seconddaysea's review against another edition
3.0
Lovely prose but I just can't understand the appeal of short stories. I think my reading comprehension sucks.
ajsterkel's review against another edition
5.0
These stories are realistic, gritty, beautiful, and amazing. Having grown up in Colorado, I was familiar with the setting of this book, but I've never seen it described this well. Annie Proulx has a gift for using language precisely. I can see why she has won so many literary prizes.
All of these stories are about tough Wyoming ranchers. None of the characters are likable, but most of them are fascinating because of their flaws. The most well-known stories in the collection are "The Half-Skinned Steer," which was featured in the anthology Best American Short Stories of the Century, and "Brokeback Mountain," which became a movie.
"Brokeback Mountain" is the strongest story in the collection. I also liked "The Mud Below" because it seemed more straightforward and less sparsely-written than the other stories. I liked the humor in "The Blood Bay." I had a hard time picking favorite stories because I liked them all. This is one of the best short story collections I've read in a long time.
All of these stories are about tough Wyoming ranchers. None of the characters are likable, but most of them are fascinating because of their flaws. The most well-known stories in the collection are "The Half-Skinned Steer," which was featured in the anthology Best American Short Stories of the Century, and "Brokeback Mountain," which became a movie.
"Brokeback Mountain" is the strongest story in the collection. I also liked "The Mud Below" because it seemed more straightforward and less sparsely-written than the other stories. I liked the humor in "The Blood Bay." I had a hard time picking favorite stories because I liked them all. This is one of the best short story collections I've read in a long time.
kickpleat's review against another edition
3.0
I've only read short stories by Ms. Proulx and I'm always impressed. There's a lot of darkness and humour in her writing and I always feel like I know the places she writes about. I've only been through Wyoming once but reading her stories I feel like "been there, done that" but in a good way.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
3.0
I did not love this collection of stories set in Wyoming. While some of them were very good, there was a monotony to the winters, the ranches, the hardened men, and everything else in the stories that made the collection feel somewhat more tedious than the sometimes excellent stories themselves.
corpsewhale's review against another edition
3.0
I am never going to Wyoming. In a couple of the stories it was hard to keep track of who was doing what, but overall these were very well-written portraits of people with tragic lives.
oliverlang's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
The main motivation for reading this was for the Brokeback Mountain story and if course this was the very last one in the book and the best out of them all which is the reason for the extra .25 on this rating.
This was wall written but i didn't enjoy it. This iis not a collection of happy stories by any means.
This was wall written but i didn't enjoy it. This iis not a collection of happy stories by any means.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Sexual assault, Child death, Sexual content, Rape, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
small_town_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
Not what I was expecting! A bit of Louie L'amour meets Edgar Allen Poe with the short story of Brokeback Mountain for the coup-de-gras...
sssnoo's review against another edition
4.0
I didn’t quite finish all the stories, but had to return my book to the library, so It is finished for me for a while at least. I’ll pick it up again the next time I head to Wyoming.
If you’d like to see some excellent books set in Wyoming (just in time to pick one to take along on your upcoming ski trip), head on over to my blog. Enjoy!
https://www.oldwomaninavan.com/wyoming-books/
If you’d like to see some excellent books set in Wyoming (just in time to pick one to take along on your upcoming ski trip), head on over to my blog. Enjoy!
https://www.oldwomaninavan.com/wyoming-books/
inezsp's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0