August Read of the Month: The Oxford American’s Best of the South 2012 Issue

The Read of the Month for August is the latest issue of The Oxford American.  The issue, subtitled Best of the South 2012, features fiction by Wendell Berry, Tyrone Jaeger, and Addie Citchens; introduces new OA columnist Jesmyn Ward; and offers eclectic essays and commentary on such topics as food, Hilton Head, religion, music, kinship, dating, and more.  There are, of course, poems and book reviews, and perhaps most distinctive of all is a section called “Odes to the Best of the South 2012,” which consists of short, profound pieces that readers will not want to miss.  David Lumpkin’s feature essay “Church is Wherever You Are” deserves mention, as do the tributes to Southern writers who recently have passed away.  Heck, even the advertisements are good.  Buy this issue and support one of the finest magazines and some of the best Southern writers around.