At the core of our lives is the dichotomy between who we are and who we are told to be, and it is that division that drives 'Southern Hospitality and Other Fictions'. This conflict is explored in a series of separate fictional short stories with wildly varied settings and characters: from a female firefighter, to a Native American recluse to teenaged computer programmers and more. Art, science, mathematics, technology, culture, family, death, rebirth---all of this is a metaphor in 'Southern Hospitality and Other Stories' for the underlying struggle in everyone: the constant struggle to find our identity somewhere between what we want to be and what is ultimately expected of us. (Dissertation Abstracts)