An uneven collection, but that tends to be the case with most short story collections in my experience. The first two stories are worth the price of admission, but then they get progressively less memorable. ( )

I don't have a copy of the book. So far I've only read "Strays," and it was pretty amazing though depressing as anything.

This is, for the most part, an impressive array of Southern short stories. Each one carved out in their own unique space with distinct points-of-view, expressions and phrasing. "On the Rope" is an account of a man who is hired to drag for corpses and "This is Us, Excellent" is told from the POV of a boy with an abusive father and a petulance for a carnival ride, The Rocket Spin. Both these narratives definitely stood out to me as stellar examples Richard's style. I wouldn't begrudge anyone for giving it five stars or three for that matter, Richard is clearly a writer with an ear for language and depth of story but I think many reader's might be put off by the dense style and language of some of the collection. ( )

Probably my favorite short story collection.
( )

very dark...