First published in 1982, Cakewalk was the first short story collection by iconic Southern writer Lee Smith. Comic and observant, Smith's fourteen tales in Cakewalk introduce readers to a host of memorable Southern characters. Her protagonists include aging gossips, a soap opera-hooked housewife, a runaway teenager, and divergent sisters in various combinations. Smith's gutsy Southern women don't always triumph, but, with her sympathetic portrayals, readers gain appreciation for the merits of spirited perseverance, right or wrong, in the face of modern adversity. The characters are everyday folks with everyday problems, particularly the tensions of home and family and loneliness and connection. Smith is keenly aware of the foibles that make people so maddeningly funny but also deeply sensitive to their pain and sorrow.
This Southern Revival edition includes a new introduction by the author.
- ISBN10 039912666X
- ISBN13 9780399126666
- Publish Date 5 October 1981
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 20 April 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Putnam Publishing Group
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 256
- Language English