Morris Grubbs has sifted through vintage classics, little-known gems, and stunning debuts to assemble this collection of forty stories by popular and critically acclaimed writers. In subtle and profound ways they challenge and overturn accepted stereotypes about the land their authors call home, whether by birth or by choice. Kentucky writers have produced some of the finest short stories published in the last fifty years, much of which focuses on the tension between the comforts of community and the siren-like lure of the outside world. Arranged chronologically, from Robert Penn Warren’s “Blackberry Winter” to Crystal E. Wilkinson’s “Humming Back Yesterday,” these stories are linked by their juxtaposition of departures and returns, the familiar and the unknown, home and beyond.
Edited by Morris A. Grubbs
Praise for Home and Beyond: An Anthology of Kentucky Short Stories:
“A bountiful smorgasbord of classic and lesser known stories by accomplished Kentucky writers who provide a feast for readers of modern short fiction. While Kentucky is the focus of the anthology, the world of imagination invoked by the authors is delectably universal. In this half-century range of stories, there are tales to delight every taste.”
– Ann Charters
“The story of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is told and retold by a mixed but balanced chorus of voices that sings like the wind down the ridges and along the creekbeds.”
– Appalachian Journal
“A very readable and representative anthology of literary short stories from authors whose lives and works were shaped through association with the Commonwealth.”
– Arkansas Review
“Readers needn’t be from Kentucky to appreciate these stories… Prepare to be wowed by these superior examples of the form.”
– Bloomsbury Review
“It is high time that we had such a collection as this, an anthology of short stories from those authors by whom we are defined, and in whom we may seek definition.”
– Frederick Smock, Louisville Courier-Journal
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