Special Collections / Exhibits / Lee Smith / Bibliography of Lee Smith


Bibliography of Lee Smith

INTRODUCTION:

This bibliography documents the life and works of the novelist, Lee Smith. Smith focuses her books around the lives of southern women who, more often than not, are women who have lived through hardships and crises. Although faced with obstacles, these women, who are often quite ordinary, find the determination to survive. In many instances these characters begin to understand themselves better and begin to develop a stronger sense of self in spite of their environments. Critics note that Smith is such a good storyteller because she grew up in a small southern town and lived among storytellers. Smith's writing style is often praised because her characters are quite thoroughly developed through the use of narrative. As Jeanne R. Nostrandt notes, "(h)er fiction gives the impressions of being heard rather than being read." (Contemporary Southern Writers, 337).

This provides a bibliographic guide to works that are available on the NC State campus. These materials will help researchers who want to further their knowledge of Lee Smith and her writings. It is our hope that the selections are variable enough to be beneficial to both the scholar who is interested in critiques and reviews of Smith's work, and to those who may just want a brief overview of Smith's life and writing style.

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:

Lee Marshall Smith was born in Grundy, Virginia. As a college student, she studied in France during her junior year and interned at the Richmond News Leader with chief editorial writer James J. Kilpatrick. Smith was awarded a Book-of-the Month Club Writing Fellowship in June 1967 immediately following her graduation from Hollins College with a B. A. in English. She continued her writing career as a reporter for the Tuscaloosa News in Tuscaloosa, Alabama from 1968-1969 then became the feature writer, film critic, and editor of the newspaper's Sunday magazine. She switched from journalism to teaching English at Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tennessee (1971-1974) and the Carolina Friends School in Durham, North Carolina (1975-1977). During this period Smith was married and raised two boys.

Lee Smith pursued her writing career and was selected as the writer-in-residence at Hollins College during the spring semester of 1976. She continued to teach creative writing as an instructor at Duke University in 1977, a lecturer at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1978-1981, and the director of a summer writing workshop for the University of Virginia from 1979-1980. In 1981 she took a position as a professor of English at North Carolina State University. Ms. Smith has given numerous lectures in addition to her extended visits to various schools and conferences teaching writing and conducting workshops. She has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards including two O. Henry Awards, the John Dos Passos Award, the Robert Penn Warren Fiction Prize, the North Carolina Award for Fiction in 1984 and the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Academy Award in Literature in 1999.

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LOCATION OF MATERIALS:
The following is a list of the places where you can find the materials I mention below. These are all located in the DH Hill Library on the North Carolina State campus.

DH Hill=DH Hill Library, Main Stacks
DH Hill MC=DH Hill Media Center
DH Hill Ref.=DH Hill Library, Reference Collection
DH Hill SC=DH Hill Library, Special Collections Research Center

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LC SUBJECT HEADINGS: The following are Library of Congress Subject Headings found in the NC State online catalog. It may be a good idea to search under these headings in order to find relevant materials. Smith, Lee, 1944- (about)
Smith, Lee, 1944- Characters -- Women.
Smith, Lee, 1944- Criticism and interpretation.
Smith, Lee, 1944- Interviews.

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PRIMARY SOURCES:
FICTION:
 
NONFICTION:
 
INTERVIEWS:
Novels
 
Books
 
Print
Short Stories
 
Articles
 
Sound Recordings
    Reviews  
Video Recordings

FICTION

(Novels)

Black Mountain Breakdown, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1980. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982, 1986, 1993, 1996. Prince Frederick, Md.: Recorded Books, 1998 [sound recording, Narrated by Linda Stephens].

The Christmas Letters: A Novella. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books, 1996. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC.

The Devil's Dream. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1992. New York: Ballantine Books, 1993. Thorndike, ME: Thorndike Press, 1993. Prince Frederick, Md.: Recorded Books, 1998 [sound recording, Narrated by L. Stephens, M. Hammer, S. Darling, T. Stechschulte, A. Bresnahan, C. Moore, R.A. Phimister, C.J. Critt].

Fair and Tender Ladies. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1988. London: Macmillan, 1989. New York: Ballantine Books, 1989, 1990, 1993. Boston, MA: G. K. Hall, 1989 [large print edition]. London, Pan, 1990. As Damas Tiernas y Hermosas. Barcelona, Spain: Ediciones Destino, 1990. As För Alltid Din. Stockholm, Sweden: Legenda, 1991. As Skønne Damer Uden Svig. Copenhagen, Denmark: Gyldendal, 1991.

Family Linen. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1985. New York: Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996. Boston, MA: G. K. Hall, 1987 [large print edition]. Prince Frederick, Md.: Recorded Books, 1998 [sound recording, Narrated by Linda Stephens].

Fancy Strut. New York: Harper & Row, 1973. New York: Ballantine Books, 1987, 1996.

The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed. New York: Harper & Row, 1968. New York: Ballantine, 1969. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994. Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, 2000 [sound recording, Narrated by Christina Moore].

Oral History. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1983. New York: Ballantine Books, 1984, 1993. London: Pan Books, 1989. Prince Frederick, Md.: Recorded Books, 1998 [sound recording, Narrated by various narrators].

Saving Grace. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1995. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996. Prince Frederick, Md.: Recorded Books, 2000 [sound recording, Narrated by Christina Moore].

Something in the Wind. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. New York: Ballantine Books, 1972.



(Short Stories)

Adlai Stevenson and Jane Russell Story, Books, Summer 1968.

"All the Days of Our Lives." Redbook, April 1980, pp. 173-176. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From collection of short stories titled Cakewalk.

"Between the Lines." Prize Stories - The O. Henry Awards 1981, 1981, pp. 81-93. Atlanta Weekly - The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, 4 April 1982, pp. 6, 7, 18-22. Clearings in the Thicket: An Alabama Humanities Reader, 1985, pp. 63-76. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From collection of short stories titled Cakewalk.

"Bob, A Dog." Chapel Hill, NC: Mud Puppy Press, 1988. Designed by Richard Hendel. 374 copies, numbered and signed by the author, quarter-bound in cloth and Strathmore Americana by the Hoster Bindery. 26 copies, lettered and signed by the author, quarter-bound in leather and Fabriano paper by Robert Colvert at the Ram's Head Bindery. Published as "Love the Ones You're With," Redbook, August 1987, pp. 48-54, 134. Typescript draft and proof in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From collection of short stories titled Me and My Baby View the Eclipse.

"The Bubba Stories," The Southern Review, Winter 1991, pp. 115-135.

Cakewalk. New York: Putnam, 1981. New York: Ballantine Books, 1983, 1996. Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, 2000 [sound recording, Narrated by Linda Stephens and Tom Stechschulte. Collection of short stories: "All the Days of Our Lives," "Artists," "Between the Lines," "Cakewalk," "Dear Phil Donahue," (Pre-publication title: "Dear Barbara -Walters"), "The French Revolution: A Love Story, "Georgia Rose," "Gulfport," "Heat Lightning," "Horses," "Making It To Tuscaloosa," "Mrs. Darcy Meets the Blue-Eyed Stranger at the Beach," "Not Pictured," "Saint Paul," "The Seven Deadly Sins," "Son of the South." Typescript draft and some handwritten drafts in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC.

"The Celebration," Sandlapper, July 1976, pp. 28-38.

"The French Revolution: A Love Story." Ingenue, February 1970, pp. 40, 72-75. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From collection of short stories titled Cakewalk.

"Georgia Rose." McCall's, June 1980, pp. 104-105, 120-134. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From collection of short stories titled Cakewalk.

"Intensive Care." Special Report - Fiction, February-April 1990, pp. 23-31. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From collection of short stories titled Me and My Baby View the Eclipse.

"The Interpretation of Dreams." Southern Magazine, December 1986, pp. 51-53, 84-91. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From collection of short stories titled Me and My Baby View the Eclipse.

"Life On the Moon," New Stories From The South - The Year's Best 1987, 1987, pp. 41-56. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From collection of short stories titled Me and My Baby View the Eclipse.

"Live Bottomless," The Southern Review, Autumn 1997; 33:4, pp. 732-806. From collection of short stories titled News of the Spirit.

"Making It To Tuscaloosa." Redbook, May 1982, pp. 156-159. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From collection of short stories titled Cakewalk.

Me and My Baby View the Eclipse. New York: Putnam, 1990. New York: Ballantine Books, 1991. Prince Frederick, Md.: Recorded Books, 1998 [sound recording, Narrated by Linda Stephens and Tom Stechschulte]. Collection of short stories: "Bob, A Dog," "Desire on Domino Island," "Dreamers" (Pre-publication title: "The Man of the House"), "Intensive Care," "The Interpretation of Dreams, "Life On the Moon," "Me and My Baby View the Eclipse" (Also titled: "No One Will Ever Love You As Much"), "Mom" (Pre-publication title: "Life As We Knew It"), "Life On the Moon," "Tongues of Fire." Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC.

"Me and My Baby View the Eclipse" (Also titled: "No One Will Ever Love You As Much"). Redbook, September 1988, pp. 44-52. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From the collection of short stories titled Me and My Baby View the Eclipse.

"Mound Burial," Comment, Fall 1968, pp. 5-12.

"Mrs. Darcy Meets the Blue-Eyed Stranger at the Beach." Prize Stories 1979 - The O. Henry Awards, 1979, pp. 227-241. Typescript draft in the Lee Marshall Smith Papers (MC 203), Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries, Raleigh, NC. From collection of short stories titled Cakewalk.

News of the Spirit. New York: Putnam, 1997. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1998. Collection of short stories.

"Paralyzed." Smith, Lee. Southern Exposure, Vol. 4, no. 4 (Winter 1977), p. 36-42.

"Chapter Two: 'She of all my dreams'," News and Observer [Raleigh, NC], 13 November 1995. Part of a novel jointly written by North Carolina authors titled Pete and Shirley.

We Don't Love with Our Teeth. Portland, OR: Chinook Press, 1994

"White Parts or The Last Moments of Eula Lebel." Cargoes, Spring 1967, pp. 55-62.



NON-FICTION

(Books)

Appalachian Portraits. With Shelby Lee Adams. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1993.

A Stubborn Sense of Place: Forum. Hood, Mary; Bell, Madison Smartt; Smith, Lee; Fox, William Price; Driskell, Leon V.; Ford, Richard; Abbott, Lee K.; Wilson, Leigh Allison; Crews, Harry. New York: Harper's Magazine Foundation, 1986.

Sitting on the Courthouse Bench: An Oral History of Grundy, Virgin[i]a. Chapel Hill, NC: Tryon Publishing Co., 2000. Oral Histories by Grundy High School students.

Tell it on the Mountain: Essays. Fred Chappel, Larger than life; Lee Smith, Terrain of the heart; Robert Morgan, Appalachia; Bayard Morgan Wootten; Ralph Grizzle. Hemispheres (Greensboro, N.C.), August 2000, p. 96-105.


(Articles, Contributions)

"A Visit to Milledgeville." The Flannery O'Connor Bulletin, Vol. 24, 1995, pp. 102-103.

