You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
nssutton's review against another edition
5.0
This was dark and delicious. Watkins writing reminds me a little of Raymond Carver, in pacing, plot and details, but with a side of Cormac McCarthy and Patrick de Witt's The Sisters Brothers. I love the way in which Nevada and a sense of American West, in all it's glory and harshness, tied all of the stories together, the land serving as an undercurrent no matter at which point in history the tales took place.
No story stood out as pushing above or sinking below the others -- the level of consistent, stellar writing was remarkable. Leading with the version of her own twisted family history was such a brave choice. I will follow her without question to whichever land she writes herself next.
No story stood out as pushing above or sinking below the others -- the level of consistent, stellar writing was remarkable. Leading with the version of her own twisted family history was such a brave choice. I will follow her without question to whichever land she writes herself next.
kymme's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not sure it's fair of me to review this one, since I didn't finish it. I was so excited to read a book set in the desert! I don't want to pan it because I'm so grateful to anyone who writes from the desert, but for me it was too depressing, and since I started reading it thinking it was a memoir, then a novel, somehow not realizing it was a book of short stories (okay, yes, I should really pay attention to the genre). I felt a bit ripped off after investing in a few characters only to have their arcs end--for me these short stories work as introductions to novels, but don't feel quite complete to me as stories (again, though, I was not reading in the right mindset for stories, and my expectations were way too high). I read the first few stories, and then just... stopped, and never picked it up again. But please, desert writers of the world, keep it coming! (Just write a full novel, please!)
chiyeungreads's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the best short story collections I have ever read.
Masterfully written, pain and melancholy flows through each story. Yet there is something so beautiful and human about this pain.
The characters we meet in each story are bent and broken, but aren’t we all?
Masterfully written, pain and melancholy flows through each story. Yet there is something so beautiful and human about this pain.
The characters we meet in each story are bent and broken, but aren’t we all?
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
4.0
Someone just asked me "How did you learn to read poetry?"
It's a great question. It really is. Because I didn't know the answer, but at the same time there's a skill to pick up somewhere.
By that same token, I have to wonder if people struggle with short stories because they don't know how to read them. The poetry is a question I have to think over, but for the short stories I have an idea.
Short stories are the serial monogamy of reading.
For those who aren't familiar with that term and just don't feel like working it out, serial monogamy is the idea of dating someone exclusively, dating people one at a time, then moving on to someone else without crossover or any of this dating around business. It's like serial killing. You kill someone, then you move on. You kill one person at a time, not a bunch of people all at once.
I wish I'd come up with a better comparison than serial killing. It can be hard on the heart, but serial monogamy isn't a death penalty crime just yet.
To enjoy short stories, it helps to be a serial monogamist. A short story might hurt your feelings. It might leave way before you're ready. Even still, you have to be able to read as if, just maybe, this time the story will last. It'll be the short story that turns into the novel that turns into your favorite book you read over and over. You have to learn enough about yourself to say that it's okay to be in love more than once. Maybe more than once in a single day. And just because you've been in love before doesn't mean your new love doesn't mean as much.
The good thing about being a serial monogamist is that you get to date more than one really great person. You get to know them and the best things about them. You don't waste a lot of time on people you don't really like because you're kind of looking for something more than a person you can tolerate long enough to figure out why you REALLY hate them. There are a lot of good things about serial monogamy.
The bad thing, the really bad parts, are the parts where the relationships end. Those are hard. They're hard because you're involved and the people mean something to you. It's more than a fling, but somehow it's not all as epic as a dissolving marriage. There's no lawyers to see or houses to divvy.
The good thing about the short story version is that the short story doesn't have feelings. It's a break up at the last word, and it's okay for that breakup to be all about you, the reader. How sad you are to see this story go. How hurt you are it ended the way it did.
The other bad thing, the other worst part, is being strong enough to pick up the next story and read it like you didn't just have your heart broken.
If you have struggles with short stories, try thinking like a serial monogamist. Let yourself fall for characters even when you know they won't stick around. It might be the only chance you've got of falling for the right one.
It's a great question. It really is. Because I didn't know the answer, but at the same time there's a skill to pick up somewhere.
By that same token, I have to wonder if people struggle with short stories because they don't know how to read them. The poetry is a question I have to think over, but for the short stories I have an idea.
Short stories are the serial monogamy of reading.
For those who aren't familiar with that term and just don't feel like working it out, serial monogamy is the idea of dating someone exclusively, dating people one at a time, then moving on to someone else without crossover or any of this dating around business. It's like serial killing. You kill someone, then you move on. You kill one person at a time, not a bunch of people all at once.
I wish I'd come up with a better comparison than serial killing. It can be hard on the heart, but serial monogamy isn't a death penalty crime just yet.
