Like a good magician, Ellen Gilchrist keeps her talents impressive and invisible at the same time. Her stories effortlessly convey the complexity of human relationships without abandoning simplicity, and while some of her stories fall into the coming-of-age category, she rarely succumbs to nostalgia. But Gilchrist's greatest trick could be the way she avoids the trappings of much contemporary Southern fiction. Instead of overemphasizing the kudzu and swinging Spanish moss, she carefully divulges information about the people, not the place. Gilchrist illustrates the South the way you might reveal your background: in small, telling details carried by passing references, affectations, and anecdotes. The easily digested Collected Stories features a host of memorable, mostly female characters that never seem harmed by the brevity of the form. Gilchrist fits plenty of information into a short space without shifting from her deceptively straightforward rhythms. Since characters reappear throughout the author's numerous books, Gilchrist compiled many of her favorite creations into Collected Stories, spreading their honest, eccentric, and endearing narratives throughout the collection in chronological order. It's a pleasure every time the author offers an update on naïve would-be anarchist Nora Jane Whittington or headstrong Rhoda Manning (especially in her final, one-sided haggling with her hapless insurance company). Several of Gilchrist's stories touch on the traditional Southern tropes of race, class, and religion, but in fresh ways: The early country-club-comeuppance gem "In The Land Of Dreamy Dreams" is particularly enjoyable, as the good-old-boy (and -girl) network gives way to inevitable, forceful progress with a resigned and reluctant sigh during a game of tennis in which the unspoken stakes grow greater by the match.