Lawrence's review
Knockemstiff
by Donald Ray Pollock
Lawrence's review
Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock
Lawrence's review
rating:
Wow, very bleak stories about down and out people in a small town that has little to offer its residents and diminishing prospects for each successive generation. These are stories of people who can't get a break and just keep making it worse for themselves. You have to take a breather after each story. But there's some painfully beautiful writing, a keen turn of phrase that hits the bullseye in describing the character, situation, feeling. This guy can write. And, I think in the final story that interestingly takes us back almost to where we began he offers a little spark of hope, however fragile and potentially weak enough not to catch that it is. Nevertheless, it's there and that's what counts.
