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veronicaouellette's review
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
montemaq's review
4.0
This is a pretty good collection of linked short stories. They all take place in Wyoming and have a very Western feel. The stories pick up toward the end. They get very dark and Lynchian. There is a very Twin Peaks vibe in the last few stories. I loved the majority of the stories. There were a few hackneyed ones, but overall a good collection.
smiths2112's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ladynigelia's review
3.0
I'm wondering whether I should skip LeVar's intros to the stories. I think he builds them up too much and then when I'm not as amazed as he is I'm disappointed. They're good stories. And he reads them well and there's good sound design. But this wasn't the edge of my seat always guessing story he promised.
zuziabuzia's review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
margaret_adams's review
A fantastic collection of short stories, grounded in the rural West with a "rumor of magic constantly on the periphery, the inexplicable that emerges from and then retreats back into the haze of the desert" (-New York Times Book Review).
Favorites: Little Faith; Stonefly; Finding Billy White Feather.
“The desert rolled like always, constant, brown, ocher, and especially red in the distance. The pressure of people, the efforts of people had killed off much of the life, but none of the desert. His mother had said it: you can kill everything, you can tear it all up and build, you can pipe water to it, but the desert is the desert, more desert every day. It unfolded itself before him as he crested the ridge and started down the big curve of the highway that would take him to the road to his place. The late-morning sun was still behind him, but the shadows of the sage were beginning to shorten.”
Favorites: Little Faith; Stonefly; Finding Billy White Feather.
“The desert rolled like always, constant, brown, ocher, and especially red in the distance. The pressure of people, the efforts of people had killed off much of the life, but none of the desert. His mother had said it: you can kill everything, you can tear it all up and build, you can pipe water to it, but the desert is the desert, more desert every day. It unfolded itself before him as he crested the ridge and started down the big curve of the highway that would take him to the road to his place. The late-morning sun was still behind him, but the shadows of the sage were beginning to shorten.”
hmatt's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I initially picked this up after reading and loving Annie Proulx's Wyoming Stories short story collections, years ago. I'm so glad I finally got around to reading this collection - it really does remind me of Proulx's, but it has its own character too. The stories are both eerie and dull, mundane and borderline-supernatural. They're probably not for you if you like plotty storylines that wrap up nicely, though.
Content Warnings
No warnings logged due to retrospective review