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Tomato Red

3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 · rating details · 1,110 ratings · 165 reviews

The hero of Daniel Woodrell's Tomato Red is the most endearingly out-of-control loser you're likely to meet. Sammy Barlach looks like a person "who should in any circumstances be considered a suspect"; clerks follow him through the supermarket when he shops, and the police pull him over simply from habit. But in spite of his looks, Sammy only wants to be loved, even if it'...more The hero of Daniel Woodrell's Tomato Red is the most endearingly out-of-control loser you're likely to meet. Sammy Barlach looks like a person "who should in any circumstances be considered a suspect"; clerks follow him through the supermarket when he shops, and the police pull him over simply from habit. But in spite of his looks, Sammy only wants to be loved, even if it's just by "the bunch that would have me"--and in the hardscrabble world of West Table, Missouri, that's a bunch you wouldn't necessarily want to meet. The novel begins with a heady Methedrine rush, as Sammy celebrates payday by letting himself be talked into robbing a nearby mansion. Even when his newfound friends disappear as he's breaking in, he persists: "You might think I should've quit on the burglary right there, but I just love people, I guess, and didn't." The break-in leads Sammy into an unlikely alliance with the Merridew family: Jamalee and Jason and their mother Bev, a prostitute in the town's ironically named Venus Holler. Flame-haired Jamalee dreams constantly of a different kind of life, and she plans on using Jason's extraordinary beauty as her ticket out of West Table. Jason, however, seems to be shaping up as what Sammy calls "country queer"--which, as Sammy observes, "ain't the easiest walk to take amongst your throng of fellow humankind."

Unfortunately for Jamalee, Woodrell's Ozarks is a place that rewards ambition with disaster. Here as in his five previous "country noir" novels, Woodrell writes with a keen understanding of class and a barely contained sense of rage. The residents of West Table's trailer parks and shotgun shacks share Sammy's sense of limited possibilities. "I ain't shit! I ain't shit! shouts your brain," Sammy thinks while wandering around the mansion, "and this place proves the point." Even when Jason sticks up for his own family, the way he does so is heartbreaking: "This expression of utter frankness takes over Jason's beautiful face, and he says, 'I don't think we're the lowest scum in town.' He didn't argue that we weren't scum, just disputed our position on the depth chart." With her mildewing etiquette guides and grandiose plans, Jamalee is the only character who doesn't share their sense of defeat, and she's the only one who, in the end, gets away--though she leaves behind her a trail of betrayal and heartache. By the time the novel's final tragedy rolls around, it seems both senseless and inevitable, as tragedies do in real life. Told in a voice that crackles with energy and wit, Tomato Red is sharp, funny, and more importantly, true. --Mary Park(less)

Hardcover, 225 pages

Published August 15th 1998 by Henry Holt & Company (first published 1998)

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Apr 16, 2012 karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: littry-fiction

tomato red is an earlier book by daniel woodrell, and occasionally this becomes apparent. there are moments where it gets a little overwritten even for me, the lover of melodrama and the densely-packed sentence.

is it as good as winter's bone??

no.

but it's like saying "is megan fox as hot as angelina jolie, or is she some kind of cheaper, off-brand, less genuinely badass version??" does it matter?? is anyone kicking either of these ladies out of bed?? nope.

woodrell is never gonna get kicked out...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Kwoomac rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark, reviewed

Wow, I'm not sure how he did this, but Woodrell was able to create characters in unlikable circumstances, but still have them be likable. The cast includes Sammy,a 24 year old drifter, who's been in and out of jail. Bev, the hooker and mother of two teens, who chooses not to protect her kids from the less savory details of her life. Jamalee, 18 year old daughter, who hates her mother a little too much and loves her brother a little too much. And Jason,17 year old beautiful boy, who's willing to...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Another great book from Mr. Woodrell, This guy is an excellent writer. In this particular book we meet Sammy; our POV character and a down and out redneck criminal; Jamalee, a white trash girl who wants to make a better life for herself and her brother; Jason, the aforementioned brother who is devastatingly beautiful and confusedly gay; and Bev, the mother of Jam and Jason, and who pays her bills through prostitution. All characters are full and well fleshed out. The dialog is excellent and the...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone

