Brad Vice - Re-release of The Bear Bryant Funeral Train

Re-release of The Bear Bryant Funeral Train

In late March 2007, a new edition of the collection was published by River City Publishing. According to a report in The Oxford American, "The revised version will more closely mirror Vice’s 2001 dissertation from the University of Cincinnati, which contained many of the stories that ended up being published as The Bear Bryant Funeral Train. Unlike the UGA Press edition, it will be divided into two sections, the latter of which is set entirely in Tuscaloosa. In his dissertation, Vice described the Tuscaloosa stories as an 'attempt to reconcile the seemingly incompatible movements of Southern regionalism and international postmodernism.' In that vein, it contained epigraphs by Albert Camus, Basho, Guy Davenport, Bear Bryant, and, more importantly, Carmer, all of which will reappear in the River City edition."

Aside from being reedited from an earlier version of the author's manuscript, the new edition also differs from the first in that it contains an additional story, "Demopolis;" an introduction by Vice in which he explains his literary intentions; and essays from other writers and professors which provide context for both the postmodern approach employed by Vice and the controversy surrounding the initial publication.