SHORT STORIES

These eight stories are set in the flat woods of Florida in the '30's, the fictional world immortalized by Rawlings in The Yearling and Cross Creek. Six are short and forgettable, but "Benny and the Bird Dogs" and "Gal Young 'Un" are classics. Although Melissa Hughes succeeds reasonably well in reproducing Cracker dialect, she's not too convincing as the hard-drinking, hell-raising Benny. "Gal Young 'Un," in contrast, is perfect for her light voice. Here an independent, old woman marries a handsome drifter who robs her blind and then brings home--almost like a stray dog--"the gal young 'un." She's just a scrawny girl, but--in the hands of the author and narrator--she's poignantly alive. Thanks to Audio Bookshelf for publishing this third book in the series Voices: A Treasury of Regional Fiction. J.C. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JAN 96]