Recommended to Mike by: Read as a result of "Winter's Bone"

Shelves: 20th-century, 2012, daniel-woodrell, grit-lit, missouri-ozarks, methamphetamine, prejudice, the-rough-south, sexuality

Tomato Red: Daniel Woodrell's Tale of Leaving Home

Welcome to West Table, Missouri. Meet Sammy Barlach who's just hired on down at the dog food factory. It's Friday night. The Tequila and Meth have got Sammy flying, impressing new friends down at the bar. Wanting to fit in with the new gang, when one suggests Sammy burgle one of the town mansions, Sammy's up for it. But he hears the laughter of his new buddies and the roar of their pickup recede in the distance when they drop him off at his next...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction, 2012-read

Tomato Red doesn't stand for what you probably think it stands for...if you've even thought about it at all. I won't spoil it for you, so you don't have to worry. It wasn't at all what I thought it might be. The only thing I will tell you, it's not about tomatoes...

It was both discovered and recommended to me, and I have to say, I'm really glad. I discovered Daniel Woodrell because of his amazing book Winter's Bone", but also someone told me to pick up Tomato Red. For anyone who is wondering, To...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Mickie O'Donnell

"There was a fella on the couch, the sort of small, skinny alcoholic redneck who probably had a cannon in his sock and an undertaker for a brother-in-law. A female slumped against him, and she was exactly the type you'd expect to find in this trailer with these fellas".

I love the way Woodrell writes. He coined the phrase "country noir" and that is exactly what it is. Such amazing writing about such dismal surroundings. He's a genius.

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Jun 19, 2012 Dennis Maley rated it 4 of 5 stars

July '11, I read "Tomato Red" by Daniel Woodrell. It's about a posse of riff-raffs set in the Ozarks, their hopelessness, their self-destructiveness and futility. Answers the question, "what kind of setback would make a born loser do something totally irrational, futile and destructive?"

"Her head looked like an heirloom tomato after a rough, scrubbing cloudburst." This kind of colorful simile is the signature literary device of the book. One might suppose that Ozark burn-outs authentically talk...more

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Dec 18, 2011 El rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: late19th-centurylit

I was excited to read a book written by someone from Missouri. I lived in Missouri for... an annoyingly long time, and I hated the majority of that time. But I'm sure some good stuff came out of the state - if one of those things can be a good author, that's great. So I keep my eyes peeled.

I heard a lot about Winter's Bone, and something about a movie based on it. A friend asked for the book last Christmas and I had no idea what she was talking about at that time because I sometimes live under a...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Keri Payton rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Jamalee Merridew – the girl with the tomato red hair – wants nothing more than to get out of the Ozarks with her younger – and far more beautiful – brother, Jason and away from their prostitute mother.

Enter Sammy Barlach, a drifter with no aim in life and no expectations on himself. He’s pulled into the Merridews' lives and finally feels like he has found a place with people who will have him – but what price will his place with the Merridews finally bring?

This book was handed to me at a Book Cr ...more Jamalee Merridew – the girl with the tomato red hair – wants nothing more than to get out of the Ozarks with her younger – and far more beautiful – brother, Jason and away from their prostitute mother.

Enter Sammy Barlach, a drifter with no aim in life and no expectations on himself. He’s pulled into the Merridews' lives and finally feels like he has found a place with people who will have him – but what price will his place with the Merridews finally bring?

This book was handed to me at a Book Crossing meet-up. I had never heard of the author or the book before, although I was also informed that another one of his books, Winter’s Bone, had been made into a film and was now in cinemas.

