Very few writers understand the complex history and maddening social order of the Mississippi Delta. For Steve Yarbrough, though, it's home turf. He is wickedly observant, funny, cynical, evocative, and he possesses a gift that cannot be taught: he can tell a story.

I'm a Christian, and those beliefs occasionally come out in the books.

Prisons are fascinating places, especially when the inmates are educated white-collar types.

I earned my first steady paycheck watering rose bushes at a nursery for a dollar an hour.

There are few things in life worse than a long-winded lawyer.

We learned after the first semester in law school that it's best never to discuss exams. If notes are compared afterwards, you become painfully aware of things you missed.

I've written 17 novels, and I've found out that fiction can't keep up with real life.