book data
418 ratings, 3.91 average rating, 51 reviews
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published
September 20th 2005
by Scribner
binding
Paperback, 240 pages
isbn
0743260147
(isbn13: 9780743260145)
description
Annie Proulx's new collection is peopled by characters who struggle with circumstances beyond their control. Born to ranching, drawn to it, or des...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 564)
Read in January, 2006
The cover blurb on my paperback copy proclaims Proulx's work to be in the spirit of Mark Twain, and while I doubt I'd've come up with that myself, it is spot on, especially here. Proulx has a dark sense of humor which blends perfectly with the landscape she paints of the New West. Her characters are incredibly alive, flaws and all. Personal favorite in this collection: "The Trickle Down Effect" wherein the main character is hired to haul hay from Wisconsin to Wyoming, only just past th...more
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Read in April, 2005
Uneven collection of short stories by one of our finest writers working in long and short fiction. Successful entertainments like “The Hellhole” and “The Contest” are matched with less successful ones like “The Old Badger Game,” along with a few more substantive stories like “The Indian War Refought,” “Man Crawling Out of Trees,” and “The Wamsutter Wolf.” The meatier stories mix people from different worlds (geographic, cultural, or social) on the same grim Wyoming landsc...more
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Read in January, 2006
A book of short stories from a writer I think is one of the most technically gifted writers alive. Her Pulitzer-winner Shipping News is one of my favorite books of all time, and I’ve read all but one of her books. Unfortunately, this book only reflects glimpses of her strengths. The short stories in this collection are uneven, and overall not to the level of sharpness that I am accustomed to from Annie Proulx. The writing in these stories is labored and often overdone. One story is written (...more
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Read in November, 2008
I only have Brokeback Mountain to compare these stories to, as this was the only story I read in Close Range (Wyoming Stories 1). It's an incredibly powerful story, and one that totally eclipses anything in Bad Dirt. Overall, this collection was disappointing. From the reviews I've read, it's supposed to be the weakest of the three Wyoming collections. Many of the stories, set in the town of Elk Tooth, have a light, humorous, and often magical air to them -- in one, a tea kettle gr...more
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Read in January, 2008
Favorite character's names:
Creel Zmundzinski, Warden Orion Horncrackle, Reverend Jefford J. Pecker, A horse called Dull Knife, Plato Bucklew, Crisp Braid, Condor Figg, Wiregrass Cokendall, Apollo Wham, Pliers and Rammy, Ulysses Straw Bird, Hard Winter Ulph.
"The patrons of Pee Wee's prided themselves on their sangfroid. They stayed cool when strangers invaded the bar, but took in every nuance of outlandish behavior and speech for later discussion. No one had blinked when five Tibetan...more
Creel Zmundzinski, Warden Orion Horncrackle, Reverend Jefford J. Pecker, A horse called Dull Knife, Plato Bucklew, Crisp Braid, Condor Figg, Wiregrass Cokendall, Apollo Wham, Pliers and Rammy, Ulysses Straw Bird, Hard Winter Ulph.
"The patrons of Pee Wee's prided themselves on their sangfroid. They stayed cool when strangers invaded the bar, but took in every nuance of outlandish behavior and speech for later discussion. No one had blinked when five Tibetan...more
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Read in July, 2006
Annie Proulx's stories are about the gritty life in Wyoming. All of characters seem to be anchored to the land. She has a keen eye for place. In this volume many of her stories take place in Elk Tooth, a town of just 80 souls but having three bars: Pee Wee's, Muddy's Hole, and the Silver Tip. In the story "The Contest", the contest in question begins as a beard-growing contest and some people take it very seriously. The opening story in the collection "The Hellhole f...more
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Close Range was much better. Bad Dirt reminds me of why I didn't like Proulx before.