I was pulled in right away by the writing and the narrative voice. The book is told in first person by Sammy Barlach, who begins his journey in the novel, high on the drug dubbed “crank.” Sammy is a humble character, who doesn’t think much of himself or where his life is going. His narrative voice is sardonic and he has a unique view on the mundane things around him. The similes and metaphors are written in such an inventive way that I could not help but go back and read them and marvel at the excellence of the writing.

This book is a lot more about characters and way of life than it is about plot. I really liked the character of Sammy. He was wonderfully written and so real. The character of Jamalee Merridew was a real contrast to Sammy, who wants nothing but to get away and have a better life. She can never be satisfied with the poor state of her life and she strives to get away at any cost.

I liked Jamalee's character just for her stark difference with Sammy. I could empathise with her because of her desire to run away from a place where she felt trapped and strive for a much better life for her and her brother but I also felt removed from her because of her situation with her family, where she held her prostitute mother in disdain but would still use her brother’s stunning good looks to get her where she wanted to go. She sulked a little too much and didn’t seem to have the willpower to do anything on her own, which I think just showed the juxtaposition of how she wanted to be independent and free but was caught in the need to depend on others.

Tomato Red is a fascinating read and a fantastic example that reading outside the box can introduce you to some brilliant writing.

(From my blog, Quill Café)(less)

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Mar 29, 2011 James Thane rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who loves noir

Shelves: crime-fiction

Tomato Red has one of the best--and one of the longest--opening lines you'll ever read, and it sets the stage for a very good book that might best be categorized as Hillbilly Noir.

Sammy Barlach, the narrator and main protagonist, is new to West Table, Missouri, and to his job at the dog food factory. Seeking company on a Friday night after work, he falls in with a "coed circle of bums" who are well supplied with tequila and crank. You know that from this point on interesting things are going to...more

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Jun 12, 2010 Debbi rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you're of a mind to read a crime fiction novel that takes you off the beaten path (setting-wise and literary-wise), with prose that seems to sing to you with a rhythm all its own, and even features an opening sentence a mind-blowing 250 words long, you might take joy in reading TOMATO RED by Daniel Woodrell.

The story opens with Sammy, a drifter and criminal of the two-bit sort, breaking and entering a fancy house in (of all places) West Table, Mo. Sammy, who's coming down off a lost weekend o...more

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Mar 12, 2011 Doug rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The major mode of Tomato Red is impotence. Not so much the inability to change, but the inability to bring about what you want and need. There are flavors of cognitive dissonance here: of little country girls thinking they are big city, of eternal outsiders thinking they can find a place, of quiet gay men thinking there is a place for them in backwoods anywhere. Mostly, though, there is impotence. Inability. Big dreams, hopes. People better than where they were cast, at least in their mind's eye...more The major mode of Tomato Red is impotence. Not so much the inability to change, but the inability to bring about what you want and need. There are flavors of cognitive dissonance here: of little country girls thinking they are big city, of eternal outsiders thinking they can find a place, of quiet gay men thinking there is a place for them in backwoods anywhere. Mostly, though, there is impotence. Inability. Big dreams, hopes. People better than where they were cast, at least in their mind's eye, but no real way to get another shot at redefinition.

Sammy Barlach, a loser of an ex-con, find himself adrift with Jamalee and Jason Merridew. She, the Tomato Red of the title, is small and spry, unsettled in Venus Holler (to a small Ozarks town what slums might be to a bigger one) and looking to move on. Her beautiful younger brother Jason is both her partner and her keys to escape, simultaneously a reason to leave and a tool for her to use. Jam's and Jason's mom, Bev, a backwoods bohemian, cares little about any sort of change, and mostly just wants her continuously accruing past to stay in the dark, in the dust.