"Far From the Marble Generals," The Women's Review of Books, July 1999, 16:10/11, p. 21.

Foreward. Sheila Kay Adams. Come Go Home with Me: Stories. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1995.

Foreward. Lou V. Crabtree. The River Hills and Beyond: Poems. Abingdon, VA: Sow's Ear Press, 1998.

Foreward. Michael Chitwood. Hitting Below the Bible Belt: Baptist Voodoo, Blood Kin, Grandma's Teeth and Other Stories From the South. Asheboro, NC: Down Home Press, 1998.

Friendship and Sympathy: Communities of Southern Women Writers. Rosemary M. Magee

Elizabeth Spencer, Kaye Gibbons, Doris Betts, Gail Godwin, and Anne Tyler, other contributors, Rosemary M. Magee, editor. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1992.

"Given Tools, They Work the Language," New York [NY] Times, 28 June 1996.

Introduction. Mark Twain. Sketches, New and Old, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Volume 5 from the Mark Twain Works Series. Facsimile reproduction of first American edition, published 1875.

"The Lightning Flash of Literacy," News and Observer [Raleigh, NC], 5 July 1996.

"Our Stories, Our Words." 64, Vol. 1, Issue 10, November 2000, pp. 46-57.

Thanks Mom!: A Collection of Stories and Artwork to Benefit Habitat for Humanity, Gene Stelten, editor, Atlanta, GA: Peachtree, 1999.

"Tribute to Doris Betts." with Sam Ragan, Robert Mason, and William Friday, Pembroke Magazine, 18, 1986, pp. 275-284.

Uneeda Review: Like a Hole in the Head. J. Parkhurst Schimmelpfennig, editor. Louis Decimus Rubin, William Harmon, and J. Parkhurst Schimmelpfennig, other contributors, New York, NY: N. Lyons Books, 1984.

"The Voice behind the Story," In Voicelust: Eight Contemporary Fiction Writers on Style. Edited by Allen Wier and Don Hendrie, Jr. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1985, pp. 93-100.

Tributes: American Writers on American Writers, edited with Martine Bellen, Bradford Morrow, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY: Bard College, 1997.

"The Writer's Life: Lee Smith The Springs of My Own Language," News and Observer [Raleigh, NC], 25 August 1996.

Why I Write: Thoughts on the Practice of Fiction, Will Blythe, editor, Boston: Little, Brown, 1998.

(Reviews)

Review of John Shelton Reed's Southern Folk, Plain and Fancy, by Lee Smith, Spectator [Raleigh, NC], 16 April 1987.

Reviews of In Coal Country, by Judith Hendershot and Trouble at the Mines, by Doreen Rappaport, Reviews by Lee Smith, New York Times Book Review, 17 May 1987

"The Case of the Hopeless Case," Review of Howard Frank Mosher's mystery novel A Stranger in the Kingdom, New York [NY] Times Book Review, 29 October 1989.

"Coal Miners' Daughters," Reviews of In Coal Country, by Judith Hendershot and illustrated by Thomas B. Allen and Trouble at the Mines, by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Joan Sandin, New York [NY] Times Book Review, 17 May 1987.

"Dickey's 'Wayfarer' Is Rich With Mountain Dialogue," by Lee Smith, The Atlanta [GA] Journal-Constitution, 13 November 1988

"Going South," Review of A Southern Exposure, by Alice Adams, New York [NY] Times Book Review, 8 October 1995.

"Her Desire Won't Let Go," Review of Lowry Pei's novel Family Resemblances, New York [NY] Times Book Review, 20 April 1986.

"Hillbilly Heartache," Review of Margaret Jones' biography The Life and Times of Patsy Cline, The Washington [DC] Post Book World, 7 August 1994.

"Hope Is the Thing with Feathers," Review of Cathleen Schine's novel To the Birdhouse, New York [NY] Times Book Review, 20 May 1990.

"Kidnapped by Everyone: In the Hollow of His Hand," by James Purdy, by Lee Smith, The New York [NY] Times Book Review, Vol. 91, No. 42 (October 19, 1986).

"Shopping for Body Parts," Review of a collection of short stories by Patricia Lear, Stardust, 7-Eleven, Route 57, A&W, and So Forth: Stories, New York [NY] Times Book Review, 12 April 1992, p. 79.

"Under a Southern Cross," Review of Gail Godwin's novel Father Melancholy's Daughter, Los Angeles [CA] Times Book Review, 3 March 1991.

"When Language is More Than Words," Review of Lyn Hejinian's book of poems The Cell, The San Francisco [CA] Chronicle, 4 April 1993.

"Widowhood is powerful," Review of Shelby Hearon's novel Life Estates, New York [NY] Times Book Review, 13 February 1994.



INTERVIEWS

(Print)

Alderson, Laura. "She can go home again,"Roanoke [VA] Times and World News, 1 March 1981.

Alderson, Laura. "Southern writing is in their bones," The Canberra Times [Australia], 29 April 1990.

Arnold, Edwin T. "An Interview with Lee Smith," Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review, Spring 1984, 11:3, pp. 240-254.

Arnold, Edwin T. and Nancy C. Parrish. "Lee Smith," in Interviewing Appalachia, J. W. Williamson, editor, Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1994, pp. 342-362.

Arnow, Pat. "Lee Smith: An Interview," Now and Then: The Appalachian Magazine, Summer 1989, 6:2, pp. 24-27.

Bourne, Daniel. "Artful Dodge Interviews: Lee Smith," Artful Dodge, Fall 1989, pp. 16-17 and 38-52.

Brown, Priscilla. "On The Mountaintop," The Fayetteville [NC] Observer/The Fayetteville Times, 2 October 1983.

Byrd, Linda. "An Interview with Lee Smith, July 19, 1996," Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee University Review, 1997 Summer, 47:2, pp. 95-118.

Carlin, Margaret. "Chapter and Verse," Rocky Mountain News [Denver, CO], 6 July 1992.

"College News From Around the Quadrangle," Hollins College Bulletin, January 1971.

Cruise, Cathy. "Interview: Lee Smith," Phoebe, Spring/Summer 1992.

Cunningham, Rodger. "Writing on the Cusp: Double Alterity and Minority Discourse in Appalachia," in The Future of Southern Letters, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 41-53.

Draper, Robert. "Fair and Tender Fiction," American Way, 1 February 1989.

Herion-Sarafidis, Elisabeth. "Interview with Lee Smith," The Southern Quarterly: A Journal of the Arts in the South, Winter 1994, 32:2, pp. 7-18.

Hill, Dorothy Combs. "An Interview with Lee Smith," The Southern Quarterly: A Journal of the Arts in the South, Winter 1990, 28:2, pp. 5-19.

Hoffert, Barbara. "Writers' Renaissance in North Carolina," Library Journal, 1 November 1989.

Hunt, V. "Interview with Lee Smith," The Southern Quarterly: A Journal of the Arts in the South, 1994 Winter, 32:2, pp. 31-36.

Interview with Lee Smith, Durham [NC] Morning Herald, 8 December 1974.

Jessup, Lynn. "A mystical mix of Southern life," Greensboro [NC] News and Record, 27 September 1987.

Johnson, Maria C. "Lee Smith and Hal Crowther / Accents and Attitudes," Greensboro [NC] News Record, 21 May 1995.

Kaufman, Joanne. "Lee Smith: Her People Will Do Anything," The Wall Street Journal, 17 October 1985.

Kearns, Katherine. "Lee Smith," Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook.

Kilpatrick, James J. "Stare at life very hard, fix image in your mind," The Birmingham [AL] News, [c. 1983] (original & copy syndicated column).

King, Dean. "Publishing Good Books, The Good Old-Fashioned Way," Connoisseur, January 1989 (Article about Louis D. Rubin, Jr. - mentions Lee Smith).

Kish, Kathy. "SVCC honors Lee Smith," Daily Telegraph [Bluefield, WV], 19 September 1993.

Lacy, Bridgette A. "Prize Money Lets Lee Smith Luxuriate in Language," The News and Observer [Raleigh, NC], 8 January 1995.

Lazazzera, Teresa. "Homespun-Tales of Appalachia Have Authentic-Sounding Twang," The Winchester [VA] Star, 12 May 1987.

Lodge, Michelle. "Lee Smith," Publisher's Weekly, 20 September 1985.

Loewenstein, Claudia. "Unshackling the Patriarchy: An Interview with Lee Smith," Southwest Review, Autumn 1993, 78:4, pp. 486-505.

Lyons, Gene. "The South Rises Again," Newsweek, 30 September 1985.

McConeghey, Nelljean. "Talking True," The Arts Journal, June 1984.

McCord, Charlene-R. "Interview with Lee Smith: May 18, 1997," Mississippi Quarterly: The Journal of Southern Cultures, 52:1, 1998-1999 Winter, pp. 89-119.

McFee, Michael. "Down From the Mountain," Spectator [Raleigh, NC], 21 July 1983.

McKnight, Tom. "An Interview with Lee Smith," Appalachian Heritage, Spring/Summer 1988.

Merritt, Robert. "Virginia Voices," Richmond [VA] Times-Dispatch, 25 February 1990.

Moose, Ruth. "Lee Smith's Stories Eavesdrop On Life," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 4 October 1981.

Nifong, Christina. "Delving Into the South's Rich Storytelling Tradition," The Christian Science Monitor, 30 December, 1997.

Parrish, Nancy. "Lee Smith - Interview," Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review, Summer 1992, 19:4, pp. 394-401.

Ringle, Ken. "Lee Smith, At Home With Her Muse," The Washington [DC] Post, 4 December 1988.

Ringle, Ken. "A Southern voice in her own write," The News and Observer [Raleigh, NC], 9 December 1988.

Ringle, Ken. "Lee Smith's Raft of Appalachian Novels," International Herald Tribune, 10-11 December 1988.

Ringle, Ken. "Lee Smith Skirts the Pitfalls of Publicity," St. Petersburg [FL] Times, 1 January 1989.

Romine, Dannye. "Lee Smith's Stories Spill Longhand From The Anecdotes of Her Life," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, [1980].

Romine, Dannye. "What Some Carolinas Writers Are Reading," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 22 August 1982.

Romine, Dannye. "Words to Remember - How Mothers Influenced 6 Budding Writers," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 13 May 1984.

Romine, Dannye. "That Mountain Music," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 5 July 1992.

Sawhill, Ray. "Lee Smith," Interview, January 1990.

Seltz, Johanna. "She Writes While Children Sleep," The Chapel Hill [NC] Newspaper, 22 January 1976

Shea, Renee Hausmann. "Belles Lettres Interview: Lee Smith," Belles Lettres, Spring 1993, 8:3, p. 32.

Sill, Kathy. "Author paints realistic picture of region but not without fight over cultural differences," Bristol [VA] Herald Courier/Virginia-Tennessean, 18 September 1993.

Sill, Melanie. "In her books, Lee Smith goes home again," The News and Observer [Raleigh, NC], 21 August 1983.

