Fancy Strut

Lee Smith, author of the acclaimed The Last Girls, delights with a tale of dry wit. Smith has won many prizes, including the Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the Academy Award in Literature.Speed, Alabama, is celebrating its sesquicentennial, 150 years of proud existence, and its whimsical inhabitants will definitely not let the event pass without a party. Eccentric resident Miss Iona is there to chronicle the events in her society column featured in the Messenger and to make sure the "zestful preparation" is carried out in a proper southern fashion. For genteel and dignified Miss Iona, that means no majorettes will be featured on the society page!