It is a comical book, darkly so, at least for the first 2/3s. Then it becomes tragic in tone and stays that way. Most of the comedy is like most of the tragedy, an exercise of place and knowing your own or at least feeling it. It starts up a bit too goofy for its own good, with descriptions of wistful outlaws and redhaired waifs who break into expensive homes both, to a degree, to escape where they are. It takes a few chapters to get into a more solid mode, and by that time you might already have ideas about the book, but if you can free yourself up to see it in another light it is a rewarding read. Not as spare as it could be. Not as punchy. Not as honest. It is kind of short, but has plenty of story to keep you going. It has heart and it is willing to let you catch up, to get caught up.

As the final few pages start rolling up, and you realize the bit pinched by your right hand is much smaller than the bit in your left, you might feel a moment of panic knowing it to be over so soon, but in reality, the whole thing was always destined to end sharp. We're not meant to live with Barlach and the Merridews. We're barely even visiting.

You also have to realize, as you get into it, that you are not here to see a Hallmark Made-for-TV movie. This is not a book about people overcoming, but about people being. This is not to say that no steps are made, just that Woodrell is more than ready to abuse you of any notion that he is writing about heroes. He is writing about people, people who have life stacked against them, and it's kind of wonderful the way he does it. Just be forewarned.(less)

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Sep 19, 2012 Scottnshana rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have to say first off that Harry Crews's death last year made me sad. I like that gritty, smart-ass (usually from the South) narrative about the little dog with all the fight in him who has nothing left to lose; that character who takes a nanosecond to go from zero to furious and pulls a surly drive-through clerk through the window to smash a quarter-full bottle of Jim Beam over his head. The good news is that Woodrell has grabbed the baton (and the bottle, too, I guess) and that his violence...more

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May 08, 2012 Garrett VanderLeun rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my first experience with Woodrell, and I was drawn to him after being blown away by the world/story/characters in the film adaptation of his novel, "Winter's Bone." Woodrell's writing style is an experience, and I've been rocked the same way I was when I first picked up a Cormac McCarthy book. Woodrell's work - and Tomato Red, specifically (obviously, it's all I can draw from at this point) - is hauntingly and devastatingly beautiful. It's sad, it's tough, and it's as specific to emotion...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Josh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: noir, own, reread, read_2012

Delusions of grandeur, broken hopes and faded dreams populate this pocket marked landscape where a person’s status is symbolised by their street address and history accounts for their future.

‘Tomato Red’ is a tale of an unconventional grafter who finds heart by way of a homely trailer park family that encapsulate all the stigma tied to the white trailer park trash label they so gladly wear like a badge of honour. All that is, except for Jamalee, a whore’s daughter and sister to an overtly hands...more

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Jun 09, 2011 ABC Group rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'll just go ahead and jump on the bandwagon and say that the opening sentence of this book is brilliant. It's akin to root beer though, you're either in or out after the first line. It's hard to feel indifferent to the world that Woodrell spins in his opening sentence.

There's enough white trash hilarity to keep this book amusing, but it's also chock full of the existential shit that seems like the platform for many a Hank III tune. The shocking thing about this story is the ordinary nature of t...more

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Feb 03, 2011 wally rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, woodrell

Tomato Red
I read (past tense) this on the amazon kindle...dunno how to add that version, if one exists even, so this version will have to do.

…location…the trailer park, the East Main Trailer Court…Blue Knee, Missouri…a mansion, the McCubbin place…West Table, Missouri…Venus Holler…must be Howl County

…the cast of characters starring…
Sammy Barlach, 24, from the great state of Arkansas, 17 miles outside his homeland, 6‘2“, 170 pounds…“fresh to West Table, Missouri.”….Sammy is a Ford man, black, the...more

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Apr 25, 2011 RandomAnthony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Holy Bejesus, Tomato Red is good.

Daniel Woodrell, the guy who wrote Winter's Bone, is moving up my “favorite writer” charts. I've read two of his books and hope he's published 100 more. I'm salivating at the prospect.

Tomato Red reads like Jim Thompson in the Ozarks but with Woodrell's superhuman tag-team of spellbinding language and cutting psychological insight. The story centers on Sammy Barlach, a well-intentioned loser who meets Jam and Jason Merridew while sleeping off a bender in a house...more Holy Bejesus, Tomato Red is good.

