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billmorrow's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
twotoes's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The elevator story was my favorite but there wasn't a dud in the collection.
sandin954's review against another edition
3.0
Collection of brutally violent short stories set, like the title states, in Southern Indiana. I preferred the stories that were a bit less violent and while the author's writing style was a bit overdone for my tastes I will look for his first novel.
rocketiza's review against another edition
5.0
This is one brutal, high octane collection of short stories.
strosfan80's review against another edition
3.0
After reading an article written by Frank Bill about the dearth of masculine writing, I had to check out his book. It, of course, is linked to Donald Ray Pollock's Knockemstiff, and so I had to get that one, as well.
Anyways, when I finally got around to reading Bill's work, I was simultaneously repulsed and awed by his writing. But I couldn't tear myself away- I probably got through this in 10-12 hours, over 4 days of reading. The subject matter is brutal- rape, incest, meth, dog fighting, gangs, and Bill is quite a descriptive writer. Too descriptive at times. As a reader, I had no problems visualizing what Bill was describing, but there were times when he says too much; he rarely allows the reader to visualize anything on his/her own. And his descriptions are too drawn out, taking away from the flow of the works.
As a story-teller, Frank Bill is excellent. You get to the action and can often sense the doom and dread his characters are feeling. The stories all have similar issues- loneliness, exploitation, depression, despair. Southern Indiana is not filled with optimism. Where Frank is a good story-teller, he is not much in to character development as they are often just vehicles for the story. But if you enjoy hard-boiled fiction where the action is the centerpiece, this work is for you.
The best pieces in this collection are The Old Mechanic and Crimes in Southern Indiana, where Bill's scenes are matched by his more developed characters.
This guy has a lot of talent. I wouldn't ask him to tone it down, but he could use an editorial hand to scale back the adjectives.
Anyways, when I finally got around to reading Bill's work, I was simultaneously repulsed and awed by his writing. But I couldn't tear myself away- I probably got through this in 10-12 hours, over 4 days of reading. The subject matter is brutal- rape, incest, meth, dog fighting, gangs, and Bill is quite a descriptive writer. Too descriptive at times. As a reader, I had no problems visualizing what Bill was describing, but there were times when he says too much; he rarely allows the reader to visualize anything on his/her own. And his descriptions are too drawn out, taking away from the flow of the works.
As a story-teller, Frank Bill is excellent. You get to the action and can often sense the doom and dread his characters are feeling. The stories all have similar issues- loneliness, exploitation, depression, despair. Southern Indiana is not filled with optimism. Where Frank is a good story-teller, he is not much in to character development as they are often just vehicles for the story. But if you enjoy hard-boiled fiction where the action is the centerpiece, this work is for you.
The best pieces in this collection are The Old Mechanic and Crimes in Southern Indiana, where Bill's scenes are matched by his more developed characters.
This guy has a lot of talent. I wouldn't ask him to tone it down, but he could use an editorial hand to scale back the adjectives.
enelvee's review against another edition
4.0
Not exactly the southern Indiana with which I am, unfortunately, familiar, but a good read
saltycorpse's review against another edition
4.0
I was wondering if Frank Bill and Donald Ray Pollock were super-bros, and it appears they are. Not only does Pollock have a blurb praising this book on the back, but he is mentioned in the acknowledgments. Southern crime/noir writers stick together.
A good collection of stories, though some of the descriptions got repetitive. I don't know if you can describe a gunshot more than maybe 10 compelling ways, so maybe there was just too much shooting to really diversify. In any event, it was horrifying, gratuitous and violent, but also pretty badass. A book form of a Tarantino film.
if you've read The Devil All the Time by Pollock, this collection could almost seamlessly meld into that novel. Which I liked about it.
A word of warning though, a lot of dogs get killed in this book, and there's graphic sexual violence.
A good collection of stories, though some of the descriptions got repetitive. I don't know if you can describe a gunshot more than maybe 10 compelling ways, so maybe there was just too much shooting to really diversify. In any event, it was horrifying, gratuitous and violent, but also pretty badass. A book form of a Tarantino film.
if you've read The Devil All the Time by Pollock, this collection could almost seamlessly meld into that novel. Which I liked about it.