Sinisi, Sebastian. "Author's hometown a big help," The Denver [CO] Post, 9 July 1992.

Skube, Michael. "Book Signing; Lee Smith and Hal Crowther," The Atlanta [GA] Journal and Constitution, 16 July 1995.

Smith, Rebecca. "A Conversation with Lee Smith," The Southern Quarterly: A Journal of the Arts in the South, 1994 Winter, 32:2, pp. 19-29.

Smith, Virginia. "On Regionalism, Women's Writing, and Writing as a Woman: A Conversation with Lee Smith," The Southern Review, Autumn 1990.

"Special Feature: Lee Smith," The Southern Quarterly: A Journal of the Arts in the South, 1994 Winter, 32:2, pp. 7-36.

Starr, William W. Interviews with Five North Carolina writers (including Lee Smith), The State, 6 December 1981

St. Clair, Cathy. "Homecoming for Lee Smith 'An Emotional Experience'," The Grundy [VA] Mountaineer, 20 September 1990.

Stevens, Maryanne. "Buchanan-Born Author Writes Her Roots," Bluefield [WV] Daily Telegraph, 25 January 1981.

Stroud, L. "You Can't Take the Country Out of the Girl," NCSU - The Alumni Magazine of NCSU, January-February 1992.

Tate, Linda. Conversations with Lee Smith. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001.

Toepfer, Susan. "Hot Off the Presses," City Lights, 29 December 1985.

Williams, Joy. "Journalism Stimulating Says Our Newest Novelist,"The Birmingham [AL] News, 8 September 1968.

Williamson, Charlotte. "Area's Best Known Author, Lee Smith, Honored," Daily Telegraph [Bluefield, WV], 19 September 1993.

Williamson, Charlotte. "Smith Becomes Book 'Character'," Daily Telegraph [Bluefield, WV], 19 September 1993.

Zibart, Eve. "Lee Smith's Life Not Daily Novel," The Nashville [TN] Tennessean, 12 March 1972.

(Sound Recordings)

All Things Considered, 10 November 1995. Washington, D.C.: National Public Radio. 2 sound cassettes (ca. 3 hrs.); analog. Includes a 12 1/2 min. interview by Lee Smith with author James Still at his Hindman, Kentucky, cabin home.

A Moveable Feast. Reading from Family Linen, 1988.

"Virginia Writers," Radio program with Ben Cleary, Fair and Tender Ladies, 27 October 1989

Soundings, readings and interview, National Center for Humanities, Me and My Baby View the Eclipse, 1990.

Soundings, Radio Show, National Humanities Center, Lee Smith reading and interview, readings from Oral History, The Devil's Dream, and "The Bubba Stories" - 1994.

"All Things Considered," Ivy Rowe, Lee Smith talking, news story with Barbara Bates Smith and Mark Hunter regarding the play, 1990.

The Devil's Dream. Tarwater Band. Durham, NC: Distributed by Dusty's Air Taxi, 1992. 1 sound cassette (43 min.). Farther along -- Riddle song -- The wreck of the Old 97 -- Shady Grove -- Lee Smith talks about the radio on the mountain -- Motherless child -- You made my day last night -- Bright morning stars -- Two lefts don't make a right -- Lee Smith talks about the Grand Ol' Opry -- God stood waiting by the side of the road -- This world is not my home -- Cripple Creek -- Lee Smith talks about the "singing impaired" -- Wayfaring stranger -- The devil's dream -- Lee Smith talks about revenge. Songs, and comments on music from Lee Smith./ Participants: Music by the Tarwater Band: Susan Ketchin, acoustic guitar and vocals; Clyde Edgerton, banjo, bass, piano, and vocals; Bill Butler, dobro, electric guitar, bass, door, and vocals; Lynn Davis, acoustic bass and harmony vocals; Jack Herrick, pennywhistle. Studio talk by Lee Smith./ Recorded at Snappy Studios, Chapel Hill, N.C.

"The Interpretation of Dreams," Talking Books, Duke University Medical Center, Lee Smith reading, 1991.

Season's Greeting. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Humanities Center, 1996.

Soundings (Radio program) 22 and 29 December 1996.

New Southerners. Smith, Lee; Pond, Wayne Johnston. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Humanities Center, 1994. 1 sound cassette (ca. 30 min.). Soundings (Radio program); program no. 696. The author discusses and reads from her work.

"Sounds of the South Radio Show," WUNC, Chapel Hill, NC, interview with Lee Smith, November 1992.

Tell About the South: Voices in Black and White. Charlottesville, VA: James Agee Film Project, 1996, 1999.

Tell It on the Mountain: Appalachian Women Writers. Whitesburg, KY: WMMT-FM, Appalshop, Inc., 1995.

Viewing the Eclipse and Rudeness and Civility. Pond, Wayne Johnston; Smith, Lee; Kasson, John F. Research Triangle Park, N.C.: National Humanities Center. 1 sound disc, analog, 33 1/3 rpm, 12 in. Soundings, Nov. 18, 1990. Lee Smith discusses her latest collection of stories, Me and My Baby View the Eclipse (G.P.Putnam's Sons).

Interview on WMMT-FM, The Devil's Dream, 1992.

New Southerners. Lee Smith, Clyde Edgerton. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Humanities Center, 1995.


(Video Recordings)

Playback, North Carolina State University Broadcast featuring a short interview with Lee Smith, 10 February 1988.

Commonwealth, News and cultural program, Virginia Commonwealth University, Story on Grundy, Va and Interview with Lee Smith, 4 October 1989.

"Talk About Writing: Lee Smith," North Carolina State University Humanities Extension, Interview and Readings, 1990.

North Carolina People, Lee Smith, interview, The Devil's Dream, 1992.

North Carolina Now, 1993.

Lee Smith on Storytelling. Appalachian Perspective, 1999.

At the forks of Troublesome: 15th annual Appalachian Writers Workshop. Still, James; Miller, Jim Wayne; Smith, Lee; Norman, Gurney; Holbrook, Chris; Stewart, Al; Lyon, George Ella; McClanahan, Ed; Wilson, Randy; Mendes, Guy. Lexington, KY: KET, the Kentucky Network, 1993.

Lee Smith. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University, 1990. 1 videocassette. Talk About Writing: Portraits of North Carolina Writers. Lee Smith talks about her writing, reads from her book Oral History, and discusses the North Carolina writing tradition. A co-production of the NCSU Speech-Communication Dept. and NCSU Humanities Extension ; executive producer, Jim Alchediak; producer, Deborah Bertrand; director, Susan Dickey. Videography, NCSU Broadcast Services; editor, Tony Caciarelli.

Fiction and the modern American South. Alther, Lisa; Smith, Lee. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Humanities Center, 1984. Sound cassette (29 min.). Soundings, No. 202, Aug. 12, 1984. Discusses how elements in Southern fiction reflect the peculiarities of the region.

"Interpretation of Dreams" from Me and My Baby View the Eclipse. Durham, NC: Talking Books, 1991. 1 sound cassette; analog. Produced by the Cultural Service Program of Duke University Medical Center. Funded by the North Carolina Arts Council and Record Bar, inc. All proceeds will benefit the Talking Books, North Carolina Writers on Tape Program./ The story is from Lee Smith's Me and my baby view the eclipse, published by Putnam, 1989. Read by the author.



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FREQUENTLY MENTIONED MATERIALS: The following are materials found most consistently when browsing a number of online catalogs.
  • Hill, Dorothy Combs. Lee Smith. New York: Twain Publishers, 1992.
    [DH Hill - PS3569.M5376 Z68 1992]

    Hill notes that the importance of women's roles are often ignored or trivialized by society. She believes that Smith addresses these very issues in her novels when Smith writes of female characters who are not able to understand their "true selves" due to cultural influences. This book analyzes Smith's novels in terms of how they address characters that are on the margin of power structures. She focuses on how Smith's characters are able to break down cultural expectations and establish new images of themselves. This book also includes a very detailed chronological list of important events in Smith's life. In addition, it includes a detailed index and bibliography.
  • Parrish, Nancy C. Lee Smith, Annie Dillard, and the Hollins Group : A Genesis of Writers. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1998.
    [DH Hill, DH Hill SC- PS267.H65 P37 1998]

    Parrish first interviewed Smith in the summer of 1990. At this time she was quite interested in the amount of credit Smith gave to both classmates and mentors at Hollins College in Virginia. Smith believes that her experience at Hollins College greatly influenced her writing career. Parrish decided to make a trip to Hollins and do some research into why Smith considered it so influential and why it seemed to have produced a number of famous writers from Smith's class of 1967. Throughout her book, Parrish investigates the social, political, and educational circumstances of this time period and proposes how these circumstances can offer insight into the college's writing environment and success rate. One of the chapters (164-209) is devoted specifically to Lee Smith's early life and apprentice work. Parrish tries to show how these early days have influenced Smith's writing style and plot development.
  • Smith, Lee. New Southerners [sound recording]. RTP [i.e., Research Triangle Park], NC: National Humanities Center, 1994.
    [DH Hill MC-PS551.N47 1995 c.1]

    This cassette is approximately thirty minutes long with Wayne Pond as the moderator. It is part of a series being done about contemporary writers in the South. On the cassette Smith discusses and reads from her work.

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BROWSING AREAS:

These are the most helpful areas in the library to browse if looking for items by or about Lee Smith.

  • Southern Literature-Criticism and Interpretation - PS 261
  • Lee Smith's Fiction - PS3569.M5376

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DICTIONARIES:

Items are arranged alphabetically in these sources. Look under "S" for Smith to find biographical information, critiques, and bibliographies. The first one listed below views Smith in the context of an author who began her career post World War II while the second critiques Smith as a contemporary writer.
  • Kalb, John D. "Lee Smith." In Dictionary of Literary Biography, v. 143, edited by James R. Giles and Wanda H. Giles, 206-216. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1994.
    [DH Hill Ref-PN 451.D54 vol.143, c.1]

    This particular volume deals with American Novelists since World War II. It begins by describing Smith's writing style and gives biographic information, including a career biography. Smith's development is traced and her place in the larger perspective of literary history is assessed by qualified scholars or critics. This particular volume also includes pictures of many of Smith's novels' dust jackets because of the editor's interest in the iconography of literature. A photo of Smith is included.
  • Matuz, Roger, (ed.). Contemporary Southern Writers. Detroit: St. James Press, 1999.
    [DH Hill- PS261.C569 1998, c.1]

    This series includes authors born and raised in the South or those born elsewhere who have lived or worked in the South for a significant period of time. Lee Smith's entry begins with biographical information (where she was born, education, family background, career history, and awards). A list of works is included along with a list of resources, which include interviews with Smith. Also included is a critical essay of Smith's novels. The essay addresses Smith's character development in particular novels, her use of narration, and general themes and structure found in her works.

