I have a review up over at Voices of Poppy Z. Brite's latest collection from Subterranean Press: Antediluvian Tales. I wrote about Poppy's books and stories set in her "Liquor" world last week in my Wicked Cool Overlooked Books entry. I really think she is one of the best authors writing regional fiction today and deserves a way bigger audience than she has. Here's a bit from my review:

Taken as a group, the stories of Antediluvian Tales show what Poppy Z. Brite has been quietly doing so well for years — writing about the working class of New Orleans. Her determination to explore living, loving and working in a city that is all too often subject to the most exotic of literary treatments has earned Brite a dedicated fan base while simultaneously leaving her in genre limbo when it comes to her releases from major publishers. The Liquor novels are not mysteries or horror and although Ricky and G-man are in a committed relationship, they are not books that will be favored only by a gay audience. What Brite does — and she does it wonderfully — is write regional literary fiction. Her Liquor stories and novels are full of the sights and sounds of New Orleans and, as Ricky and G-man are chefs, the smells of the city nearly waft off of each turning page. How Brite will tackle writing about post-K New Orleans (and even if she will) is still unknown — as is the question of just what publisher will embrace and encourage her charming books. But for now at least, we do have Antediluvian Tales and the way it was before the storm for characters still living in New Orleans.

I also reviewed another book at Voices last month, Sugarcane Academy by Michael Tisserand but neglected to mention it here. I loved it and think it is one of those New Orleans books that get lost in the shuffle of more typical "post Katrina syndrome" titles. What really appealed to me about Sugarcane though is that it is about another way to teach children, especially children who have been through a traumatic life event like Katrina and the subsequent failure of the levees. We always seem to think that children need a return to normalcy as quickly as possible ("get them back in school"!) but as Tisserand shows, all too often they aren't ready and they need a way to ease back into the world. His book is about a group of parents and one amazing teacher did just that for some families who could not go home to New Orleans. Here's a bit of my review:

The lessons from this small school easily transcend borders and should be used to help children learn and flourish whenever they seem lost or afraid. In the wake of the August 2005 tragedy, something amazing was created by those who came through, something amazing that all of us can learn from.

Good books; check them out.

[Post title is a quote from PZB. To see more of the amazing work of her cover photographer, Shadow Angelina, check out her site.]