Daniel Woodrell, the guy who wrote Winter's Bone, is moving up my “favorite writer” charts. I've read two of his books and hope he's published 100 more. I'm salivating at the prospect.

Tomato Red reads like Jim Thompson in the Ozarks but with Woodrell's superhuman tag-team of spellbinding language and cutting psychological insight. The story centers on Sammy Barlach, a well-intentioned loser who meets Jam and Jason Merridew while sleeping off a bender in a house he was burgling until he fell asleep. Sammy doesn't fit anywhere, has no people, and doesn't expect much from the world. Jam is a teenage girl obsessed with escaping the sunbleached trailer park hell of West Table, Missouri. Jason is the best looking guy in the county. The town's unwritten hegemony binds the three and places them in a position where gaining momentary self-respect requires a lashing out with spectacularly tragic consequences.

Tomato Red proceeds from Sammy's internal dialogue. He figures out the best decision, when Jam invites him to hang out with the Merridews, is to head “the other way from you”, but when Jam says Sammy can “share the stink”, he sticks around because, as he puts it, “I always have just wanted to fit in somewhere, and this is the bunch that would have me.” Sammy functions as a wary, almost impassive observer, cognizant in an unspoken way of the “shit hits fan” inevitability. And he seems to watch his surroundings closely because they might the closest he might ever come to a calm, safe place. Until they're not. And when everything falls apart I felt a cleaved sense of “how the fuck did that happen?” and “how the fuck would that not happen?” Woodrell's taut, wiry novel runs a perfect 225 pages, not a wasted word among them.

A couple weeks back Anthony Bourdain featured Woodrell on the No Reservations “Ozarks” episode. Within two minutes Bourdain admits that Woodrell's presence in the Ozarks is the primary reason for the episode's existence. He wanted to meet Woodrell and manipulated the making of a television show to meet that goal. I get it, Mr. Bourdain. I'm right with you. I can't explain how Daniel Woodrell became a writer, and from where his gifts fell from the sky, but he's a manifestation of great American fiction from a blank spot on most readers' mental maps that's fortunate to claim a living storyteller of this caliber. His back catalog is calling me. Both Tomato Red and Daniel Woodrell are the real deal.(less)

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Jan 24, 2013 Gary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Once in a long while, a book comes along whose narrative voice is so compelling it grabs you from beginning to end. This was one of those books.

The four main characters occupy the lowest rung of the social totem pole in the Missouri Ozarks. The observations our narrator makes can sometimes be hilarious:

"The Merridew kids shared the coop with Rod's dog. It was a shaggy, lazy dog named Biscuit who had the personality of a defeated old alcoholic uncle, more or less. Biscuit mainly just laid there a...more

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Dec 04, 2009 David rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: noirboiled

The plots of Daniel Woodrell's "country noirs" have a purposeful aimlessness to them. Woodrell strives not for the tightly plotted crime thriller of some imaginary Noir World but for the meandering reality of the an actual place--the Ozarks--where shit sometimes happens along the way. Thus, the uncomfortable pleasure of a Woodrell novel is simply immersing yourself in his characters and their place and their language. If drama happens, so much the better. In Tomato Red, we see through the eyes o...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 16, 2012 Nate rated it 4 of 5 stars

"I reckon I always had been huntin' for a place to plant my feet and go down swinging." Masterful use of voice in this slice of "country noir." Woodrell creates a vivid protagonist in Sammy, whose speech patterns and world-view keep you turning the pages. And you're cheering for Sammy the whole time. The storyline is bleak, as you'd guess, and it ends on a depressing note, as you'd also guess. Good noir always has you hoping for an optimistic ending despite knowing the whole time that there is n...more "I reckon I always had been huntin' for a place to plant my feet and go down swinging." Masterful use of voice in this slice of "country noir." Woodrell creates a vivid protagonist in Sammy, whose speech patterns and world-view keep you turning the pages. And you're cheering for Sammy the whole time. The storyline is bleak, as you'd guess, and it ends on a depressing note, as you'd also guess. Good noir always has you hoping for an optimistic ending despite knowing the whole time that there is no way it can turn out well. This book was no exception to that rule. But check out the vivid prose, here, it's just spot-on and perfect. This is how it opens, with one incredible sentence:

