So here's the thing: This book came highly recommended, so I went into it with high expectations (always a surefire way to ruin a book) and I knew from the get-go that it's not the kind of book I tend to love (subject matter, whathaveyou) but is more a kind of a book that I might learn something from, technically, structurally, or otherwise.
The verdict: Damn. Double-damn. Donald Ray Pollock can write short stories that knock you off your feet. I have not had this experience in a long time (not since Roy Kesey's collection) and I'm jumpy and anxious to share these stories with anyone who will read them. These are tough characters with ugly lives, wayward folks who seem always to make the wrong, often terribly disturbing, choices. Oh, but the way they do it is fantastic.
Lovely surprise: This collection of stories features characters from all over Knockemstiff. While there is roughly one story primarily devoted to each character, they tend to appear in other stories as well...often years later. In a roundabout way, you get more information, more history and more "story" about a character in story #8, even though they were introduced in story #1. A very lovely technique and it really works here (sometimes this kind of thing can feel a bit forced) because it allows you to see the 30-year arc of a person, rather than just the immediate situation of one story.
This is really brilliant writing and I'm thrilled to have had the chance to read his work. I can't wait to see what he does next.
