SERIAL

A Painted House
By John Grisham
Looking through windows and listening at doors, Luke is burdened with new secrets. Part Three.

FEATURES

Diaries of a Country Priest
By John Jeremiah Sullivan
Thomas Merton’s seven-volume journals illuminate the spiritual journey of a truly modern monk.

My 50 Marriages
By Gary White
In Florida any employee of the Clerk of Courts can marry couples, even if like Steven Barthelme in “I Do, I Do” (pg. 54), they’re only doing it for the health insurance.

SHORT STORY

Reaffirmation
By John McManus
The hardest part of love is keeping the object of your affection from escaping.

DEPARTMENTS       

LOCAL FARE

Our Daily Bread
By John T. Edge
The biscuit, manna of the South, can be just as good coming through a fast-food window.

A SOUTHERNER ABROAD

Learning to Be at Peace with War
By Bob Shacochis
War may be hell, but the “operations other than war” in Kosovo were sometimes disturbingly. . . fun.

LEGAL

Old Sparky
By Diane Roberts
A brief history of Florida’s legendary electric chair.

TALKIES

Brother, Can you Spare the Time
By James Hughes
George Clooney, friend of the common man, comes to Mississippi as part of a new Coen brothers’ movie.

THE WRITING LIFE

Everyone’s a Critic
By Andrea King Collier
Creative writing workshops are not for the faint of heart.

SOUTHERN MUSIC

The Man That Rode the Mule Around the World
By Tom Piazza
North Carolina crooner Charlie Poole shone briefly in the spotlight.

COLUMNS

Dealer’s Choice
By Hal Crowther

Meditations for Bad Girls
By Vicki Covington

Gone Off Up North
By Roy Blount Jr.

POETRY

Self-Portrait in a Borrowed Cabin
By Jane Hirshfield

In Horsehide Shoes Fleur Hobbs Eats Cheese, Drinks Chinese Beer & Laments the Nature of Her One Arrest
By R. T. Smith

COMICS

By P. Revess

OTHER DEPARTMENTS

Contributors

Dear OA

Editor’s Box

Uncle Art

Off the Shelf

Music Notes

Southern Scenes

ON THE COVER

“Eve”
Art by Terry Rowlett