"You're no angel, you know how this stuff comes to happen: Friday is payday and it's been a gray day sogged by a slow ugly rain and you seek company in your gloom, and since you're fresh to West Table, Mo., and a new hand at the dog-food factory, your choices for company are narrow but you find some finally in a trailer court on East Main, and the coed circle of bums gathered there spot you a beer, then a jug of tequila starts to rotate and the rain keeps comin' down with a miserable bluesy beat and there's two girls millin' about that probably can be had but they seem to like certain things and crank is one of those certain things, and a fistful of party straws tumble from a woven handbag somebody brung, the crank gets cut into lines, and the next time you notice the time it's three or four Sunday mornin' and you ain't slept since Thursday night and one of the girl voices, the one you want most and ain't had yet though her teeth are the size of shoe-peg corn and look like maybe they'd taste sort of sour, suggests something to do, 'cause with crank you want something, anything, to do, and this cajoling voice suggests we all rob this certain house on this certain street in that rich area where folks can afford to wallow in their vices and likely have a bunch of recreational dope stashed around the mansion and goin' to waste since an article in The Scroll said the rich people whisked off to France or some such on a noteworthy vacation.

That's how it happens.

Can't none of this be new to you."(less)

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May 29, 2011 Jamie Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

holy crap - this book was good. i haven't felt this way about a book in a long time. i wouldn't really call it crime fiction (though there's plenty of crime), it's more like strange, wonderful outsider art in fiction form. being inside Sammy's head is a place i would never think i'd want to go, but i loved being there. i think i understand the world a little better now. and the writing, oh my gosh. i don't usually like it when writers take liberties with words (i'm incredibly literal) but the wa...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, good-cover, fiction-lit

Ever since leaving Missouri, where I lived for one crappy year, I've been intrigued by books set there. If I'd read them while still in the state, I'd probably have become depressed because they tend to ring so true. Tomato Red dragged up all my distaste for Missouri. It also made me feel sympathy for the characters even when I thought them total idiots or when I got all righteous about the way others in the book treated them. I kept thinking, I know that rich neighborhood. I know that new jail....more

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May 29, 2012 Rob Kitchin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tomato Red reads a bit like a social realist play, with its gritty realism and harsh truths, and small cast of well drawn characters. The dialogue and interactions between Sammy, Jamalee, Jason and Bev is pitch perfect, and Woodrell does an admirable job of immersing the reader in their world. As ever, the prose is nicely crafted, and Woodrell has a deft hand for turning expressive phrasing and sharing interesting observations and insights into social relations. Where the book falls a little sho...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Sorenconard rated it 4 of 5 stars

A great book at most times, Daniel Woodrell obvisouly knows how to excel at telling stories about the hard times of petty criminals and dysfunctinal families of the Ozarks. Tomatoe Red is no different. Woodrell is an exceptional writer.............But...................I am not sure if I can say he nailed the first person voice of this story. The guy is a un motivated, drug user from rural alabama which woodrell is able to voice well except for these glaring sentences that killl the tone of the...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Tfitoby rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: black-as-night, lit

It's been labelled Country Noir but in reality Daniel Woodrell writes mouth watering literature in a noir mileau with a touch of the Thompson/Cain existentialism.

Set in a small Ozark town, a setting familiar to you if you've already discovered the wonder that is Daniel Woodrell, Tomato Red is the story of Sammy, Bev, Jam and Jay; how they come together and how they dissipate, how they live and how they dream.

