THE VELVET HORN (373 pp.)—Andrew Lytle—McDowell, Obolensky ($3.95). Most Southern authors have a marked tendency to breathe harder than other writers, especially when they tackle historical fiction.

While William Faulkner remains the leading figure in the flowering of Southern literature from the middle of the last century, more than a few others are well worth any reader’s attention: Robert Penn ...

Excavating the sites : Indians in southern texts and contexts -- Colonialism and cannibalism : Andrew Lytle's conquest narratives -- Gendering the nation : Caroline Gordon's Cherokee frontier -- ...