Book excerpt: This book is a collection of conversations with important contemporary Southern novelists and with Lewis P. Simpson, longtime co-editor of The Southern Review and an established authority on Southern literature. The two long conversations with Professor Simpson place the post World War II Southern novel in the context of modern literature and of the classical Southern novel. Professor Simpson, who knew many of the giants of Southern literature, assesses the writers of the past and the possibilities of the future. The volume includes conversations with Ernest Gaines, Madison Jones, Shirley Ann Grau, David Madden, the late John William Corrington, James Wilcox, and Vance Bourjaily. A chapter by the editor about his relationship with the late Walker Percy concludes the volume. Co-published with Southeastern Louisiana State University.