Woodrell sets the scene with great effect from the off, filling your mind with descripti...more It's been labelled Country Noir but in reality Daniel Woodrell writes mouth watering literature in a noir mileau with a touch of the Thompson/Cain existentialism.

Set in a small Ozark town, a setting familiar to you if you've already discovered the wonder that is Daniel Woodrell, Tomato Red is the story of Sammy, Bev, Jam and Jay; how they come together and how they dissipate, how they live and how they dream.

Woodrell sets the scene with great effect from the off, filling your mind with descriptive passages that you could only dream about writing yourself. Interlacing the horror with the humour in this Ozark reality from the point of view of Sammy, a lonely man who has turned to crank and house breaking in an attempt to win friends and influence people, you are taken on a whirlwind journey that would not be out of place in a novel from John Steinbeck. And that is the real talent of Woodrell's early novel, disguising his important literary work in an easily accessible genre framework.

The four main characters are all interesting and very well written, their differing approach towards life captured in the (what I can only assume to be) perfect and honest manner of their speach and behaviour. These are real people whose weaknesses and faults are painted in burned out neon but you can't help but feel affection towards them, the way they accept their failings and make them work for their own benefit.

If you want an action packed plot, or even an acknowledged story arc you're probably best to stay away from this one. The narrative meanders around, letting you get to know the town and the people, watches relationships develop until you feel as though you too are a resident of Venus Holler and then it ends. These are my favourite kind of stories, ones without an obvious once upon a time beginning or the definitive closure that has come to be expected in Western fiction; this is a slice of Ozark life, it existed before you arrived and it will keep going long after you close the book for the final time.(less)

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Jan 05, 2011 Victor Corral rated it 3 of 5 stars

A good, short read. It's a gritty, dirty little story set in the Ozarks with some unsavory but endearing characters. Woodrell, who wrote "Winter's Bone," writes some beautiful, stark prose that at times has a tinge of philosophy and sparks of wild-eyed energy. Most of the characters are well developed, and while the plot and story is solid, I felt the ending was abrupt and incomplete, as if the last 50 or 100 pages of the original manuscript were cut down to a page. I felt that he could have tak...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Ted rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm starting to really like Daniel Woodrell as a writer. This is the second of his books that I have read - the first being Winter's Bone. I didn't think this one was quite as good as Winter's Bone but still a great read. I like that it is written in the first person. It allows you to become more involved in the main characters and to have sympathy for these group of small crime losers. You feel especially for the narrator as you understand what makes him tick and share the same anger with the p...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: missouri-author, lgbt, nxt-chapter, the-ozarks

I always love reading books that are set near the place where I grew up, and Woodrell does an amazing job of portraying lower-middle-class life in the Ozarks. I love the way he writes with the slang and bad grammar that's typical in this area but weaves some beautiful imagery and unique metaphors into it. This story plainly demonstrates how desperate and unfair life can be in poor rural areas--in some ways, the situation is similar to that of the inner city. I also like that the author makes his...more

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About Daniel Woodrell

Growing up in Missouri, seventy miles downriver from Hannibal, Mark Twain was handed to me early on, first or second grade, and captivated me for years, and forever, I reckon. Robert Louis Stevenson had his seasons with me just before my teens and I love him yet. There are too many others to mention, I suppose, but feel compelled to bring up Hemingway, James Agee, Flannery O'Connor, John McGahern,...more

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Books by Daniel Woodrell

The Bayou Trilogy: Under the Bright Lights, Muscle for the Wing, and The Ones You Do

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Quotes from Tomato Red

“I had been born shoved to the margins of the world, sure, but I had volunteered for the pits.” — 2 people liked it

“I think one of our cardinal fuckups is how we insist that even vicious whimsical crazy shit needs to make sense, add up, belong to a reason. We lay this pain on ourselves--there must be a reason behind this horror, there must, but I ain't adequate to findin' it, and that's my fault, so torture me some more.” — 2 people liked it

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