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alisonjfields's review against another edition
5.0
I read this once many years ago when I was in college and picked it up recently for short stories to fill in the lulls of my day. I'm pleased to report it's absolutely as mind-bogglingly good as I remember it. This is the kind of writing most other writing aspires to be.
briandice's review against another edition
5.0
When I opened this book of stories I figured I was in for a healthy helping of Grit Lit: tales of backwoods habitués eating varmint and living with violence like a kissin' cousin. Works in the key of Daniel Woodrell, Ron Rash, Harry Crews et al. Barry Hannah blew me away.
In this collection of 20 stories there are certainly pieces centered around mid-to-late century marginalized members of southern society; there's also a handful of fantastic works employing the American Civil War as the setting ("Behold the Husband in His Perfect Agony" might be the best five page story I’ve read in an age) – but there are enough stories between the covers that show Hannah’s amazing range. Post-apocalypse, weird science, stream-of-conscience, comedic – Hannah nails them all, sometimes mixing styles and genres to impressive outcome. “Testimony of Pilot” is the longest story of the collection and has the reader guessing the whole way through to the excellent ending. “Coming Close to Donna” is so disturbing I waited a day to re-read it to get its full weight. The recurrence of airships in many of the stories has a delightful Where’s Waldo? feel without ever intruding on the narratives.
More Hannah, please - and a special thanks to Paquita Maria Sanchez for pointing me in this direction.
In this collection of 20 stories there are certainly pieces centered around mid-to-late century marginalized members of southern society; there's also a handful of fantastic works employing the American Civil War as the setting ("Behold the Husband in His Perfect Agony" might be the best five page story I’ve read in an age) – but there are enough stories between the covers that show Hannah’s amazing range. Post-apocalypse, weird science, stream-of-conscience, comedic – Hannah nails them all, sometimes mixing styles and genres to impressive outcome. “Testimony of Pilot” is the longest story of the collection and has the reader guessing the whole way through to the excellent ending. “Coming Close to Donna” is so disturbing I waited a day to re-read it to get its full weight. The recurrence of airships in many of the stories has a delightful Where’s Waldo? feel without ever intruding on the narratives.
More Hannah, please - and a special thanks to Paquita Maria Sanchez for pointing me in this direction.
rikpa's review against another edition
4.0
Hannah populates his stories with people on the fringes of society. His writing brings you totally into that strange weird world. It is very odd...and very difficult to put down.
nickdleblanc's review against another edition
4.0
The comparisons to Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor are spot-on. He does the perspective shift thing flawlessly and has plenty of the gritty uncomfortable details that make up the best/worst of Southern Gothic Lit. I like the dips into post-modernity and surrealism. I think they work really well under the Southern Gothic framework. He makes the south scary and discomfiting. You can smell the mud and see the snakes writhing in the dry grass behind the house.
I am surprised by how many positive reviews there are of this book, I would expect more people to be turned off by it. That is either a testament to BH's writing or to his reputation as a writer who is read mostly by other writers--a bias of readership. Not that I think the writing or storytelling is bad, it is just a lot to take in. I look forward to checking out a novel.
I am surprised by how many positive reviews there are of this book, I would expect more people to be turned off by it. That is either a testament to BH's writing or to his reputation as a writer who is read mostly by other writers--a bias of readership. Not that I think the writing or storytelling is bad, it is just a lot to take in. I look forward to checking out a novel.
katrinky's review against another edition
2.0
Not for me. The stories are gruesome, the (exclusively male) main characters murderous, the women superfluous and treated abhorrently, the violence graphic, the sex rape-reliant, the n-word usage rampant. Nope. I almost liked the quadberry the pilot/saxophone prodigy story, but who throws an M80 at a person? Ugh.
benwasson's review against another edition
3.0
a couple of good, lengthier stories are bogged down by vulgar and sometimes outright nonsensical filler material
bundy23's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars. It's never great when you have a short story collection and a lot of the stories have some very similar characters. It just makes things confusing and you have to wonder if this guy has enough imagination to create enough characters to fill a book. The racism was a bit much as well.
I think I'll call this Donald Ray Pollock does Bukowski but sadly it's doesn't even belong in the same universe as either of those guys.
I think I'll call this Donald Ray Pollock does Bukowski but sadly it's doesn't even belong in the same universe as either of those guys.
sasha_fletcher's review against another edition
5.0
not so big a fan of mother rooney unscrolls the hurt, and i may like bats out of hell better, but this book is pretty fucking incredible. weird having read the tennis handsome first and so seeing return to return and midnight i'm not famous yet on their own is weird although makes a deal of sense. really interesting to see how units can become a whole.