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BIBLIOGRAPHIES:

The following provides a critical analysis of many of Smith's novels. Reading the annotations may help you decide what sources will be most beneficial to your particular information needs.
  • Manning, Michelle. "The Southern Voice of Lee Smith: An Annotated Bibliography," Bonner Beitrage, 1996 June, 53:2, pp. 161-172.
  • Reisman, Rosemary M. Canfield and Christopher J. Canfield. (eds.). Contemporary Southern Women Fiction Writers: An Annotated Bibliography. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1994.
    [DH Hill-PS261.R42 1994, c.1 & 2] - Smith is covered in this work along with other female authors from the southern United States.

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BIOGRAPHIES:

These are the sources to tackle if you are most interested in finding out more about Smith's personal life and her development as an author.
  • Blain, Virginia, Patricia Clements, and Isobel Grundy (eds.). The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990.
    [DH Hill Ref. - PR111.F465 1990 c.1]

    Consult this source if you are looking for brief biographical information about Smith. It includes a short summary of important events in her life and mentions several works with a brief description of each.
  • Dear, Pamela S. (ed.). Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1995.
    [DH Hill Ref - PN771.C583 v.146 1995 c.1]

    The editors of this work explain that they make every effort to collect information from the authors themselves. If this is not possible, then they consult other biographical sources. Lee Smith's entry begins with personal information. Here you can find information about her date and place of birth, family data, and her educational background. Her address is given along with a summary of her career which includes what work she did before becoming a writer. There is also a list of organizations or groups that Smith belongs to, a list of awards or honors she has received, and a list of all of her major writings. There is a section called, "sidelights" which contains a biographical portrait of the author's development and discusses how critics have received specific writings. Last, there is a list of resources given that one can research in order to find more biographical or critical sources.

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ABSTRACTS AND INDEXES: Search these abstracts and indexes to find helpful material concerning Lee Smith. Many may be book reviews that focus on a particular novel, but other more general articles can also be found. Your best bet may be to do a subject search under, "Smith, Lee," but this may vary depending on the database. (Links to the following databases are available at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresources/databases.html)
  • Academic Universe. Detroit: Gale, 1980-.
    [Available at: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresources/databases.html#A]

    This site includes abstracts and full-text articles from some, "1,500 scholarly, trade and general-interest publications." Titles are included from most every academic subject. There are several book reviews of Smith's work available here, mainly from The New York Times Book Review, Booklist, and Publisher's Weekly. The Southern Literary Journal is well represented in this index, providing many full-text articles on themes found in Lee's novels. There is an option available to search the Smith hits by subdivision (i.e. criticism, evaluation, attitudes, personal narratives, etc.). However, watch out for many irrelevant articles referring to Lee Smith, the baseball player.
  • Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Philadelphia: Institute for Scientific Information, 1980-.
    [Available at: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresources/databases.html#A]

    This is a multidisciplinary database which covers, "...the journal literature of the arts and humanities." By choosing the "General Search" and entering Smith, Lee in the "Topic" field, eighteen relevant hits can be produced. There is an option to limit your search to a particular year or year(s). You can use the "Cited Reference Search" to find the names of materials that cite works about or by Lee Smith. Many of these articles focus on Lee's narrative strategies in particular novels.
  • Dissertation Abstracts. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Company, 1861-.
    [Available at: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresources/databases.html#D] [Also available online through Dialog, file #35]

    Dialog describes Dissertation Abstracts Online as, "...the single most comprehensive source of dissertation information, with more than 1,000 participating institutions." The source is updated monthly and since 1861 began including all American dissertations accepted at accredited institutions. Starting in 1980 abstracts began to be included and in 1988 Masters Abstracts were added. As of date, when searching on Smith, Lee in the subject field, forty-nine results are listed. Most of these pertain to Lee Smith, the Southern author, but there are some that are not relevant as they refer to a different Lee Smith. Many of the dissertations are from the mid-nineties and are apt to compare and contrast Smith's characters to those found in other works.
  • MLA Bibliography. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1963-.
    [Available at: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresources/databases.html#M]

    This index, available via Silverplatter, is updated quarterly. It contains articles from thousands of journals and series, many of them published worldwide. It covers subjects such as literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Entering Lee Smith as a subject search results in approximately sixty-two items. Several dissertations and interviews with Smith are available. Lee's emphasis on southern women is also frequently explored.

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ISSUES OF JOURNALS DEVOTED TO SMITH: "Lee Smith Issue." Iron Mountain Review, 3:1, Winter 1986.

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REVIEWS AND LITERARY CRITICISM:

(General Reviews)

Anonymous, "A Stubborn Sense of Place," Harper's, August 1986, 273:1635, p. 35.

Broadwell, Elizabeth Pell. "Lee Smith," in Contemporary Fiction Writers of the South: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook, Joseph M. Flora and Robert Bain, editors, Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1993, pp. 420-431.

Broughton, Irv, editor. The Writer's Mind: Interviews with American Authors (Volume III), Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 1990.

Brown, Fred and Jeanne McDonald. Growing up Southern, Greenville, SC: Blue Ridge Publishing; Belfast, Northern Ireland: Ambassador Productions, 1997.

Buchanan, Harriette C. "Lee Smith: The Storyteller's Voice," in Southern Women Writers: The New Generation, Tonette Bond Inge, editor, Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1990, pp. 324-345.

Buchanan, Harriette C. "Lee Smith, the Mother Tongue, and Contemporary North Carolina Fiction," Postscript: Publication of the Philological Association of the Carolinas, 1994, 11, pp. 29-34.

Cleary, Ben. "The Power and the Story," Style Weekly, 29 August 1989.

Gwin, Minrose. "Nonfelicitous Space and Survivor Discourse: Reading the Incest Story in Southern Women's Fiction," in Haunted Bodies: Gender and Southern Texts, Anne Goodwyn Jones and Susan V. Donaldson, editors, Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1997, pp. 416-440.

Hill, Dorothy. Lee Smith, New York: Twayne, 1992.

Jones, Anne Goodwyn. "The World of Lee Smith," The Southern Quarterly: A Journal of the Arts in the South, Fall 1983, 22:1, pp. 115-139.

Kearns, Katherine. "From Shadow to Substance: The Empowerment of the Artist Figure in Lee Smith's Fiction," in Writing the Woman Artist: Essays on Poetics Politics, and Portraiture, Suzanne W. Jones, editor, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991.

MacKethan, Lucinda H. "Artists and Beauticians: Balance in Lee Smith's Fiction," Southern Literary Journal, Fall 1982, 15:1, pp. 3-14.

Ostwalt, Conrad. "Witches and Jesus: Lee Smith's Appalachian Religion," Southern Literary Journal, 1998 Fall, 31:1, pp. 98-118.

Parrish, Nancy C. Lee Smith, Annie Dillard, and the Hollins Group: A Genesis of Writers, Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1998.

Pool, Gail. "Gail Pool is enchanted by Lee Smith," The Women's Review of Books, July 1999, 16:10/11, p. 31.

Ravi, Jennifer. Notable North Carolina Women, Winston-Salem, N.C.: Bandit Books, 1992.

Rice, Marcy Smith. "Lee Smith, A Writer in Service to Women," News and Observer [Raleigh, NC], 22 August 1999.

Smiley, Kathryn. "Collecting Lee Smith: Watching a Writer's Craft Grow," Firsts: Collecting Modern First Editions, March 1993, 3:3, pp. 24-27.

Stephens, Robert O. The Family Saga in the South: Generations and Destinies, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995.

Teem, William M., IV. "Let Us Now Praise the Other: Women in Lee Smith's Short Fiction," Studies in the Literary Imagination, Fall 1994, 27:2, pp. 63-73.

Wagner-Martin, Linda. "'Just the Doing of It': Southern Women Writers and the Idea of Community," The Southern Literary Journal, 22:2, Spring 1990.

Weaver, Caroline. "A Diamond From Coal Country: The Papers of Lee Marshall Smith," Now and Then: The Appalachian Magazine17:3, pp. 22-24.

Wesley, Debbie. "A New Way of Looking at an Old Story: Lee Smith's Portrait of Female Creativity," Southern Literary Journal, Fall 1997, 30:1, pp. 88-100.

(Criticism of Specific Works)

The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed, 1968

Burns, G. Frank. "Talented Writer In Debut," The Nashville Tennessean, 6 October 1968.

Butcher, Fanny. "Novels," Chicago [IL] Tribune, 25 September 1968.

Colvin, Melissa. "A Child's Introduction To the Ways of Power," Journal and Sentinel [Winston-Salem, NC], 16 March 1969.

"Cover to Cover," Trentonian [Trenton, NJ] 9/10/1968.

Dunn, Millard. "Innocence Looking on Evil," The Roanoke [VA] Times, 8 December 1968.

Harris, Gale. "Reprints -- The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed by Lee Smith / The Rock Cried Out by Ellen Douglas / The Voice at the Back Door by Elizabeth Spencer," Belles Lettres, Summer 1994, 9:4, p. 60.

Kilpatrick, James J. "Look hard at everything,"syndicated column with various titles, Boston [MA] Evening Globe, 9/9/1968; Staten Island [NY] Advance, 9/10/1968; Washington [DC] Star, 9/10/1968; Cleveland [OH] Plain Dealer, 9/10/1968; Richmond [VA] News Leader, 9/10/1968; The Birmingham [AL] News, 9/10/1968; The Roanoke [VA] Times [9/10/1968]; The Tuscaloosa [AL] News,[9/10/1968]; Newsday [Garden City, NY], 0/11/1968.

"The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed," Kirkus Reviews, Louisiana State University Press, Spring-Summer 1994.

"Novel of Childhood," Nashville Tenn. Banner, 23 August 1968.

Pendexter, Faunce. "Between The Bookends," Lewiston, [Maine] Journal, 7 September 1968.

Perkins, James A. "Hallucination, Allusions and Illusions in The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed," Southern Quarterly: A Journal of the Arts in the South, 1996 Winter, 34:2, pp. 81-86.

Picture and blurb, Savannah [GA] News, 15 September 1968.

Raines, Howell. "News Staffer, Novelist, Too," Tuscaloosa [AL] News, 8 September 1968.

Riggsby, Rachel. "Book By Former Buchanan Girl Gets Recognition Of Book-Of-Month Club," Bluefield [WV] Daily Telegraph, 29 September 1968.

Schroetter, Hilda N. "Farewell to Childhood: A Brilliant First Novel," Times-Dispatch [Richmond, VA], 22 September 1968.

Shalit, Gene. "Buzzings Over Fistful of Novels," Los Angeles [CA] Times, 26 May 1968.

Williams, Joy. "'Adult' child's story by Tuscaloosa writer," The Birmingham [AL] News, 6 October 1968.

Younkin, Janette. "Dogbushes Bloom In Everyone's Life," Tuscaloosa [AL] News, 14 September 1968.

Kilpatrick, James J. "Stare at life very hard, fix image in your mind," syndicated column, The Birmingham [AL] News, [c. 1983-84].

"Columnist Praises Novel of Former Grundy Girl," [c. 11 September 1968.]

"Hollins Graduate Wins With Novel," [c. 1968-69]

Williams, Joy. "New Books in Alabama," In Dixieland/This Week, 6 October 1968.


