Darcy,” however, represents something of a tour de force. In such now-classic novels as “Family Linen,” “Oral History” and “Fair and Tender Ladies,” Smith demonstrated one of the finest ears for dialogue and diction of any writer now in the biz. What does distinguish them? Well, the ear, of course. Most are fairly straightforward, in traditional forms Smith generally eschews post-modern flourishes, although the point of view in “Intensive Care” shifts from character to character nearly as often, and nearly as abruptly, as in Hemingway's “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.” Some are narrated in first-person, others aren't. Thematically, the stories are all over the place, with settings ranging from Richmond to Fernandina Beach, Fla., from coal-mine villages to university towns to megalapolitan suburbs. Newhouse, originally appeared in her 1981 collection “Cakewalk.” Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger” gathers some of Smith's more recent stories as well as a few golden oldies “Between the Lines,” starring the rural newspaper columnist Mrs. With her first book since her 2006 novel “On Agate Hill,” and her first short-story collection since 1997's “News of the Spirit,” Lee Smith reinforces her position as a master of Southern literature and of the short form.
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