"The Happy Memories Club"

~
Best of the South: From the Second Decade of New Stories from the South (1996-2005), edited by Shannon Ravenel, with stories selected and introduced by Anne Tyler, has been on my nightstand for years now. It sounds silly, but there are certain books that I've looked forward to so much that I don't want to spoil the anticipation by actually reading them.

Anyway, I've read some real clunkers lately and needed something good. So I finally opened Best of the South yesterday, and immediately read a short story that I've read numerous times: "The Happy Memories Club" by Lee Smith. It was originally published in The Atlantic Monthly, and it's one of my all-time favorite stories.

The writing is good, of course--sharp, sometimes funny, perfectly wrought--but there is also something about this story that is just so poignant.

LINKS:

"The Happy Memories Club" at The Atlantic Monthly online

Lee Smith reading "The Happy Memories Club" in the audio archive for the WUNC 91.5 FM show "The State of Things"

News of the Spirit (a collection of short stories by Lee Smith), New Stories from the South (1996), and Best of the South (1996-2005), all of which include "The Happy Memories Club"