jamiereadthis
Written on May 5, 2012
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The eight new stories in "Out of the Woods" mark Offutt's return to the form in which he first displayed his astonishing talent. In "Tough People, " luck wins out over love in an unconventional prizefight. In "Barred Owl, " when a bird strays too far from home and fatally loses its way, the Kentuckian who covets its pelt meets an identical fate. In "Target Practice, " a man can't earn his father's respect until he shoots him with a rifle. These are stories of gravediggers and drifters, gamblers and truck drivers a long way from home, tales so full of hard edges that they can't help but tell some hard truths.