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.
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.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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5 May, 2012:
Finished reading
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5 May, 2012:
Reviewed