Something in the Wind, 1971

Flora, Doris P. "City's Lee Seay Has Second Book Published," The Tuscaloosa [AL] News, 10 January 1971.

Gibson, Fran. "'Something In The Wind' Whispers 'Human Truths'," Newport-News [VA] Times-Herald, 30 January 1971.

Gosnell, John. "Three Novels of Different Flavors," Virginia-Pilot [Norfolk, VA], 7 February 1971.

Leighton, Betty. "Youthful Searcher With a Difference," Journal Sentinel [Winston-Salem, NC], 7 March 1971.

O'Leary, Theodore M. "Such a Person in 1953 Was Known as a Maverick," Kansas City [MO] Star, 17 January 1971.

Raines, Howell. "Novel details campus life before political ferment," The Birmingham [AL] News, 24 January 1971.

"Something In The Wind," Asheville [NC] Citizen Times, 10 January 1971.

Steele, Damaris. "Girl Looks Back On First Year At College," The Nashville [TN] Banner, 15 January 1971.

Thornton, Eugenia. "Pretty Face, Empty Head," Los Angeles [CA] Times, 24 January 1971.


Fancy Strut, 1973

Shackelford, Arn. "Much Adoing in Speed, Ala.," Grand Rapids [MI] Press, 28 October 1973.

"Third Book By Virginian Wins Acclaim," Roanoke, VA World News, 23 October 1973.

Wilson, Polly. "Ala. Town Celebrates In Novel," Nashville [TN] Banner, 13 October 1973.

Lee Smith's Hilarious Third Novel," by Anna Lawson, The Roanoke Times, 23 December 1973.


"Between the Lines"

Rudnick, Helen. "Have An Intense Appeal Award-Winning Stories," The State, 24 May 1981.

Steier, Rod. "Sampling the Best of the Small Presses," 7 June 1981.


Black Mountain Breakdown, 1981

Anderson, Virginia L. Grand Rapids [MI] Press, 22 March 1981.

Baird, Michele Ross. "Appalachian Novel Evokes a Musical Southern Cadence," Atlanta [GA] Journal Constitution, 22 February 1981.

Bancroft, Catherine. "Hit and Miss: Two Revelations of Southern Ways," Philadelphia [PA] Inquirer, 24 May 1981.

Berardinelli, Joan Huber. "2 Novels Indict Materialism," Pittsburgh [PA] Press, 7 May 1981.

Berryhill, Michael. "Family and the Land, in the Resonant Southern Tradition," Fort Worth [TX] Star-Telegram, 1 March 1981.

Coggeshall, Rosanne. Review, The Hollins Critic, April 1981.

Eskow, John. "Kleenex Carnations," Soho Weekly News [New York, NY], 4 February 1981.

Flake, Carol. Voice, 10-16 June 1981.

"Former Tuscaloosan's Book Praised," The Tuscaloosa [AL] News, 9 January 1981.

Gingher, Marianne. "Lee Smith's Powerful Tale of a Woman Who Wants to Belong," Greensboro [NC] Daily News/Record, 12 April 1981.

Goldenberg, Judi. "Madness Offers Retreat for Beauty Queen," Richmond [VA] News Leader, 18 February 1981.

Gottlieb, Annie. "Three Hapless Heroines," New York Times Book Review, 29 March 1981.

Horton, Charles. Review, The Chapel Hill [NC] Newspaper, 7 June 1981.

Kalb, John D. "The Second 'Rape' of Crystal Spangler," The Southern Literary Journal, Fall 1988, 21:1, pp. 23-30.

Lanier, Parks. Review, Radford University Magazine, October 1983.

Lanier, Parks, Jr. "Psychic Space in Lee Smith's Black Mountain Breakdown," in The Poetics of Appalachian Space, Parks Lanier, Jr., editor, Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1991, pp. 58-66.

Lehmann-Haupt. "Book of the Times," The New York Times, 30 January 1981.

Leighton, Betty. "Story of a Mountain Family Living Amid Shadows," Winston-Salem [NC] Journal, 15 February 1981.

Magness, Perre. "Women and Home," The Commercial Appeal [Memphis, TN], 22 February 1981.

McFee, Michael. "Return to Black Rock," Spectator [Raleigh, NC], 12 February 1981.

Moody, Minnie Hite. "Clear-Eyed Look At Life Of Black Mountain Beauty," Columbus [OH] Dispatch, 24 May 1981.

Morris, Gloria. "Smith: Miss Best All-Around," Houston [TX] Chronicle, 14 June 1981.

"Mountain's Shadow Keeps Drawing Young Woman Back," Fort Wayne [IN] News-Sentinel, 14 March 1981.

` Paddock, Polly. "Crystal Exists In Lives Of Many," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 25 January 1981.

Pugh, Howard. Review, St. Catherine's Now, Winter 1982.

Rise, Bill. Best Sellers, April 1981.

Sizemore, Margaret D. "Richmond, Vicksburg, Atlanta: New Books for Southern History Buffs," Birmingham [AL] News, 1 March 1981.

Smoodin, Roberta. "The Pleasures of Appalachia," Los Angeles [CA] Herald-Examiner, 29 March 1981.

Sowers, Carolyn Hull-Ryde. "Novel Has Lots of 'Character'," Louisville [KY] Times, 7 March 1981.

Spearman, Walter. "UNC Writer Lee Smith Has New Novel," The Courier-Times [Roxboro, NC], 5 February 1981.

Stevens, Maryanne. "Buchanan-Born Author Writes Her Roots," Bluefield [WV] Daily Telegraph, 25 January 1981.

Thompson, Caroline. "The Particulars of Crystal Gazing," Los Angeles [CA] Times, 16 February 1981.

Turner, Martha Billips. "Changing Times and Changing Metaphors in Fictional Sermons," Journal of the Appalachian Studies Association, 1994, 6, pp. 130-39.

Willis, John. "'Black Mountain Breakdown' Describes Southwest Virginia," Richland [VA] News-Press, 27 May 1981.

Willis, John. "Lee Smith, Native Author," Richland [VA] News-Press, 27 May 1981.

Yardley, Jonathan. "A Jaunty Novel of the South," The Washington [DC] Star, 18 January 1981.

Yardley, Jonathan. "The Girl Who Wanted to 'Have It All'," The New American, 18 January 1981.


Cakewalk, 1981

Dunne, Sara. "Lee Smith's Stories Southern in Heart," The Tennessean [Nashville, TN], 11 October 1981.

Johnson, Mary Ann. "'Cakewalk': An Excellent Collection of Stories," Roanoke [VA] Times & World News, 6 December 1981.

McFee, Michael. "Taking the Cake," Spectator Magazine [Raleigh, NC], 19 October - 4 November 1981.

Moose, Ruth. "Lee Smith's Stories Eavesdrop On Life," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 4 October 1981.

Pines, Deborah. "'Cakewalk' an Admirable Collection," Indianapolis [IN] Star, 27 December 1981.

Pollitt, Katha. "Southern Stories," The New York [NY] Times, 22 November 1981.

Rogers, Beth. Review, The Charlotte [NC] News, November 1981.

Rollings, Alane. "Portrayals of the distances between people," Chicago [IL] Tribune, 18 October 1981.

Ross, Michele. "Southern Writer's Style Deserves Our Attention," Atlanta [GA] Journal-Constitution, 27 September 1981.

Spearman, Walter. "UNC's Lee Smith Takes Readers on 'Cakewalk'," The Courier-Times [Roxboro, NC], 2 November 1981.

Spearman, Walter. "The Literary Lantern," The Pilot [Southern Pines, NC], 11 November 1981. Column appears in six NC papers and Danville, VA Register.

Oral History, 1983

Arnold, Edwin T. "Talking and Knowing," The Washington Book Review, Fall 1983.

Bancroft, Catherine. "Of Appalachian Tragedy and Earthy Human Splendor," Star-Telegram [Ft. Worth, TX], 10 July 1983.

Bernhardt, Susan. Review, Peninsula Herald [Monterey, CA], 19 June 1983.

Bragg, Debra L. Review, The Virginia Mountainee [Grundy, VA]r, 7 July 1983.

Burchell, Sonya Smith. "Female Characterization in Lee Smith's 'Oral History': Superstition, Sexuality, and Traditional Roles," North Carolina Folklore Journal, 1995 Summer-Fall, 42:2, pp. 105-12.

Busch, Frederick. "Voices of Hoot Owl Holler," The New York Times Book Review [New York, NY], 10 July 1983.

Byrd, Linda. "The Emergence of the Sacred Sexual Mother in Lee Smith's Oral History," Southern Literary Journal, 1998 Fall, 31:1, pp, 119-142.

Cansler, Pam. "Bewitched in Hoot Owl Holler," The Plain Dealer [Cleveland, OH], 17 July 1983.

Chappell, Fred. "Lee Smith's Best Novel Yet," Roanoke [VA] Times and World-News, 17 July 1983.

Dale, Corinne. "The Power of Language in Lee Smith's Oral History, Southern Quarterly, Winter 1990, 28:2, pp. 21-34.

Donlon, Joycelyn Hazelwood. "Hearing Is Believing: Southern Racial Communities and Strategies of Story-Listening in Gloria Naylor and Lee Smith," Twentieth Century Literature: A Scholarly and Critical Journal, Spring 1995, 41:1, pp. 16-35.

East, Vickie Kilgore. "Past Talks in 'Oral History'," The Tennessean Nashville [TN], 31 July 1983

Eckard, Paula Gallant. "The Prismatic Past in Oral History and Mama Day," The Journal of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, 1995 Fall, 20:3, pp. 121-135.

Fox, Thomas. "Tales Of Hoot Owl Holler," The Commercial Appeal [Memphis, TN], 7 August 1983.

Fuller, Edmund. "Two Views of Family Life in the Changing Upper South," The Wall Street Journal [New York, NY], 6 September 1983.

Goolrick, Chester B. "Book Is A Record of Vanishing Life," News-Gazette [Lexington, VA], 20 July 1983.

Hegi, Ursula. "A Magical Story of a Family Hex," Newsday, 24 July 1983.

Jones, Suzanne W. "City Folks in Hoot Owl Holler: Narrative Strategy in Lee Smith's Oral History," Southern Literary Journal, Fall 1987, 20:1, pp. 101-112.

Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. "Book of The Times," New York [NY] Times, 29 July 1983.

Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. "Tale of Witchcraft, Roots in Appalachia Brings Mountain Characters to Life," The Oregonian [Portland, OR], 2 August 1983.

Morton, Kathryn. "Voices from Virginia Hills and Carolina Back Roads," The Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star [Norfolk, VA], 19 June 1983.

Paddock, Polly. "'Oral History' Remembers The Family Ties That Bind," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 24 July 1983.

Parker, Roy, Jr. Review, The Fayetteville [NC] Observer - Times, 19 June 1983.

Parrish, Nancy C. "'Ghostland': Tourism in Lee Smith's Oral History," The Southern Quarterly: A Journal of the Arts in the South, Winter 1994, 32:2, pp. 37-47.

Reilly, Rosalind B. "Oral History: The Enchanted Circle of Narrative and Dream," Southern Literary Journal, Fall 1990, 23:1, pp. 79-92.

