If we had to pick one word to describe this year’s annual Best of the South Issue, we’d choose: ADVENTUROUS. You won’t think the South is a sleepy region when you crack open this issue and find not only a free Southern movie DVD, but also writing about: superheroes, the wildest river in America, jailhouse cuisine, skinny-dipping in the Big Easy, two larger-than-life world explorers, a Texas con man who discovers the biggest oil field in America, war art from the front lines, the best damn football book, and a detailed guide to thrilling events and sights you won’t want to miss on your summer road trips. Featuring Bronwen Dickey, Roy Blount Jr., Hal Crowther, Sean Rowe, Gene Lyons, Jessie van Eerden, Sam Stephenson, St. John Frizell, Ada Liana Bidiuc, Pia Ehrhardt, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Will Clarke, Stephen Marion, and many others. Cover photograph by Saverio Truglia, whose colorful vision epitomizes the spirit of this issue.

Last year, The Oxford American gave you a peek into the wild and wonderful world of Southern film on its first-ever DVD. Our second headlong venture into the world of moving images is even more immersive and exciting.

What’s so different this time around? How’re we going to take you by surprise…two years in a row? Answer: By sprinkling the 2008 DVD with all the magic we bring to other issues of The OA.

* Do you like our Music Issues? Get ready to be blown away by some rare and never-before-seen clips. See Elvis warming up the mike in preparation for his greatest performance ever. See lost footage of one of the most influential rock bands in music history: Big Star. (Gathering dust on the shelf until we polished it up for this DVD, these beautiful images were shot by Big Star guitarist Chris Bell and bassist Andy Hummel.)

* Hungering for literary sustenance? The legendary, sorely missed writer Larry Brown plays guide to his own rough south, courtesy of OA contributor Gary Hawkins.

* Nonfiction your bag? Two of the greatest American documentary filmmakers, Ed Pincus and Frederick Wiseman, gave us arresting clips—from movies which haven't been widely seen in decades.

* Checking the pulse of Southern indies? We've got sneak peeks of three new indies from Zack Godshall, Kentucker Audley, and Ray McKinnon. Whether surveying Post-Katrina New Orleans, soaking in a kiddie pool in Memphis, or gathering around the family dinner table, these pictures give us wildly different and wildly funny views on contemporary Southern life.

Add that to our proven mixture of surprises and quirky archival goodies, and you know we're cooking with heat.

OA TRAILER Song Credits:
Title: "Superman"
From the album: Who Knew Charlie Shoe?
Performed by: Richard Leo Johnson and Gregg Bendian

Courtesy of Cuneiform Records.

Conservationists, locals, and thrill seekers are battling over the Chattooga River in Georgia—and the daughter of the writer who made it famous (in Deliverance) wants to know why. With some trepidation, Bronwen Dickey visits the controversial terrain of James Dickey's wild river. As Ms. Dickey writes:

“That laws and lawsuits and controversy could extend even into the North Georgia backcountry was a reminder for me that the outside world was always pressing in on the Chattooga and on the people who lived around it. Really, though, the outside world has been pressing in for over a century—the devastating logging period after the Civil War, the TVA dams following the Great Depression, the ever-increasing numbers of vacation homes going up—but it started pressing a lot harder when Deliverance hit theaters in 1972, and with that fact comes, for me, a twinge of guilt.”

Roy Blount Jr. examines the unusual life of Merian C. Cooper. “Who’s she?” you may ask. Actually, Cooper was a man Hemingway would approve of: He piloted fighter planes, was shot down in enemy territory, and was held as a prisoner of war. The United States Army issued him an official Death Certificate—twice. But Cooper survived his brave forays into war and exotic lands, before settling down (sort of) to create King Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World.

Sean Rowe, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, writes, “I like to get in fights. I like to drink and drive. I like to kick the windows out of cop cars and talk shit to humorless magistrates…. I like fine dining.” Unfortunately, such vices (except for fine dining) tend to land a person in jail. And it is from his experiences in the slammer that Mr. Rowe writes of trading Ramen noodles, drinking coffee from emptied orange juice cartons, and eating a miraculous country breakfast comprised of “honest-to-God scrambled eggs, hot biscuits, strips of bacon, and grits pocked with chunks of melting butter.” Original art by Michael Brown.

