praise for "Nan Domi: "
"Mimerose Beaubrun's book "Nan Domi: An Initiate's Journey into Haitian Vodou" -- the first part of the title refers to a spiritual state -- is a welcome addition to the canon of vodou scholarship, a deeply felt inside account of a faith of often daunting complexity."--"The Miami Herald"
""Nan Domi" is a fascinating look inside the Haitian Vodou religion. Mimerose Beaubrun provides a valuable contribution taking us along into the world of Nan Domi, a dream state and stage in the initiate's journey to mastery ... In the process the reader is introduced into a world that is far more than a religious tradition. Haitian Vodou is also a way of speaking about Haiti, as Beaubrun explains, 'its language, culture, even its way of walking, of preparing food, of dressing, of making love, of communicating with unknown worlds.' The book casts its spell on the reader who persists in the journey under the tutelage of Beaubrun and her teachers. Madison Smartt Bell's excellent introduction places the religion and Beaubrun's memoir in historical context."--Julia Alvarez
"Vodou is one of the most valuable--and misunderstood--of all New World cultural creations. Mimerose Beaubrun's remarkable work opens up for the first time the internal world of Vodou, and what emerges is a singular engagement with a system of belief that cannot fail to impress any reader with its sheer sophistication and complexity. Gradually, the author recounts the ways in which she came to know the timeless wisdom of Vodou. Absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in Haiti, or in religion and society more broadly." --Martin Munro, author and editor of "Haiti Rising: Haitian History, Culture and the Earthquake of 2010"

Following the widely acclaimed All Souls' Rising and Master of the Crossroads, Madison Smartt Bell gives us the climactic final chapter in the life of Toussaint Louverture, the legendary leader of the only successful slave revolution in history.
In 1791, what would become known as the Haitian Revolution began as a rebellion of African slaves against their white masters in the French colony of Saint Domingue. By 1793 Toussaint had emerged as the leader of the revolt, proving himself to be as adept at politics as he was on the battlefield. By 1801 he had succeeded in stabilizing the war-ravaged territory and invited exiled white planters, whose expertise was needed, to return and reclaim their properties. The foundation of a society based on liberty, genuine equality, and brotherhood among whites, blacks, and mulattos seemed in place. But the proclamation of a new constitution that abolished slavery and appointed Toussaint governor for life incited Napoleon to dispatch troops in order to reestablish control over the island.
The Stone That the Builder Refused spans the final phase of Toussaint's career and paints an astonish-ingly detailed and riveting portrait of a new society breaking forth from the chrysalis of a revolution, of the vision that impelled Toussaint to create a society based on principle and idealism, and of the dreadful compromises he was forced to make in order to
preserve it.
A masterly weave of the factual and the imagined, this grand culmination of Bell's landmark Toussaint Louverture trilogy stands alone as a towering achievement of historical fiction.

Continuing his epic trilogy of the Haitian slave uprising, Madison Smartt Bell's Master of the Crossroads delivers a stunning portrayal of Toussaint Louverture, former slave, military genius and liberator of Haiti, and his struggle against the great European powers to free his people in the only successful slave revolution in history. At the outset, Toussaint is a second-tier general in the Spanish army, which is supporting the rebel slaves' fight against the French. But w hen Toussaint is betrayed by his former allies and the commanders of the Spanish army, he reunites his army with the French, wresting vital territories and manpower from Spanish control. With his army one among several factions, Toussaint eventually rises as the ultimate victor as he wards off his enemies to take control of the French colony and establish a new constitution.
Bell's grand, multifaceted novel shows a nation, splintered by actions and in the throes of chaos, carried to liberation and justice through the undaunted tenacity of one incredible visionary.

A Vietnam vet returns to rural Tennessee in this acclaimed novel from the National Book Award-nominated author of Save Me, Joe Louis. After the horrors of Vietnam, Thomas Laidlaw returns to his home in rural Tennessee where he spends his days raising sheep and growing vegetables. At night he likes to roam the quiet countryside and practice his banjo, revelling in the roots music he finds so grounding. Over time, he resumes his friendship with Rodney Redmon, a fellow vet and childhood friend scarred not only by the wages of war, but also by the deep wounds of racism. As the two friends piece together a new life as civilians, they also piece together a band with the addition of a fiddler. Through a masterful accumulation of details, Bell brings his story to a fever pitch, concluding in "an unexpected, if powerful, finale" (Publishers Weekly). "This important, insightful novel" (Library Journal) proves once again that "every sentence [Bell] writes is a joy. His power is exhilarating" (The New Yorker). "Bell's impressive talents as a writer, which include endowing settings with the significance of character, and a patient, compassionate probing of injured souls, are on full display." -Publishers Weekly

Two small-time thieves get in over their heads in this literary thriller from the “virtuoso novelist� and author of Soldier’s Joy (The Philadelphia Inquirer).   Not quite at home in the backwoods of Tennessee, and even less suited for the service, drifter Macrae lands on his feet in New York City in the 1980s. There, he teams up with a petty thief named Charlie, and the two hit on a scheme to rob people withdrawing money at ATMs.   Caught up by their surprising success, they move on to bigger crimes. But as Macrae feels a growing discomfort with the increasing violence and danger of their hardscrabble existence, he wonders if he’s in too deep to make a clean break.   With a tightly orchestrated and harrowing conclusion from “one of our most talented novelists . . . This meticulously observed story nevertheless grips us with its lucid prose, its keen psychological insights and the author’s respect for his troubled characters� (Publishers Weekly).   “A remarkable read.� —The New York Times Book Review   “Bell seems to know intimately the seedy sides of New York, Baltimore and the ex-urban south of housing developments and shopping centers abutting old, dying farms. He renders each locale exquisitely and seems as familiar with street jive as redneck vernacular.� —Los Angeles Times   “Ripe for translation to the silver screen.� —Library Journal

Focusing on the big picture as well as the crucial details, Bell examines twelve stories by both established writers (including Peter Taylor, Mary Gaitskill, and Carolyn Chute) and his own former students. A story's use of time, plot, character, and other elements of fiction are analyzed, and readers are challenged to see each story's flaws and strengths. Careful endnotes bring attention to the ways in which various writers use language. Bell urges writers to develop the habit of thinking about form and finding the form that best suits their subject matter and style. His direct and practical advice allows writers to find their own voice and imagination.

Antoine Lavoisier reinvented chemistry, overthrowing the long-established principles of alchemy and inventing an entirely new terminology, one still in use by chemists. Madison Smartt Bell s enthralling narrative reads like a race to the finish line, as the very circumstances that enabled Lavoisier to secure his reputation as the father of modern chemistry a considerable fortune and social connections with the likes of Benjamin Franklin also caused his glory to be cut short by the French Revolution."