To enjoy short stories, it helps to be a serial monogamist. A short story might hurt your feelings. It might leave way before you're ready. Even still, you have to be able to read as if, just maybe, this time the story will last. It'll be the short story that turns into the novel that turns into your favorite book you read over and over. You have to learn enough about yourself to say that it's okay to be in love more than once. Maybe more than once in a single day. And just because you've been in love before doesn't mean your new love doesn't mean as much.
The good thing about being a serial monogamist is that you get to date more than one really great person. You get to know them and the best things about them. You don't waste a lot of time on people you don't really like because you're kind of looking for something more than a person you can tolerate long enough to figure out why you REALLY hate them. There are a lot of good things about serial monogamy.
The bad thing, the really bad parts, are the parts where the relationships end. Those are hard. They're hard because you're involved and the people mean something to you. It's more than a fling, but somehow it's not all as epic as a dissolving marriage. There's no lawyers to see or houses to divvy.
The good thing about the short story version is that the short story doesn't have feelings. It's a break up at the last word, and it's okay for that breakup to be all about you, the reader. How sad you are to see this story go. How hurt you are it ended the way it did.
The other bad thing, the other worst part, is being strong enough to pick up the next story and read it like you didn't just have your heart broken.
If you have struggles with short stories, try thinking like a serial monogamist. Let yourself fall for characters even when you know they won't stick around. It might be the only chance you've got of falling for the right one.
jergrylls's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
andtheitoldyousos's review against another edition
5.0
Claire Vaye Watkins has an infamous father. I don’t point this out in a salacious “looky here” way, but this father looms large over the first story in this collection. Her father is Tex Watson, yes, that Tex Watson. Murderer. Manson Family member. Currently and indefinitely imprisoned Tex Watson who married a prison pen pal and fathered four children while in jail. Claire wrests the reins from her father, her family, and her history to tell her own story- and it’s a doozy.
All of the stories in this volume will break your heart…but you will wait in line for it to happen like the 49ers, tourists, lost children, and down and out losers that populate this book. You’ll wait in line for your broken heart, and quickly pay another dollar into the video poker machine to feel it fall apart again. You can smell the beer soaked carpets. You can feel yourself fall in too deep with her wounded and wandering women. When she writes “It was an inevitable kiss. A kiss like I had caught the hem of my skirt on the seat of my bike while trying to mount it, and toppled. A kiss like we had fallen into each other, which I suppose we had” you will feel that tug running through your body down through the soles of your feet.
Battleborn is full of ghosts. These ghosts kick around in the American West, mostly floundering about in Reno but sometimes rushing Westward towards promises of the Golden State. The ghosts live in trailers behind brothels, drink warm beer in churches, and sneak into their sibling’s houses to secretly wash the dust out of their laundry. For every mountain of dirt there is a tiny fleck of gold luring you further into the mess.
All of the stories in this volume will break your heart…but you will wait in line for it to happen like the 49ers, tourists, lost children, and down and out losers that populate this book. You’ll wait in line for your broken heart, and quickly pay another dollar into the video poker machine to feel it fall apart again. You can smell the beer soaked carpets. You can feel yourself fall in too deep with her wounded and wandering women. When she writes “It was an inevitable kiss. A kiss like I had caught the hem of my skirt on the seat of my bike while trying to mount it, and toppled. A kiss like we had fallen into each other, which I suppose we had” you will feel that tug running through your body down through the soles of your feet.
Battleborn is full of ghosts. These ghosts kick around in the American West, mostly floundering about in Reno but sometimes rushing Westward towards promises of the Golden State. The ghosts live in trailers behind brothels, drink warm beer in churches, and sneak into their sibling’s houses to secretly wash the dust out of their laundry. For every mountain of dirt there is a tiny fleck of gold luring you further into the mess.
jakekilroy's review against another edition
4.0
The first story of this collection is perhaps the most jarring opener I’ve ever read; not for any horrific details, but rather the realization of what it’s about (as I knew little about the author going in). From there, it’s one engaging reminder after another that everyone is trying to find something and it may not be happiness. It may be happiness adjacent or even adjacent to whatever that is. In the bleak landscape of the deserty American west, especially in and around Las Vegas, anything from safety and security to joy and jubilation to rationale and realization can be a copy of a copy of a copy — but it’s the closest you’ll likely ever get to purity, so you take it and hold onto it; not exactly treasuring it, not exactly dismissing it. It’s worth something, even if it’s not everything you want it to be. I found this collection fascinating, even when the desolation rolled through my body. These are characters aware of an absence within them, and even when they speak from the heart, they can come across as if they’re talking with gritted teeth. The hardened ones seem sharper and the softer souls seem ripe for the world’s devouring. I respect this world, but I do not fear it. Yet I worry how true it may be.
glabour's review against another edition
5.0
4.5-5 stars. The first short story collection I’ve read that I could not put down. Every story is that good.
vspinazola's review against another edition
5.0
If I could give this 7 stars, I would. One of the best short story collections I've read in a while.