A review by jessrock
The Stories of Breece d'j Pancake by Breece D'j Pancake

4.0

Pancake was an amazing writer. There's no way around that. However, for all his masterful use of language, I felt like I had to fight to stay involved in the stories; my mind kept wandering, and no sooner did I start the next story than I'd forgotten nearly everything about the last. I think part of the problem is that each story seemed to be about the same characters and have the same overarching sense of despair and futility. The tales are about people stuck in place, people who dream of bigger things while knowing they have no way out, and while Pancake did an excellent job of creating this atmosphere, I didn't feel like I knew any of the characters well enough to empathize. They had different names, were different ages and genders, lived in different West Virginia towns, but their lives and fates all felt exactly the same.

Pancake committed suicide at the age of 26, and I can't help feeling like he would have written something amazing if he'd been on this planet longer, but these stories seem more like hints at his potential than anything else. Totally recommended for writing style and atmosphere, but I think you could get that from reading one or two stories without having to finish out the entire collection.