A review by nicolemhill
The Outlaw Album by Daniel Woodrell

3.0

The first couple of stories in this collection are solid 4.5 stars. See the first line of my favorite story:

"Once Boshell finally killed his neighbor he couldn’t seem to quit killing him."

But as you read on, the stories become a little more hit and miss, perhaps because there is so little variation. Don't get me wrong, Daniel Woodrell writes rural melancholy to a T, but when every character's bleak and resigned to some form or another of clapboard bleakness, well, reading loses some of its joie de vivre.