Rust and Bone: Stories

by Craig Davidson

“Enough incident, shock, and suspense for a dozen books. . . . Filled with stories you haven’t heard before.”―Bret Easton Ellis In steel-tipped prose, Craig Davidson conjures a savage world populated by fighting dogs, prizefighters, sex addicts, and gamblers. In his title story, Davidson introduces an afflicted boxer whose hand never properly heals after a bone is broken. The fighter's career descends to bouts that have less to do with sport than with survival: no referee, no rules, not even gloves. In "A Mean Utility" we enter an even more desperate arena: dogfights where Rottweilers, pit bulls, and Dobermans fight each other to the death.

Davidson's stories are small monuments to the telling detail. The hostility of his fictional universe is tempered by the humanity he invests in his characters and by his subtle and very moving observations of their motivations. He shares with Chuck Palahniuk the uncanny ability to compel our attention, time and time again, to the most difficult subject matter.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Canada, Contemporary, Noir, Horror, Gritty

250 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Craig Davidson is a Canadian author of short stories and novels, who has published work under both his own name and the pen names Patrick Lestewka and Nick Cutter

Born in Toronto, Ontario, he was raised in Calgary and St. Catharines.

His first short story collection, Rust and Bone, was published in September 2005 by Penguin Books Canada, and was a finalist for the 2006 Danuta Gleed Literary Award. Stories in Rust and Bone have also been adapted into a play by Australian playwright Caleb Lewis and a film by French director Jacques Audiard.

Davidson also released a novel in 2007 named The Fighter. During the course of his research of the novel, Davidson went on a 16-week steroid cycle. To promote the release of the novel, Davidson participated in a fully sanctioned boxing match against Toronto poet Michael Knox at Florida Jack's Boxing Gym; for the novel's subsequent release in the United States, he organized a similar promotional boxing match against Jonathan Ames. Davidson lost both matches.

His 2013 novel Cataract City was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Reviews

[Basileia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Ufff, realmente es un libro muy bestia. Hay historias que me han revuelto las tripas y otras que me han enternecido. Un maremágnum de sensaciones difícil de puntuar.

[Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno de los mejores libros de relatos que he leído, muy Palahniuk, suficiente para darle 5 estrellas.

[Charly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno de los mejores libros de cuentos que he leído en mi vida. Potente, directo al mentón, extraño, es como condensar varias novelas de Chuck Pahluniak pero mejor escritas.