This collection, published in 2007 and a PEN/Faulkner award finalist, was an interesting contrast to Rash's more recent story collection, which I read and reviewed recently. The stories here would certainly be described as gritty and a bit on the dark side, but were nowhere near as dark as those in Burning Bright, which were gloomy to the point of depressing. As with all of Rash's other works, at least those I have read, they are set in the Appalachian (western) end of North Carolina, across various time periods, and reflect the lives of the rural poor who inhabit the area. Often very poor. Drinking, drug use, unemployment and the other trappings of poverty play heavily in these stories.
Two stories in particular were of interest to me, and not because of what they were, but because of what they became. "Speckled Trout" was an O. Henry award winning story in 2005, and is contained here in its original form. That story would be greatly altered and expanded to become the 2006 novel The World Made Straight. Likewise, the story "Pemberton's Bride" from 2007 would go on to become my favorite book of 2009, Serena. In both cases, it is fascinating to me to see the seeds of ideas from which two very good novels grew.
4 stars out of 5. Very good.
Books read in 2010: 22 [totalling 5,002 pages]
New authors: 14 [unchanged]
Published in 2010: 13 [unchanged]
Classics: still 3
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