Reynolds, David. "Customary Ritual and Male Rites of Passage in Lee Smith's 'Oral History'," North Carolina Folklore Journal, 1995 Summer-Fall, 42:2, pp. 113-22.

Salsini, Barbara. "Folksy Novel 'Oral History' Proves a Literate Find," Milwaukee [WI] Journal, 17 July 1983.

Steier, Rod. "Fifth Novel Shows Lee Smith Is First-Class," Hartford [CT] Courant, 7 September 1983

Taliaferro, Frances. Review, Harper's, July 1983.

Terry, Annie Lee. "Novel Catches Tone of Hills," Wichita Falls [TX] Times, 7 August 1983

Wallace, Anne Hendricks. "Ethical Readings of Folklore: Can We Stop Turning the Southern Folk of Lee Smith's Oral History into Commodities?," Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South, 1993 Winter, 4:4, pp. 361-376.

Waters, Earl. "Novel Comes Alive with Many Voices," Chatanooga [TN] Times, 3 August 1983.

Winsbro, Bonnie C. Supernatural Forces: Belief, Difference, and Power in Contemporary Works By Ethnic Women, Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993.

Yardley, Jonathan. "Bewitching Voices," The Washington [DC] Post, 15 June 1983.


Family Linen, 1985

Allen, Barbara. "Traumatic Incident Back into Focus," The News & Courier/The Evening Post [Charleston, SC], 24 November 1985.

Barchi, Deborah R. "Airing the Linen," The Providence [RI] Sunday Journal, 6 October 1985.

Brinson, Linda. "Lee Smith's Latest Is Funny and More," Winston-Salem [NC] Journal, 22 September 1985.

Clark, Miriam Marty. "It's A Good Year For Southern Writers," St. Louis [MO] Post-Dispatch, 24 November 1985.

Dickinson, Charles. "Shaking the Dirt From 'Family Linen'," The Detroit [MI] News, 6 October 1985.

Ehle, John. "Home-Style Mayhem," The New York [NY] Times Book Review, 6 October 1985.

Evans, Glen. "Light Books Provide a Good Laugh," Greenwich [CT] Times, 15 December 1985.

Fry, Lois. "How Alone One Can Be, Even Within the Family," The Grand Rapids [MI] Press, 29 September 1985.

Gold, Charles H. "Two 'Country' Protagonists Seek Self-knowledge," Chicago [IL] Sun-Times, 22 September 1985.

Hall, Barbara Hodge. "Out of the Pain of Old ' Family Linen'," The Anniston [TX] Star, 15 September 1985.

Hanscom, Marion. Review, Library Journal, August 1985.

Holt, Patricia. "Forceful It Is; Funny It Ain't," San Francisco [CA] Chronicle, 15 October 1985

Howland, John, Jr. "In the Cast, A Hypnotist and a Hush-Puppy Maker," Newsday, 1 September 1985.

Jenkins, C. B. "Unearthing Secrets," The Spectator [Raleigh, NC], 25 December 1985.

Johnson, Greg. "Southern Novel Airs 'Family Linen'," The Plain Dealer [Cleveland, OH], 22 September 1985.

Johnson, Greg. "Journal-Constitution Comic Southern Novel Airs One Family's Dirty Linen," The Atlanta [GA] , 29 September 1985.

Johnson, Susie Paul. "Lee Smith's Smoking Pistol: Family Linen and William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying," Postscript (Journal of the Philological Association of the Carolinas), 7 (1989-90), 45-51.

Kaufman, Joanne. "Lee Smith: Her People Will Do Anything," The Wall Street Journal, 17 October 1985

Krawiec, Richard. "You Can Go Home Again, But It's Hard," USA Today, 9 October 1985.

Larson, Susan. "Author Smith Weaves Threads of Family Life into Novel," The Houston [TX] Post, 10 November 1985.

Malcomson, Scott L. "Booker Creek Breakdown," Village Voice, 15 October 1985.

Mayo, Mike. "'Family Linen' A Fine Southwest Va. Tale," Roanoke [VA] Times and World News, 22 September 1985.

McDaniel, Maude. "Don't Ax Why," The Washington [DC] Post, 23 September 1985.

McLoughland, Keith F. Review, Daily Press [Newport News, VA], 8 October 1985.

Merritt, Robert. "Secrets," Richmond [VA] Times-Dispatch, 15 September 1985.

Page, Irene. "Southern, Australian Authors Depend on Heritage," View Magazine, 16-22 November 1985.

Pate, Nancy. "Secrets Dark and Funny," and "How Writer Dreamed Fact in.to Fiction," The Orlando [FL] Sentinel, 29 September 1985.

Peck, John. "Paperback or Hardback, These Books Bound to Succeed," The [Tucson] Arizona Daily Star, 1 September 1985.

Petroski, Catherine. "'Family Linen' A Credible Look at Hidden Past," Chicago [IL] Tribune, 3 November 1985.

Pompea, Irene N. Review, Best Seller, November 1985.

Quackenbush, Rich. "Things Better Left Unsaid: A Family Novel with Belly Laughs and Skeletons in the Closet," Houston [TX] Chronicle, 29 September 1985.

Ray, Karen. "Of Their Teensy Weensy Affairs, and the Sister Who Won't Shut Up," Star-Telegram [Ft. Worth, TX], 10 November 1985.

Romine, Dannye. "The Novel Wonders Of Fall," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 8 September 1985.

Romine, Dannye. "Lee Smith Weaves Tale of Emotional Skeletons," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 15 September 1985.

Romine, Dannye. "Outhouse Murder Inspires Novel," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 3 November 1985.

Spearman, Walter. "Lee Smith's Hess Family: 'They're Such a Mess'," The Courier-Times [Roxboro, NC], 19 September 1985.

Spearman, Walter. "The Literary Lantern," (column appears in 7 NC papers and the Danville [VA] Register), 25 September 1985.

Spitzer, Jane Stewart. "Fiction Roundup," The Christian Science Monitor, 16 October 1985

Starr, William W. "A New Novel from Lee Smith," The State [Columbia, SC], 29 September 1985.

Strafford, Jay. "Humor Laces Family Whodunit," Richmond [VA] News Leader, 18 September 1985

Toepfer, Susan. "Books for chilly autumn nights," Daily News, 25 August 1985.

Toepfer, Susan. "In Which Sybill Spills the Beans," City Lights, 15 September 1985.

Wallace, Gail Smith. "Lee Smith's Novel 'Family Linen'," The News and Observer [Raleigh, NC], 8 September 1985.

Waters, Earl. "Coping, Southern-style," The Chattanooga [TN] Times, 11 September 1985.

Wilson, Carter. "All the 'Skinny' on a Loopy Southern Family," San José [CA] Mercury News, 6 October 1985.


Fair and Tender Ladies, 1988

Bache, Ellyn. "Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies," Encore Magazine, 8 December 1988.

Bennett, Tanya Long. "The Protean Ivy in Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies," Southern Literary Journal, 1998 Spring, 30:2, pp. 76-95.

Brinson, Linda. "Lee Smith: Familiar Themes Sparkle in an Unusual Approach," Winston-Salem [NC] Journal, 6 November 1988.

Broadwell, Elizabeth Pell. "Lee Smith: Ivy Rowe as Woman and Artist," in Southern Writers at Century's End, James A. Perkins, editor, and James H. Justus, foreword, Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1997, pp. 247-261.

Clark, Miriam Marty. "Mother Lode of Mountain People," St. Louis [MO] Post-Dispatch, 9 October 1988.

Clark, Miriam Marty. Review, St. Louis [MO] Post-Dispatch, 27 November 1988.

Covington, Vicki. "Lee Smith's Fine 'Fair and Tender Ladies' Is Alive With Sounds of Mountain Folks," The Atlanta [GA] Journal and Constitution, 25 September 1988.

Davenport, Mary. "Novel's Letters Bare a Sparkling Heart," The Star- News [Pasadena, CA], 28 August 1988.

Erickson, Jim. Review, Wichita [KS] Eagle-Beacon, 4 December 1988.

Giardina, Denise. "Beautiful, Awful, and Misunderstood," Belles Lettres, Spring 1989.

Gingher, Bob. "Lee Smith's New Novel Proves She's No Southern Clone," Greensboro [NC] News and Record, 28 August 1988.

Hamilton, Kathryn M. "A Feast of Books Published Since 1987 -- Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith, English Journal, January 1994, 83:1, p. 84.

Herion-Sarafidis, Elisabeth. "'Tell Me Story. . .I Am Starved for Stories': Storytelling, Voice, and Self-Development in Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies," American Studies in Scandinavia, 1993, 25:2, pp. 106-18.

Hollar, Pam. "Fair and Tender Ladies Life in Appalachia," Broadside, 17 October 1988.

Kennedy, Joanne. "The Joys and Hardships at Sugar Fork," The Virginian-Pilot and the Ledger Star [Norfolk, VA], 4 September 1988.

Kinsella, W. P. "Left Behind on Blue Star Mountain," The New York [NY] Times Book Review, 16 September 1988.

Koeppel, Fredric. "Novel Tenderly Traces Vanished Culture," Rocky Mountain News [Denver, CO], 8 November 1988.

Long, Fern. "Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies More Than Fair," Chronicle-Telegram [Elyria, OH], 20 November 1989.

MacKethan, Luckinda Hardwick. Daughters of Time: Creating Woman's Voice in Southern Story, Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1990.

Manuel, Diane. "Voices from Virginia's Heartland," Christian Science Monitor, 25 November 1988.

Merser, Cheryl. "Lingering Letters of a 'Fair and Tender' Lady," USA Today, 28 October 1988.

O' Briant, Don. "Fall Promises Healthy Crop Of New Books," The Atlanta [GA] Journal and Constitution, 28 August 1988.

O'Briant, Don. "Mountain Memories," The Atlanta [GA] Journal, 3 November 1988.

Outlaw, Keddy. "Fiction -- Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith," School Library Journal, March 1989, 35:7, p. 209.

Pate, Nancy. "Letters Address Appalachian Rural Roots," The Orlando [FL] Sentinel, 9 October 1988.

Robbins, Dorothy Dodge. "Personal and Cultural Transformation: Letter Writing in Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies," Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, 1997 Winter, 38:2, pp. 135-144.

Ross, Sue Fields. "Book Reviews: Books for Christmas--Suggestions from Sue Fields Ross," America, 17 November 1990, 163:15, p. 375.

Sawhill, Ray. "Giving Off Vibrations," Newsweek, 31 October 1988.

See, Carolyn. "An Appalachian Woman's World of Southern Ladies," Los Angeles [CA] Times, 17 October 1988.

Shapiro, Stephanie. "Appalachia Folkways Echo in Lee Smith Novel," The Buffalo [NY] News, 9 October 1988.

Sheldon, Dyan. "Dreams From the Deep Freeze; 'Fair and Tender Ladies' by Lee Smith and 'A Virtuous Woman' by Kaye Gibbons," The Times (London), 20 August 1989.