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Her stories are often dangerous: quite a few times, I almost choked on food, gasping; frequently gave myself superficial burns due to multiple spilling episodes of hot beverages while idiotically thinking I could read her stories without breaking out in bodyshaking laughs or repetitive chanting of ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod. I should not even mention the complete disruption of already fragile sleeping schedule that will happen when you force yourself to stay up late to finish one more story. Just ...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Fans of Annie Proulx
I know that this is a short story collection and all the stories are Wyoming, and they all show the characters' relationship to their land, they still seem a bit disparate to me. She makes strong and witty observations and can very funny. I loved when one guy characterized NPR's CAR TALK as 10 minutes of cars and the rest Hyena howling and checking how people that call in spell their first name. When the book was finished, I didn't feel that I had really learned something--which I have come t...more
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Read in September, 2007
Never read any of Proulx's stories before, and typically I don't get into westerns... These short stories aren't typically "western" either; they are particularly contemporary, but still about life in the west.
There's something about the voice here that appeals to me. I think what I appreciate about these stories is that everything is understated, from simple plots to characters of few words to the sparse Wyoming landscape. And her sense of humor is sharp! This makes me want to r...more
There's something about the voice here that appeals to me. I think what I appreciate about these stories is that everything is understated, from simple plots to characters of few words to the sparse Wyoming landscape. And her sense of humor is sharp! This makes me want to r...more
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It's a mistake to think that Ms. Proulx just writes depressing stories about tragic people in remote places: it's just those are the only stories of hers that get made into movies. Sure she's got a firm hand with sob stories, but she's also whip-smart with a tall tale and pinpoint accurate with details like characters who are such yuppies that they get married in a cow barn which the farmer rents to them for five grand.
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This book took a little time to get into. I'm not big on collections of short stories, but I was pleasantly surprised at the way common themes and characters appeared provided a thread of consistency throughout the book. It made me think of the way people live in places with a sparse population and a large open spaces. The same people and ideas are in the periphery of everyone's life.
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Read in February, 2008
A well written book that unfortunately is filled with rather uninteresting stories. A fast read as it's a collection of short stories, although reading the whole book makes parts rather repetitive as many of the short stories have some of the same backgrounds, locations, or characters, yet Proulx describes them over again as if one were reading about them for the first time.
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Read in October, 2008
I don't normally read books of short stories - I just find them strangely undernourishing. But when thee writer is as technically skillful and funny as Annie Proulx, I can make exceptions. Some of these stories are satisfying in themselves, and yes, the standard varies. But the best ones leave you gasping for more - how can they end so soon? One of my favourite writers.
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Read in November, 2007
Annie Proulx writes so sharply that she defines her characters with what feels like a razor's edge.
This isn't a collection of happy stories about a West that never existed; it's a collection of taut essays about a hardscrabble life. Excellent writing, if not always the easiest stuff to read.
This isn't a collection of happy stories about a West that never existed; it's a collection of taut essays about a hardscrabble life. Excellent writing, if not always the easiest stuff to read.
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Read in January, 2008
I liked it. Her writing is sparse in content but stylistically rich. I have been enjoying the short story format; interesting how it can do different things than a novel, and I've always considered novels somehow "better." These stories sort of didn't make sense sometimes but created a powerful feeling.
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Read in June, 2008
Annie Proulx continues to amaze me with her ability to create all sorts of characters and to bring various places to life. For an avid reader of stories of the West (that excludes California, which, as we all know, is West of the West (thanks TR)), these tales of Wyoming are pure treasure.
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Read in January, 2006
After all the many discussions about Brokeback Mountain, I decided to read both of Annie Proulx's collections of short stories. I thought bad dirt was wonderful - wise, funny, and sometimes a little wicked. Proulx nails people with all their insecurities and shortcomings.
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Read in September, 2007
same author who wrote brokeback mountain. she writes beautifully about the west, which is my secret love. this book is a bunch of short stories, making it good for before bed reading, travel reading, or bank line reading, etc.
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Read in September, 2008
Bad Dirt grew on me with every story. At the end I was sad, and wishing for just 1 more!
I really liked the way the characters build and return, I will definitely be on the look out for more of her stories.
I really liked the way the characters build and return, I will definitely be on the look out for more of her stories.
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