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From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author of The Shipping News and Accordion Crimes comes one of the most celebrated short-story collections of our time.
Annie Proulx's masterful language and fierce love of Wyoming are evident in these breathtaking tales of loneliness, quick violence, and the wrong kinds of love. Each of the stunning portraits in Close Range reveals characters fiercely wrought with precision and grace.
These are stories of desperation and unlikely elation, set in a landscape both stark and magnificent -- by an author writing at the peak of her craft.
Pulitzer Prize-winner E. Annie Proulx forays through the underside of America's beloved Wild West in Close Range, a collection of stories about hardship and more hardship in Wyoming territory. Understanding that the West's infinite spaces tended to inspire neither introspection nor contemplation, but a violent and insatiable restlessness, Proulx's eight stories are dark reflections on the lives of a handful of characters striving to define themselves against the unforgiving landscapes. The three professional actors chosen to read the text give strong, resounding interpretations of the macabre tales. (Running time: 6 hours, 4 cassettes) --Natasha Senjanovich
Get it!!Reviewed by MO Clementine, 2009-12-11
I gave this book as a gift. It is still one of the best I have ever read. Annie Proulx will make you very disappointed with any other author you read next. If you love the West and especially Wyoming, this book is a must.
Wyoming StoriesReviewed by Carol Schlotterbeck, 2009-11-18
I bought this as a Christmas gift last year at the receipient's request. He wanted it.
.....yawn....Reviewed by Margaret Kohut, 2009-07-12
I bought this book to read the much-lauded "Brokeback Mountain" on a dare from my nephew who calls it "Brokebutt Mountain." NO we are not anti-gay so don't start! This book is simply not in the same league as "The Shipping News." Proulx does not know my neighbors in Wyoming and it shows in this collection; she changes views of us westerners faster than Michael Jackson changed noses! I just hope she leaves Montana alone....
Beginning Writers: Take Note Of This AuthorReviewed by Dog Res Q.R., 2009-07-03
I ordered this book after watching "Brokeback Mountain" for the
umpteenth time (I am an athiest conservative, but hold nothing
against homosexuality whatsoever.) So I bought that book, then
Close Range which I cannot put down!
I just got back from Wyoming last week, taking a gastrointestinal
route of that state (the entire interior.) Sure wish I'd read the
book first, the people in the state I would have paid more
attention to. I did go to Ucross which Proulx loves and where she
wrote Brokeback; some areasof Ucross were scouted as settings for
Brokeback. I can see why anyone would love that place.I sat in the
road on a perfect morning while a cattle drive crossed, then drove
slowly on the road with the cattle close enough to touch, impressed
by the young "cowkids" driving the herd. Heady! However, like
Proulx, the winters make me shy away from ever living there (miles
and miles of snow fences bear testimony about winter!)
Proulx's metaphors, similies, descriptions are genius. Such as
cigar shaped clouds over a mountain and the moon coming up under a
cloud wearing a toupee. You say to yourself, why didn't I see that?
And then you start looking at nature and the world more intensely,
as Proulx does.
Like others, I had trouble understanding some sentences, couldn't
figure out what the ancient cowboy/rancher jargon meant, even
though I live in Nevada cow country. Some sentences I had no idea
what she meant. But 95% of the book is magnificent prose and
narrative. Beginner writers, use this woman to learn from.
Not only does she produce great writing, the big point of writing
is producing a book you simply cannot put down. I am addicted to
Proulx and am in the process of scarfing up all her books.
Worth every penny, and worth the waitReviewed by Iya G. De Santos, 2009-01-22
I have wanted to read this collection ever since I first picked up "The Shipping News" many years ago, but it was never available in the bookstores where I live. When the film, Brokeback Mountain, was released, the short story was reprinted singly, but I still didn't buy it because I wanted to read the entire collection. I haven't even seen the movie because I wanted to read the story first. After purchasing it here (and finishing it just a few minutes ago) I must say it was worth every penny and the years of waiting. While the other stories are great, Brokeback Mountain truly stands out, and in my opinion takes its place as one of the greatest love stories of this century. Haunting and beautiful, Annie Proulx shows us that while love may have many different faces, it only has one heart, one that everyone who has ever loved will share.
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