Memory's Tailor is one of the finest and most touching novels that I read this year. Rudner's narrative is captivating in its detail and emotional quality. I highly recomend this book.

Berman, the hero of the novel and I believe to be Rudner's alter-ego in the beginning of the story is a reclusive non-person- a persona he has had to affect in order to survive in the anti-semetic climate of the Soviet Union prior to perestroika. Berman's character develops as he realizes that those who witness the inhumanitites exacted upon individuals by the state must record and preserve the memory of these events. He learns that these tragedies are compounded when the victims and their stories are forgotten. In developing the characters,Berman and Zorin, the author tells us, often with great humor, of their most unusual Odyssey, and their enounters with many memorable characters whose stories cried out to be chronicled and remembered. Berman, a tailor,formerly worked for the Kirov ballet repairing costumes. He is called upon to help repair costumes from the period of Catherine the Great,by the museum curator. He goes back to work reluctanly. While sewing the costumes Berman meets and develops a wonderful relationship with a char woman. Her death than causes Berman to reach back, upon his long forgotten faith, and eventually become a witness to all that he hears. Many unusual event are experienced by Zorin, a retired glassblower, recruited by Berman to aid him in his plan and as they cross the Urkraine and Russian countryside together. The characters they encounter are so wonderful and so alive, and their stories so interesting, that I as a reader also became part of their journey. This novel, completed before the death of Lawrence Rudner in 1995, is his second novel was beautifully edited by John Kessel and Susan Ketchin. The message that Rudner so forcefully relates in this very human story is one that is so important; to listen, to record, and to witness.

This compilation is an essential read for those who love the South, Southern writers and Southern fiction; or for those who may be curious to see how the mood of a region in which one lives can so fully encompass one that it demands to be put down on paper. Ms. Ketchin does an admirable job of serving up a full-course Southern meal through the eyes of the diverse writers she interviews and excerpts. Some stories are serious, some funny, and some a little twisted; all are good. Coupled with the relaxed interviews with the authors, the reader feels connected.

Flannery O'Connor died of lupus at age 39 in 1964, leaving us hard, clear and corrosive writing. Susan Ketchin's book examines the influence of religion on 12 living authors who shuffle down some of the same paths Miss O'Connor traveled. Miss O'Connor is the region's reigning recalcitrant Catholic. With discipline, spite and relentless rewriting, she created ornery, twisted and largely unrepentant Protestant characters. O'Connor looms large over this book (the title is her words). But that doesn't mean everyone here likes her. More than one finds her mean-spirited. Sheila Bosworth, another Catholic and friend of the late Walker Percy, asks why, if we are to thank God for every good thing, why we can't indict him for the bad ones. Sitting across a plate of catfish with Larry Brown on his 40th birthday is an experience none of us are going to have, but Ms. Ketchin did. We get to listen to the former firefighter tell about a long effort to cut a boy out of a mangled car, with his former partner, now dead. His reflection on how one detail could have ended the boy1s life shows why Mr. Brown is a thoughtful writer. The value of this book is that the authors tend to be more direct in interviews than they allow themselves in their fiction. Ms. Ketchin's clear-eyed observation tells us what's important; what shaped the writer. It1s reassuring to see these authors are also decent men and women, who struggle with the same burdens their readers do. But they think about it longer and harder than most of us care to. "You spend most of your time thinking about, meditating upon, trying to dissect and understand just those aspects of the human animal that other human beings try their damndest never to thing about," Harry Crews says. Ms. Ketchin mentions the occasional patronizing tone of critics who read Southern women1s fiction. "Pull up a rocker on the front porch and pour a glass of ice tea," one writes in a favorable review of a Lee Smith novel. While Ms. Smith may have a different style than Joan Didion, she is just as sharp an observer of detail, and perhaps even better at genuine inner dialogue of her characters. No one would suggest pulling up a rocker for a Didion novel, nor should they for Ms. Smith, who is a serious writer blessed with a sharp sense of humor. To note Ms. Ketchin is the wife of author Clyde Edgerton would seem to be almost as condescending. But near the end of the book, she sets up the tape recorder for her spouse of more than 20 years, and gives him the same even-handed, thoughtful treatment she used for the other 11. I was glad to know she was married to an author; I believe it gives her an insight to their methods and frustrations others would not possess. For writers, it's heartening to see their heroes make mistakes and retell their shortcomings and doubt. I don't know for sure, but I bet Mr. Brown would take out a reference to Tom Selleck in "A Roadside Resurrection," if he had it to do over again. A man who wears a Flannery O'Connor T-shirt to book signings surely knows the value of making a story timeless. Will readers 30 years from now know who Tom Selleck was? Probably not. But then to hear him say "Whatever good is in this world has to have teeth in it if evil is to be dealt with," is worth the price of the book. Almost all of the dozen writers here say for fiction to last, it has to address things that matter -- life and death; good vs. evil; salvation or perdition. Lisa Ashmore johelton@earthlink.net

... if these are the new voices of American literature. Jason Brown is the only writer that seems promising, and is the only one with two stories in this compilation. His two stories are not great, but they show good craft. From other authors, "Like a Crossing Guard" is an interesting piece, but it does not completely satisfy. Such is the case with "White Flight", a piece dealing with school shootings. Problem with most stories in this collection is that they suffer from the same problems that plague recent short story collections from even well-known American writers. Lack of plot. And abrupt endings. We are witnesses to small events in some characters' lives, but these events never serve to shed light on the characters or the reader. I know this is a popular thing to do with short stories nowadays, but, personally, I find it a waste of my time. Call me old-fashioned if you want, but I much rather prefer the tales of old in which there was a clearly defined beginning, middle and end that explored a specific conflict. To me, that's the sort of stories that last generations. The ones that strike a chord in the reader. Those that not only comment on our society, but make a statement about it. Those that portray a specific aspect of humanity. Those that can do the above but entertain, too. Just compare these stories or most modern stories with the classics compiled in short anthology collections from all time and I'm sure you'll understand what I mean.

I found 25 and Under/Fiction to be a breath of fresh air. I love reading books of short fiction, but too often, the books are filled with authors that are already well established. This book is great, because it's filled with stories that are written by mostly unknown authors. My favorite story was "Flamingo." The mother in that story (she was an alcoholic) was very well written, and portrayed with a sense of brutal honesty. Go out and buy 25 & Under/Fiction. You won't be sorry.

As an aspiring short story writer, I first read this book when it was first published and I was 18. It amazed me to see people of my age bracket published and the talent I found within inspired me. Reading these stories shows the depth that some of American's youth possesses. While another reviewer scoffed at the "lack of plot" and "abrupt endings" of these stories, I would have to say that this is the essence of short fiction itself. Short stories are not meant to beat the reader over the head with a storyline. They are meant to be brief pieces that make you think and develop the larger story within your mind. Great pieces like "Naming the Baby" and "Flamingo" give brief character portraits that provide more of a message than a novel ever could. The best kind of short story is one that leaves you thinking of the characters and searching for your own interpretation. More than half of the stories found in this anthology left me wanting to read more work by the writers. If that isn't a testament to the talent displayed, then I just don't know what is!