I love Ron Rash's writing. It is beautiful in description, lyrical, and in many ways poetic. The stories in this book are good stories, but also sad stories. I'm not looking for a book of fluff, just some hope thrown into some of the stories. ( )

Great set of short stories and I don't like to read short stories, but Ron Rash is such a great writer, I will read a collection anytime I find one. Best line "varying degress of misfortune" ( )

Not nearly as good as his short stories in "Burning Bright," IMO. ( )

Ron Rash's short stories have a fullness and heft that seems incredibly rare in short stories. With most collections, I can enjoy all of the stories, but still move from one to the next without feeling like I need to take a breath in between; Rash's stories, though, so often carry the weight of novels. Each one is a full world unto itself, so that you want to pause after reading even the short ones and consider the characters/world you've just been allowed to fall into.

And beyond the undoubted reality of the Appalachia portrayed in these stories, there's a gorgeousness to the prose that can't be denied. It's worth sinking into even as it stuns with simple truth.

I don't have favorites in this collection--so many of the stories are worth not just reading, but re-reading. I'd absolutely recommend it; this is the best of what short story collections should be. ( )

I'm not a short story fan, but really like the writing of Ron Rash. Some of these were thought provoking, some ok. At least one has been spun out into a full length novel (now a movie.) ( )