ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602160101
SECTION: BOOK PAGE: G-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY MIKE MAYO
DOWNHOME. Edited by Susie Mee. Harvest/Harcourt Brace. $16 (trade paper).
NEW DOMINIONS. Edited by Mike Allen. Illustrated by Ted Guerin. Allen & Allen. $4.95 (trade paper).
The common denominator for these two radically different anthologies is Richard Dillard. "Downhome" is dedicated to the Hollins professor, and he contributed "The Lost Poems of Sean Sioban" to "New Dominions."
"Downhome" is a collection of short fiction written by women about that amorphous geographical-social-political region we call "the South." Editor Susie Mee begins her introduction with such breathtaking generalizations that she's bound to put off some readers:
"The civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s surged through the South like a shock wave, forcing southerners, along with the rest of the country, to reevaluate traditional standards and mores. Following directly in the wake of civil rights came outcries for the rights of women - which is not altogether surprising since racism and sexism often stem from the same source."
The stories that follow were written between the 1880s and the 1990s, and many of the authors have strong connections to Virginia and North Carolina. Five attended Hollins. The writing, of course, is excellent, though even editor Mee has to admit that some of the older dialect is heavy going.
"New Dominions" has a more popular bent.
These stories, poems and sketches by Virginia writers don't have a single theme, though there is a sense of humor to most of them. Bud Webster's "The Slithery Dee" takes what might have been a Lewis Carroll tale about a precocious little girl and gives it a gleefully sardonic twist. Paul Dellinger's "Castle Watch" is a carefully compact tale set in England. Nelson Bond's long narrative poem "The Ballad of Blaster Bill" first appeared in 1941.
In all, it's a fine collection, brightened considerably by Ted Guerin's illustrations.
Mike Mayo also reviews films and videos for this newspaper.
Michael Parker, North Carolina author, will give a fiction reading Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Sutton Lounge at Roanoke College. His collection of short stories, "Geographical Care," and a novel, "Hello, Down There" are familiar to many area readers. The reading is open to the public at no charge.
- MARY ANN JOHNSON, BOOK PAGE EDITOR
Bookmarks is a regular feature of the book page that will focus on books, writers and literary events of local and regional interest and importance.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Ted Guerin's illustration for "The Slithering Dee"by CNBfrom "New Dominions."|