Ever felt like you are living but a dream? So did Columbus Marion “Dad” Joiner, the oil wildcatter whose legacy remains discovering the largest oil well in American history. Jeff P. Jones reveals the lifelong journey of a man who, after years of hard luck, had his dreams finally come true.

St. John Frizell celebrates the impossible-to-classify writing of Charles H. Baker, Jr., a travel and food writer, sportsman, and adventurer. “Part travelogue, part memoir, and part instruction manual for budding bon vivants, his books and magazine columns chronicle a life spent searching for good things to eat and drink and the really interesting people with whom he loved to share them.” Pictured here: Charles Baker and pals.

Will Clarke’s “The Pentecostal Home for Flying Children” and Stephen Marion’s “Touch Touch Me” show Southern youth in flight—overhead and on back roads. Original art by Ryan Heshka.

What greater bond does a man have than with his dog? Gene Lyons and his wife, from Perry County, Arkansas, founded their family—and their marriage—on their beloved collie-German Shepard pup, Snopes. “From him, we learned something we hadn’t known about ourselves, and certainly not about each other: We were destined to be ‘dog people,’ and would never contemplate living without canine companionship again.”

For thirty-two years after his last publication, legendary New Yorker writer Joseph Mitchell (Up in the Old Hotel) plunked away at a typewriter behind closed doors. Friends and colleagues awaited the arrival of a masterpiece that never materialized. When North Carolina native Sam Stephenson, and his pal set out in search of Mitchell’s grave, they stumbled upon Mitchell’s family, stories from his boyhood, and the truth behind Mitchell’s apparent creative hiatus. Pictured here: a jar in Joseph Mitchell's unusual collection, photographed by Steven Featherstone.

Walton Muyumba on Albert Murray • Kane Webb on High School Football • William Caverlee on Pistol Pete Maravich • Beth Ann Fennelly on a Home Remedy • Matt Baker on The Dixie Association • Sara Roahen on Shrimp • Wright Thompson on Cowboy boots • Kevin Bouldin on Nashville's Confederate statue • Brad Land on Actor Eddie Rouse • Jay Jennings on a Multimedia Artist • Mark Winegardner on a Race Car Driver • Katy Henrikson on a Used Bookstore • Sam Eifling on Atlanta's Aquarium • Carol Spindel on an Artifact • Sarah Strickley on Fireworks • Mary Miller on Daiquiri World • Paul Reyes on a Cathouse • Doug Van Gundy: poem • Dan Stryk: poem • P.T. Paul: poem • Mary Noble Ours: Photography • Bryan LeBoeuf: Louisiana Artist • Tom Lea: World War II Artist. Pictured here: "Trois Bateaux" by Bryan LeBoeuf.

Each issue of The Oxford American will now feature a FREE WRITER TRADING CARD.

Who gets the honor of having his visage on OA Writer Card #1? Well, who else but "The Dixie Limited" himself: William C. Faulkner. The debut card sports an extremely rare photo (never before seen by the handful of Faulkner experts we contacted) and special Hall-of-Fame stats.

We are now down to 150 copies of our fabulously popular 2007 Movie Issue and DVD. You can get your own copy for $25, while supplies last.

Inside, you'll find TWO Jack Pendarvis articles (on Baby Doll and Arkansan Dick Powell); Gerald Early on race, sex, the South, and exploitative cinema; Actor/Director Ray McKinnon on how to act; Jim Ridley on the scariest religious propaganda ever; Tom Carson on the Ideal Imposter (Paul Newman as a Southerner); Joseph McBride on John Huston; Cintra Wilson on Lindsey Lohan; Phillip Lopate on John Ford...and on and on. A plethora of riches. And on the shockingly good DVD, clips from Ross McElwee, Joey Lauren Adams, Jay Duplass, Les Blank, Craig Brewer, and many others; plus, a rare appearance by the Southern Bigfoot.