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A review by jennyyates
That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx
3.0
There’s not much plot, but I mostly enjoyed this novel. It follows Bob Dollar, a young man who’s employed by a big company to find sites for new hog farms in the Texas panhandle. He has to disguise his purpose, since hog farms are smelly, disgusting and unhealthy. He’s told to go to a likely area and get to know everybody, and find out who might be willing to sell.
Bob isn’t good at selling, but he is very good at getting to know everybody. He’s a history buff, so he learns all he can about Woolybucket, Texas – its past and its present. The novel just moseys along, detailing the lives and histories of these ranchers and townspeople. We learn a lot about windmills.
It’s often charming and funny, without ever being sentimental. Annie Proulx outdoes herself choosing names for her characters - Tater Crouch, Sidney Harshberger, Freda Beautyrooms, Ribye Cluke, Wally Ooly, Hugh Dough, Ad Slauter, Jim Skin, etc. Although Bob gets into a few scrapes, nothing much happens until the end, when the plot thickens enough to be satisfying.
Bob isn’t good at selling, but he is very good at getting to know everybody. He’s a history buff, so he learns all he can about Woolybucket, Texas – its past and its present. The novel just moseys along, detailing the lives and histories of these ranchers and townspeople. We learn a lot about windmills.
It’s often charming and funny, without ever being sentimental. Annie Proulx outdoes herself choosing names for her characters - Tater Crouch, Sidney Harshberger, Freda Beautyrooms, Ribye Cluke, Wally Ooly, Hugh Dough, Ad Slauter, Jim Skin, etc. Although Bob gets into a few scrapes, nothing much happens until the end, when the plot thickens enough to be satisfying.