It has been a while since I rated anything this well. Why this collection of stories? It describes Nashville in the first quarter of the 20th century: a magical point of transformation from the Old South to what was to become. The language is reflective of the times. You can almost taste it. You can feel that juxtaposition of what was, the elegance and slowness of time, and what will be. What is “The Miro District”; the last story in the collection and my favorite will tell you. Four of these stories are standard prose, four are told in a narrative verse. At first I was taken aback by the narrative verse, but I ultimately found it no more difficult to read than standard prose, but was not sure it added that much to the experience for me. I do not recommend this collection of stories to everyone. I expect some would simply be bored by it. But if you read and enjoyed Faulkner’s The Reivers and other similar stories that contrast life in small-town South versus life in big-city South, you might very well enjoy a view from the other side. ( )