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A review by elfington
Half an Inch of Water by Percival Everett
4.0
The stories in this collection do the thing that I hate about short stories - they end midstream, with an elliptical flourish as if to say... think about it. And yet I'm giving it four stars because I could have read forty more.
As a reader I slip into these laconic Western small towns immediately, peopled mainly by laconic men. Men who love horses, drive trucks, and are Black in a place where they will always stand out, never quite fit in.
One story has the main character objecting to being referred to with the Lakota slang for White, only to be told, "well you sure aren't Indian." And I believe that is the only reference to race in that particular story. The touch is light, and all the more effective for it.
These stories make me want to dive head first into another of his novels. Perhaps one with an ending.
As a reader I slip into these laconic Western small towns immediately, peopled mainly by laconic men. Men who love horses, drive trucks, and are Black in a place where they will always stand out, never quite fit in.
One story has the main character objecting to being referred to with the Lakota slang for White, only to be told, "well you sure aren't Indian." And I believe that is the only reference to race in that particular story. The touch is light, and all the more effective for it.
These stories make me want to dive head first into another of his novels. Perhaps one with an ending.