Out of the Woods

by Chris Offutt

Seven years ago, Chris Offutt made his literary debut with Kentucky Straight, a fiercely original collection that earned him not only critical praise but many prestigious awards.
The eight new stories in Out of the Woods mark Offutt's return to the form in which he first displayed his astonishing talent. Offutt, who draws landscape and constructs dialogue with the eyes and ears of a native son (The Miami Herald), is on strong home turf here, capturing those who have left the Kentucky hills and long to return. These are stories of gravediggers and drifters, gamblers and truck drivers a long way from home, tales that are so full of hard edges they can't help but tell some hard truth

• ISBN10: 0684853760
• ISBN13: 9780684853765
• Publish Date: 22 February 2000 (first published 26 January 1999)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 178
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

Just what I thought after The Good Brother, the shorter format lends to sharper senses. Full of the codes of the hills, what sticks in your bones when you try to leave it, the good view of death (no fear of it but healthy respect). Favorite was “Target Practice,” where a man doesn’t have his father’s respect until he shoots him. Great stuff.