Big Lonesome
by Jim Ruland (Goodreads author!)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 54)
Read in August, 2006
Not only do I love the way Jim Ruland thinks and views the world, I love the way he makes me think and view the world. Seriously, if you want to read a book of short stories that kicks ass and takes names, Jim Ruland's debut collection BIG LONESOME is it.
These stories are far from the usual fare--they're a breath of fresh air. Okay, wrong metaphor. They're a breath of smoke-filled, honky-tonking, tough-loving beer and animal sweat air. But trust me when I say you'll go there with him, and yo...more
These stories are far from the usual fare--they're a breath of fresh air. Okay, wrong metaphor. They're a breath of smoke-filled, honky-tonking, tough-loving beer and animal sweat air. But trust me when I say you'll go there with him, and yo...more
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Read in March, 2008
I am a friend and big fan of Jim Ruland's, so take this quick review with a grain of salt, but I say this book is terrific, big-hearted, wicked, pointed, sweet, and open-eyed. Ruland is an especially great writer of dialogue; in fact, I fully intend to rip off some of his dialogue in the future. I've read some other work by Ruland, and I can see now see how BIG LONESOME prefigures some of the truly impressive work that he's been working on and, with luck, will be out soon.
I'm a particular f...more
I'm a particular f...more
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3 comments
Read in February, 2008
Like a dump truck with a vengeance this books stories plowed over me. The stories are all weaved in a way that seals you in, returning to your own life in between stories is a bit of a feat at times. The first three stories really took me in, not just in the tales and the words that connected it all together but in the feeling I got from them, it's a rare feeling but a cherished one, to read something and stand up with that same vengeance that mowed you down and say, "I want to become a bet...more
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5 comments
Read in September, 2005
Just when it seemed language had lost its edge, Ruland came along and fornicated the hell out of it. Most of these stories will rot your mind faster than a cloud of white phosphorous, and the rest sound great cranked to eleven. Ruland's got esprit out the rear. He honors our founding fathers. He knows what to cut and what to kick. And he does not repeat himself, Madame, he does not.
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2 comments
recommends it for:
all
A fun and brilliant collection. one of the best i've read in years. It dives through eras, continents, and extravagant forms. Stories about Dali-influenced mobsters, the romancing and spurning of temps, a lecherous Popeye and his pissed-off son, ex-lovers hiding in your floorboards. a huge breadth of imagination. something so full gusto about the book, something new and alive-- I can't recommend it highly enough.
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone
A vital and energetic collection, full of inventiveness and outsized characters. Ruland takes conventional genre material--mobsters, fairy tales, Western desperadoes--and knowingly spins high literature out of it. Violence is often at the center of these tales, most harrowingly in "Red Cap," a powerful war story. Look to this collection for fresh, precise writing and propulsive forward motion.
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Read in September, 2005
recommends it for:
Everyone
Ruland's collection takes well known fairytale and comic strip characters by the ear, shoves them to the pavement, hard, then winks,(what the hell am I talking about? Read the stories and you'll understand. Hint: Think Little Red Riding Hood set in Nazi Germany, or say, a hot Indian Robot wreaking havoc in the Old West). The result is a brilliant debut collection. Ruland is a writer to watch!
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1 comments
Yet to read it all, but the stories I've read were impressive.
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