Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)I greatly enjoyed Proulx' Close Range collection of short stories,
and Bad Dirt (subtitled "Wyoming Stories 2") is a very worthy
encore. The Close Range stories gave a wonderful flavor to the
rural areas of the state, the people, the land, the warm and the
rough sides, both past and present. Some of the stories were
humorous, others were harrowing, some were a whimsical mix. You'll
find just the same mix (and a bit more) in Bad Dirt. You start off
with a 12-page story about Game & Fish Warden Creel Zmundzinski (who
turns up again in a couple of more stories) that begins in a nice
straightforward fashion, and then takes off into a kind of
humorous Proulx-Stephen King joint venture (or perhaps
Proulx-King-Carl Hiaassen).
Several stories center on the residents and the 3 bars in the tiny
town of Elk City: I very much like reading another of Proulx'
short stories when I feel that I already know the characters well
(one of these is a kind of Proulx-Hiaassen mix involving rental
alligators--it sounds bizarre, but the story works in a truly
delightful way).
The best of the stories is The Wamsutter Wolf, and runs about 35
pages. Buddy Millar lives in a $40/month rental housetrailer
5 miles out from the center of a small boomtown (almost all
trailers). You don't get much for your $40 a month. His only
neighbors live close by in an even grungier trailer--a bully who
beat him up in high school, his wife and passel of grungy young
kids, one of whom is a 4-year-old alcoholic (his father believes
that learning to drink young avoids the problems that come with
learning later). This is a horrifying and harrowing story--
stronger than anything I remember in Close Range. It's very
tough, utterly realistic, and it left me wanting to see it
expanded to about 300 pages as a novel.
Annie Proulx and William Gay (I Hate To See The Evening Sun Go
Down) are the two best short-story writers I've read in many
years--and both write excellent novels as well.

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Love, Sex and Tractors Review

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(More customer reviews)Roger shows an intense depth of understanding of relationships, women, humor, and family life. When my girlfriend caught me reading it the first evening it came, she took it from me out of curiosity and wouldnt let me have it back! Dont buy this book if you have anything else to do. Once you open, and begin to read, you will not be able to put it down! He has many others and Im told they are equally desirable. I intend to get them all.

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Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch Review

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(More customer reviews)O'Brien's quest for meaning in life, as defined by his relationship with the land and the animals that call it home, continues here. In his previous novel, Equinox, he explored the dichotomy in his life between the pull of the wild, and the demands of a stable relationship that required more than he was able to give. In Buffalo for the Broken Heart, we find him feeling lost and ruddlerless, both in his personal and financial life, as he struggles to get past a failed marriage and looming financial disaster.
As O'Brien gradually comes to the conclusion that buffalo are the logical answer to his dilemma, it becomes clear that they are stand for a balance and wholeness he has been trying to restore to his land and his inner landscape as well. The story, as it unfolds, is full of the personal details of Great Plains life, and the honest self-exploration that make O'Brien's books a pleasure to read. As so often happens, his inner doubts and fears are reflected in the events and lives around him. The weather is unpredictable, farm costs rise, friends go bankrupt, he is beset by worries over the buffalos he has purchased, the list goes on and on until by the end of the novel, O'Brien comes to tenuous terms with his land and his new means of making a living. The buffalo are not the final answer, but it is clear that they have helped him find another piece of the puzzle he is working so hard to solve.

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