Description:
Twelve timeless Ozarkian tales of those on the fringes of society
Daniel Woodrell is able to lend uncanny logic to harsh, even criminal behavior in this wrenching collection of stories. Desperation-both material and psychological-motivates his characters. A husband cruelly avenges the killing of his wife's pet; an injured rapist is cared for by a young girl until she reaches her breaking point; a disturbed veteran of Iraq is murdered for his erratic behavior; an outsider's house is set on fire by an angry neighbor.
There is also the tenderness and loyalty of the vulnerable in these stories-between spouses, parents and children, siblings, and comrades in arms-which brings the troubled, sorely tested cast of characters to vivid, relatable life.
Brief description:
Daniel Woodrell lives in the Missouri Ozarks near the Arkansas state line. His five most recent novels were selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and Tomato Red won the PEN West Award for the Novel. Two novels have been adapted as major motion pictures: Woe to Live On, filmed in 1999 by Ang Lee as Ride with the Devil, starring Tobey Maguire and Skeet Ulrich, and Winter's Bone, a 2010 film accepted to the US dramatic competition category at the Sundance Film Festival.
Review Quotes:
Despite the roughness of the content, Woodrell has a poet's sense of how to turn a phrase.
-- "Esquire"