A word of warning though, a lot of dogs get killed in this book, and there's graphic sexual violence.
trudilibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
This book ::flails helplessly:: How do I begin to review these raw and ruthless stories and do them justice? I probably can't ladies and gents, but I want to try goddammit. Frank Bill's collection of crazies and crimes in southern Indiana deserves that much at least.
This is prose that sings -- not with the sweetness and harmony of a Mama Cass, but rather a whiskey-soaked growl and feverish screech of a Janis Joplin. It's jagged, fragmented, and toothsome; at any point ready and able to tear a chunk out of the reader and leave him or her panting and bleeding like the sordid cast of cutthroat characters that populate the pages of these 17 inter-connected stories.
The stories piece together a harsh portrait of poor, scrabbling, backwoods people -- where victims become victimizers, and the brutalized do their fair share of brutalizing in return. As Frank Bill weaves together his tales of madness and mayhem, he is not interested in telling mere exploitative snapshots of gratuitous violence; his carefully crafted stories resonate with gritty themes of PTSD, poverty, domestic violence, addiction, greed and corruption. Each story flashes bright and fierce, a powerhouse on its own, but when melded with its brethren, the sum definitely becomes more awesome than the parts.
Frank Bill is writing Southern Noir and making it his bitch. This is Quentin Tarantino meets Cormac McCarthy. For certain Frank Bill convinces his readers that his Indiana landscape is also no country for old men. How is this for a descriptive simile: Jagged marrow lined his gums like he'd tried to huff a stick of dynamite. But when he stuttered into Medford's ear he sounded like a drunk who had Frenched a running chainsaw.
This isn't a collection to love per se; it certainly won't leave you with the warm and fuzzies. It will shake you up and smack you around a bit though, and you definitely won't forget it easily. It also made me green with envy over how easy Frank Bill makes it all seem. What he accomplishes isn't easy; if it were we'd see the likes of this kind of writing more often.
This is prose that sings -- not with the sweetness and harmony of a Mama Cass, but rather a whiskey-soaked growl and feverish screech of a Janis Joplin. It's jagged, fragmented, and toothsome; at any point ready and able to tear a chunk out of the reader and leave him or her panting and bleeding like the sordid cast of cutthroat characters that populate the pages of these 17 inter-connected stories.
The stories piece together a harsh portrait of poor, scrabbling, backwoods people -- where victims become victimizers, and the brutalized do their fair share of brutalizing in return. As Frank Bill weaves together his tales of madness and mayhem, he is not interested in telling mere exploitative snapshots of gratuitous violence; his carefully crafted stories resonate with gritty themes of PTSD, poverty, domestic violence, addiction, greed and corruption. Each story flashes bright and fierce, a powerhouse on its own, but when melded with its brethren, the sum definitely becomes more awesome than the parts.
Frank Bill is writing Southern Noir and making it his bitch. This is Quentin Tarantino meets Cormac McCarthy. For certain Frank Bill convinces his readers that his Indiana landscape is also no country for old men. How is this for a descriptive simile: Jagged marrow lined his gums like he'd tried to huff a stick of dynamite. But when he stuttered into Medford's ear he sounded like a drunk who had Frenched a running chainsaw.
This isn't a collection to love per se; it certainly won't leave you with the warm and fuzzies. It will shake you up and smack you around a bit though, and you definitely won't forget it easily. It also made me green with envy over how easy Frank Bill makes it all seem. What he accomplishes isn't easy; if it were we'd see the likes of this kind of writing more often.
Iris kept driving. Turned onto the county road, glanced over the field and acres of cedar, saw the smoke rising above the land. He reached over and rubbed Spade between his black ears, not knowing where he was headed, but knowing he wouldn't stop until he was several states shy of the crimes in southern Indiana.
msjaquiss's review against another edition
1.0
The author’s unique writing style was both intriguing and irritating. I frequently wondered whether I’d understood what he meant to express. The stories were exceedingly violent and brutal. I would not recommend this book to anyone and will not seek out more of the author’s work in the future.