Slater, Joyce. "A Fiery Woman Writes Letters that Flower," Chicago Tribune, 4 September 1988.

Spiegelman, Willard. "Ornery Ivy, Appalachian Heroine," The Wall Street Journal, 28 November 1988.

Taylor, Henry. "The Lives and Times of Fair and Tender Ladies," The News and Observer [Raleigh, NC], 4 September 1988.

Toepfer, Susan. Review, People Weekly, 14 November 1988, 30:20, p. 46.


Me and My Baby View the Eclipse, 1990

Barbera, Mary C. "Southern Author Lee Smith Redefines the Ordinary," South Bend [IN] Tribune, 20 May 1990.

Brinson, Linda. "Vivid Characters Face Life With Spirit in Latest Short Fiction by Lee Smith," Winston-Salem [NC] Journal, 25 February 1990.

Canin, Ethan. "The Courage of Their Foolishness," The New York [NY] Times Book Review, 11 February 1990.

Clark, Miriam Marty. "Comic Possibilities and Powerful Sadness," St. Louis [MO] Post Dispatch, 29 April 1990.

Clark, Miriam Marty. "Darkness at Noon," The Spectator [Raleigh, NC], 10 May 1990.

Cook, Bruce. "Smith's Southern Tales Speak From Heart," Los Angeles [CA] Daily News, 3 May 1990.

Durban, Pam. "Southerners Find Light in Face of 'Eclipse'," The Atlanta [GA] Journal, 18 February 1990.

Engeler, Amy. "In the Throes of Divorce," Newsday, 20 February 1990.

Freeman, Suzanne. "Glimmers of Insight in Lee Smith's 'Eclipse'," USA Today, 23 February 1990.

Fry, Donn. "Luminous Tales From Lee Smith," The Seattle [WA] Times, 4 March 1990.

Gingher, Marianne. "Lee Smith Has Written a Wise and Funny Book About the Not-so-happily- ever-after," North Carolina Homes and Gardens, May/June 1990.

Grau, Shirley Ann. "An Ironic, Diamond-hard Look at Some Ordinary Lives," Chicago [IL] Tribune, 25 February 1990.

Greenberg, Joanne. "Vignettes of Life, Minimalist and Exhausting," Chicago [IL] Sun-Times, 18 February 1990.

Hallgren, Sherri. "Southern Exposure," San Francisco [CA] Chronicle, 18 February 1990.

Holt, Libby Kennedy. "Smith's Short Stories as Good as Past Novels," Daily Press [Newport News, VA], 25 February 1990.

Kennedy, Joanne. "Southern Life with Sympathy and Affection," Virginian- Pilot and Ledger [Norfolk, VA], 18 March 1990.

Kingsolver, Barbara. "Where Love Is Nurtured and Confined," Los Angeles [CA] Times, 18 February 1990.

Koenig, Rhoda. "Still Magnolias," New York Magazine, 12 February 1990.

Koeppel, Fredric. "Smith Stories Strum Heartstrings Again," The Commercial Appeal [Memphis, TN], 22 April 1990.

Lodge, Michelle. Review, Library Journal, 15 February 1990.

Logan, Liz. Review, Entertainment Weekly, 16 February 1990.

Madrigal, Alix. "Appalachian Roots Permeate Smith's Work," San Francisco [CA] Chronicle, 18 March 1990.

Massaro, M. A. "Humdrum Existences Eclipsed by Personal Sorrow," by M.A. Massaro, The Dallas Morning News, 18 February 1990.

Marchand, Philip. "Life in the South Preserved in Words," The Toronto [Ontario, Canada] Star, 8 February 1990

McDaniel, Maude. "Ordinary Women Become Interesting in Smith's Stories," The Baltimore [MD] Sun, 22 April 1990.

Merritt, Robert. "Virginia Voices," Richmond [VA] Times - Dispatch, 25 February 1990.

Morris, Ann. "Hairy Legs and Hyphenated Names: Smith Chronicles a New South," Greensboro [NC] News & Record, 4 February 1990.

Nolte, William H. "Lee Smith: The Offbeat as Ordinary," The News and Observer, 18 February 1990.

O'Briant, Don. "Spring Books: Environment Has Publishers Seeing Green," The Atlanta [GA] Journal, 4 February 1990.

Pate, Nancy. "Big Guns Loaded for a Book Barrage," Orlando [FL] Sentinel, 4 February 1990.

Pate, Nancy. "Smith Has No Equal in 'Ordinary' South," The Orlando [FL] Sentinel, 25 February 1990.

Real, Jere. "Miss Smith Unerringly Presents Characters' Essence," The Richmond [VA] News Leader, 14 March 1990.

Rice, Doug. "Lee Smith Sketches Memorable People in Short Stories," The Pittsburg [PA] Press, 29 May 1990.

Romine, Dannye. "The Fabric of Life," The Charlotte [NC] Observer, 4 February 1990.

Rubin, Merle. "Lots of Stories, Some Formal, Others Feverish," Wall Street Journal [New York, NY], 20 April 1990.

Sawhill, Ray. Review, Interview, January 1990.

Smith, Reen McClements. "'Me and My Baby' a Collection of Well-crafted Southern Short Stories," The [Jacksonville] Florida Times Union, 20 May 1990.

Smith, Virginia A. "Luminous Halos and Lawn Chairs: Lee Smith's Me and My Baby View the Eclipse," The Southern Review, Spring 1991, pp. 479-485.

Smith, Wendy. "Novelist's Humor Spices Short Stories," The Plain Dealer [Cleveland, OH], 12 March 1990.

Starr, William W. "Stories Provide Wealth of Reading," The State [Columbia, SC], 28 January 1990.

Steinberg, Sybil. "Fiction: Me and My Baby View the Eclipse," Publishers Weekly, 22 December 1989, 236:25, p. 44.

Stoetzer, Nancy. "A Gritty, Revealing Walk Down Main Street," The Topeka [KS] Capital-Journal, 11 March 1990.

Toepfer, Susan. Review, People, 26 March 1990.

Trevas, Dan. "Appalachian Writer Spending Time at UC," Daily Mail [Roanoke, VA], May 1990.

Vann, Cynthia. "Tales from Modern South," Philadelphia [PA] Inquirer, 11 February 1990.

Waters, Earl. "Blue Light Sales and Hair Dryers," The Chattanooga [TN] Times, 4 April 1990.

Weber, Karen. "Writer Finds the Art in Neighborly Gossip," Fort Worth [TX] Star-Telegram, 18 March 1990.

White, Diane. "Casual Sex and True Love in Appalachia," The Boston [MA] Globe, 19 February 1990.

White, Diane. "Eclipses, Solar and of the Heart," Seattle [WA] Post- Intelligencer, 18 March 1990.

White, Diane. "Casual Affairs and True Love in Hills of Appalachia," The Houston [TX] Post, 8 April 1990.

Wyatt, Robert. "Spring Fare Features Fine Novelists," Tennessean [Nashville], 11 February 1990.

Zibart, Eve. "Lee Smith's Fiction Offers Emotional Power," Bookpage, March 1990.


The Devil's Dream, 1992

Catchpole, Sarah. "Songs and Sinners," The Boston Globe, 5 July 1992.

Chappell, Fred. "Family Time," The Southern Review, Autumn 1992, 28:4, pp. 937-943.

Graham, Keith. "A Sweet Song of Appalachia," The Atlanta [GA] Journal/The Atlanta Constitution, 21 June 1992.

Hill, Dorothy Combs. "The Edge Where Human Hope Quivers -- The Devil's Dream by Lee Smith, Belles Lettres, Winter 1992, 8:2, p. 17.

Houston, Robert. "Guess Who Invented Fiddle Music," The New York [NY] Times, 19 July 1992.

Hunter, Timothy. "Country-music Novel Always Right on Key," Cleveland [OH] Plain Dealer, 21 June 1992.

Israel, Jodi. "The Devil's Dream," Library Journal, 15 May 1998; 123:9, p. 132.

Johnson, Fenton. "Down Home Country Tales," San Francisco [CA] Chronicle Review, 28 June 1992.

Kilgore, Vickie. "Devil's Dream is Haunting," The Nashville [TN] Tennessean, 24 August 1992.

Kimble, Cary. "Country 'Curse,' Ties That Bind Explored in Two Fine Novels," The Washington [DC] Times, 23 August 1992.

Osborne, Linda Barrett. "Country Lyrics Come to Life," The Washington Post, 3 July 1992.

Pate, Nancy. "Family's Story is Country Music's Story," The Orlando [FL] Sentinel, 12 July 1992.

Ryan, Valerie. "Strings That Tie Five Generations -- A Family and a Nation's Story Told Through the Love of Music," The Seattle [WA] Times, 9 August 1992.

Seaman, Donna. "Adult Fiction -- The Devil's Dream by Lee Smith," The Booklist, 15 May 1992, 88:18, p. 1643.

Smith, Rebecca. "Writing, Singing and Hearing a New Voice: Lee Smith's The Devil's Dream," The Southern Quarterly: A Journal of the Arts in the South, 1994 Winter, 32:2, pp. 48-62.

Smith, Wendy. "Country Tunes," New York [NY] Newsday, 5 July 1992.

Starr, William W. "You Won't Forget the Characters in Smith's 'The Devil's Dream'," The

Columbia [SC] State, 12 July 1992.

Steinberg, Sybil. "Fiction -- The Devil's Dream by Lee Smith," Publishers Weekly, 4 May 1992, 239:21, p. 39.

Williams, Wilda. "Fiction -- The Devil's Dream by Lee Smith," Library Journal, 1 June 1992, 117:10, p. 180.


Appalachian Portraits, 1993

Stuttaford, Genevieve, "Nonfiction -- Appalachian Portraits with photographs by Shelby Lee Adams and narrative by Lee Smith, Publishers Weekly, 18 October 1993, 42, p. 59.



Saving Grace, 1995

Bicknell, Kevin. "'Grace' is its Own Reward; Smith's Seamless Art Makes Spiritual Odyssey a Spellbinder," The Atlanta [GA] Journal and Constitution, 25 June 1995.

Coyle, Beverly. "Preacher's Kid; A Tale of Growth, Rebellion Among the Rural Poor; Saving Grace, by Lee Smith," The Los Angeles [CA] Times, 28 May 1995.

Doyle, Jacqueline. "'These Dark Woods Yet Again': Rewriting Redemption in Lee Smith's Saving Grace," Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, 41: 3, 273-289.

Fitch, Katherine, "Fiction -- Saving Grace by Lee Smith," School Library Journal, January 1996, 42:1, 138-139.

Glass, Franny. "Adult Fiction -- Saving Grace by Lee Smith," The Booklist, 1 April 1995, 91:15, p. 1355.

Guralnick, Peter. "The Storyteller's Tale; Lee Smith is the Latest in a Long Line of Southerners Who Transform the Region's Voices and Visions into Quintessentially American Novels," Los Angeles [CA] Times, 21 May 1995.

Heeres, Randall. "The End of Exploring," English Journal, September 1996, 85:5, pp. 108-109.

