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 Buddhist monks in their blood orange robes came in and ordered tea. The monks were all small and catty and gave off an aura of muscular strength like rodeo riders. After they left, Hard Winter Ulph said, "Wouldn't want a git on the wrong side a them boys."

A couple of stories in this collection cross the line into magical realism. Annie Proulx can mix black existentialism with humor and the paranormal and it works.