Hoffert, Barbara. "Fiction -- Saving Grace by Lee Smith," Library Journal, 15 May 1995, 120:9, p. 98.

Moose, Ruth. "Snakes, Faith and a Girl Named Grace," Greensboro [NC] News Record, 13 August 1995.

Scura, Dorothy M. "Southern Women's Writing at the End of the Century: Five Recent Novels," The Southern Review, Autumn 1997; 33:4, pp. 859-872.

Shapiro, Stephanie. "With the Spirit and the Snakes," The Buffalo [NY] News, 29 October 1995.

Smith, Gregory Blake. "The Snakes of God," The New York [NY] Times Book Review, 9 July 1995.

Spafford, Roz. "A Sinner's Testimony," The San Francisco [CA] Chronicle, 21 May 1995.

Steinberg, Sybil S. "Fiction -- Saving Grace by Lee Smith," Publishers Weekly, 27 March 1995, 242:13, p. 74.

Taylor, Charles. "This World is Not My Own," The Oxford American. Oct./Nov. 1995.


The Christmas Letters: A Novella, 1996

Anonymous, "The Christmas Letters," The Virginia Quarterly Review, Spring 1997, 73:2, 58-59.

Bigner, Melissa. "The Christmas Letters," Southern Living, November 1996, 31:11, p. 48.

Bonta, Jonelle. "Christmas Letters Rings True Over Time, A Family's Tradition Reveals the Drama of a Conventional Life," The Kansas City [MO] Star, 22 December 1996.

Dorman-Hickson, Nancy. "Books about the South," Southern Living, December 1998.

Henderson, Jennifer. "Papa's Angels: A Christmas Story / The Christmas Tree / The Christmas Letters," The Booklist, 1 September 1996, 93:1, p. 30.

Holt, Patricia. "Packaging Treacle for Christmas." The San Francisco [CA] Chronicle, 19 December 1996.

O'Neill, Molly. "Food," The New York [NY] Times, 22 December 1996.

Paddock, Polly. "'Letters' Goes Between Lines," The Arizon Republic [Phoenix, AZ], 17 November 1996.

Schmitz, Neil. "Two Writers' Letters in the Southern-Fried Faulkner Tradition," The Buffalo [NY] News, 29 December 1996.

Smith, Starr E. "The Christmas Letters," Library Journal, 1 September 1996, 121:14, 211.

Steelman, Ben, "Ho, Ho, Ho; Wrap Up Some Christmas Spirit with Books ," Morning Star [Wilmington, NC], 6 December 1998.

White, Diane. "The Merry Mail of Christmas," The Boston [MA] Globe, 19 December 1996.


News of the Spirit, 1997

Anshaw, Carol. "Late dispatches from Southern Belledom," The Boston [MA] Globe, 21 September 1997.

Bigner, Melissa. "News of the Spirit," Southern Living, March 1998, 33:3, p. 51.

Doenges, Judy. "News of the Spirit," The Seattle [WA] Times, 7 December 1997.

Hantschel, Allison. "Smith's Spirit Stories Hold the Soul of Summer," Milwaukee [WI] Journal Sentinel, 17 August 1997.

Hogan, Kay. "News of the Spirit," Library Journal, August 1997, 122:13, 138.

Hooper, Brad. "News of the Spirit," The Booklist, 1 September 1997, 94:1, p. 60.

Marcus, James. "Past Masters," Artforum, Winter 1997, 34.

Orent, Wendy. "Lee Smith's stories glitter with the magic of the South," News and Observer, 21 September 1997.

Reed, Julia. "The Bubba Stories," The New York [NY] Times, 30 November 1997.

Sinisi, J. Sebastian. "Women's Stories 'Have to be Told,'" The Denver [CO] Post, 21 September 1997.

Steinberg, Sybil S. "News of the Spirit," Publishers Weekly, 21 July 1997, 244:29, 182.

Will, Ed. "Genuine People Emerge from Superb Writing," The Denver [CO], 26 October 1997.

Williams, Sarah. Stories Capture Flavor of the South, The San Francisco [CA] Chronicle, 21 September 1997.

Sitting on the Courthouse Bench: An Oral History of Grundy, Virgin[i]a, 2000

O'Briant, Don. "Oral History: Novelist Helps Virginia Town Cling to its Past," The Atlanta [GA] Journal and Constitution, 2 July 2000.

(Sources for Reviews)

The following are most concerned with providing critiques of Smith's novels. These are helpful materials if the searcher is looking for opinions on the merit of specific works.
  • Buchanan, Harriette C. "Lee Smith." In The Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the United States, edited by Cathy N. Davidson and Linda Wagner-Martin, 819-820. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
    [DH Hill - PS147.O94 1995 c.1]

    This text is, "...designed for both general readers and specialized academic critics." It begins with a short mention of Smith's background and major works. It then points out Smith's strengths as a writer. An argument is made that Smith's work is too often analyzed in terms of its southern themes. The author suggests that more attention should be paid to the characters and their struggle for self-actualization. This book brings up some interesting issues that are not necessarily covered in other works.
  • McCay, Mary A. "Lee Smith." In American Women Writers, v. 5, edited by Carol Hurd Green and Mary Grimley Mason, 427-428. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1994.
    [DH Hill Ref. - PS147.A4 vol.5 c.1]

    This supplement is concerned mainly with contemporary writers and provides feminist literary criticism. The entry on Smith begins with a brief biography which includes her birthdate, location of birth, parent's names, husbands' names, and names and ages of her children. It contains a short summary and critique of the plot and characters found in her most successful works. This is not a lengthy item, but would be helpful for someone looking for a quick assessment of Smith's work.
  • Votteler, Thomas (ed.). Contemporary Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1993.
    [DH Hill Ref. - PN80.C65 v.7 (1993) c.1]

    The entry for Smith begins with a photo followed by an introduction which includes biographical information. Novels are listed and critiqued individually. These critical essays vary in length from very brief to quite lengthy. This work is unique because editors have selected essays that they believe, "reflect a spectrum of opinion." Therefore there is quite a variety in the critiques and the reader can be exposed to varying opinions and perspectives. Excerpts are arranged chronologically by the year the book was published. Bibliographic information is given for the essays and a list of further readings is included.

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DISSERTAIONS & HONORS ESSAYS:


(Dissertations)


Allison, John Marlon, Jr. The Temporality of Mediacy: The Time of Narrators in Short, First-Person Fiction, Louisiana State University, 1988.

Bennett, Tanya Lorraine Long. The Letter as Mirror: The Construction of the Self in Three Recent Epistolary Novels, University of Tennessee, 1996.

Brantley, Jennifer Susan. Beyond the Screened Porch: The Storytelling Tradition in Southern Women Writers, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1994.

Byrd, Linda Joyce. Sexuality and Motherhood in the Novels of Lee Smith: A Divine Integration, Texas A & M University, 1998.

Dietzel, Susanne B. Reconfiguring the Garden: Representations of Landscape in Narratives by Southern Women, University of Minnesota, 1996.

Donlon, Jocelyn Hazelwood. Orality and the South: The Personal Narrative in Black and White Southern Fiction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1993.

Elliot, Sarah E. Dead Bodies, Burned Letters, and Burial Grounds: Negotiating Place through

Storytelling in Contemporary Southern Fiction, Northern Illinois University, 1998.

Hill, Darlene Reimers. From Aunt Mashula's Coconut Cake to Big Macs: References to Food in Recent Southern Women's Fiction, University of Rhode Island, 1989

Hill, Dorothy Combs. The Female Imagination in an Age of Transition: The Fiction of Lee Smith, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1988.

Howell, Cynthia Maureen. Rereading Agrarianism: Despoliation and Conservation in the Works of Wendell Berry, Lee Smith, and Bobbie Ann Mason, Univeristy of Kentucky, 1996.

Parrish, Nancy Clyde. Fair and Tender Ladies at Tinker Creek: Women Writers Coming of Age, College of William and Mary, 1993.

Reddick, Niles M. Eccentricity as Narrative Technique in Selected Works of Lee Smith, Clyde Edgerton, and Janice Daugharty, Florida State University, 1996.

Robinson, Sherry Lee. Lee Smith: The Flesh, the Spirit, and the Word, University of Kentucky, 1998.

Smith, Rebecca Godwin. Gender Dynamics in the Fiction of Lee Smith: Examining Language and Narrative Strategies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1993.

Smith, Virginia A. Between the Lines: Contemporary Southern Women Writers, Gail Godwin, Bobbie Ann Mason, Lisa Alther and Lee Smith, Pennsylvania State University, 1989.

Stanley, Talmage A. The Poco Field: Politics, Culture, and Place in Contemporary Appalachia (Pocahontas Coal Field, West Virginia), Emory University, 1996.

Summerlin, Donna Jan. A Portrait of the Woman as Artist: Woman's Struggle for Artistic Expression in the Fiction of Six Appalachian Women Writers, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1995.

Underwood, Gloria Jan. Blessings and Burdens: Memory in the Novels of Lee Smith, University of South Carolina, 1992.

Underwood, Susan O'Dell. The Appalachian Literary Tradition and the Works of Fred Chappell: Three Essays (Chappell, Fred, North Carolina), Florida State University, 1995.

Wesley, Deborah Rae. Renouncing Restrictive Narratives: The Southern Lady and Female Creativity in the Works of Lee Smith and Gail Godwin, Louisiana State University, 1994.

Wieland, Lisa Cade. Old Times Not Forgotten: Family and Storytelling in Twentieth-century Southern Literature, Marquette University, 1998.



(Honors Essays)

Carraway, Kacy R. "Finding the Balance 'Inbetween': Humor in Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies." Jefferson City, TN: Carson-Newman College, 2000.

Elliott, Jennifer. "Women Who Know: A Perspective on Lee Smith's Oral History." Jefferson City, TN: Carson-Newman College, 1996.

Vanderberry, Margaret Bowen. "The Enigmatic World of Publishing." Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, 1990.

Lee Smith -- Official Web Site. Buchanan County, NC: Buchanan County Public Library, 1998, 1999, 2000.


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RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB:

The following are links to web pages that mention Lee Smith and her writings.

  • http://www.leesmith.com/index2.html Lee Smith -- Official Web Site. Buchanan County, NC: Buchanan County Public Library, 1998, 1999, 2000.
    This is considered the official web site of Lee Smith. The site features the following: a statement by Smith, news, information on major works, articles, a tour schedule, biographical summary, and awards.

  • http://www.ncwriters.org This is the North Carolina Writers' Network web page. The network, "...is a nonprofit membership organization based near Chapel Hill that serves, supports, and connects writers and readers through workshops, fall and spring conferences, competitions, and other programs." Browse this page for upcoming special events (conferences, workshops, outreach programs, etc.)
  • http://notmuch.com/Features/Interview/1999/05.22.html Hear you will find an interview between radio personality, Michael Feldman, and author, Lee Smith. You must have RealPlayer in order to hear the interview.

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A Writer in the Making
Lee's Brilliant Career
Bibliography

Send questions or comments to: special_collections@ncsu.edu
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