Each story is like a shot of bourbon
924376
First-rate, inventive, mind-bending fiction. Each story is like a shot of bourbon, short and strong, with subtle and surprising flavors.
137971
You can finish this set of stories in one sitting because that's how much you keep wanting to hear from these little bizarre worlds that Pappas creates, or you can let the characters of each story sit and fester with you, like I did over the course of a month.  In just a few sentences each new story had me immediately transported and all at once shaming or celebrating the next protagonist.  And I say fester in the best way. Even with short glimpses into their realities - like in The Will, my favorite story - you know that there is a whole back story, upbringing, or world calamity that has caused a particular turn of phrase used specifically at the moment by that character.  The intentionality of this writing is wonderful and will keep you reading.
1730072
From the preface:

"Since 1992, Texas actors have a theater audience as part of the literary series "Arts and Letters Live" at the Dallas Museum of Art. Out of the great success of these readings has come the impulse to publish this book, which collects nearly all the short fiction featured to date in the project, "Texas Bound."

Each story is a delicious treat that illustrates a different aspect of Texas and its peoples. I say 'peoples' because Texas is quite diverse ethnically and many of its residents are from out of state. Here you'll find license plates that scream "Native Born Texan" and others that answer back with "Not From Texas... But I got here as fast as I could."

There are so many unique and interesting stories to be told about  Texas and this book collects 19 great ones. The short story format makes the reading easy to break up into tasty portions. Each short story is so different that the book becomes more refreshing as you finish each one.

Many of the stories talk about quirky people doing humorous things. The first story, "Antlers" by Rick Bass, throws a dozen or so deer-hunting men and an obsessed bow-hunter against an attractive female who was dead set against hunting in any form. I laughed my way through this story.  Here's a selection:

"Suzie has sandy-red hair, high cold cheeks, and fury-blue eyes; she is short, no taller than anyone's shoulders. But because most of us had known her for so long - and this is what the other men had told me after she'd left them - it was fun, and even stirring, but it wasn't really that great. There wasn't a lot of heat in it for most of them - not the dizzying, lost feeling kind you get sometimes when you meet someone for the first time, or even glimpse them in passing, never to meet... That kind of heat was missing, said most of the men, and it was just comfortable, they said - comfortable."

The ninth story, "Good Rocking Tonite", by William Hauptman, is a quirky story told by a gynecologist about his brother, an Elvis impersonator. Here's the lead to the story:

"The year Elvis died was a strange year, and I remember it not only because of what happened to my brother, Bubba, but because that was the year we had our first transexual here in Nortex."

The story goes on to tell the wild tales of the ner-do-well Elvis impersonator: his travels in small town shows across Texas, his loves with Elvis-groupies, and his disasters that sometimes spilled upon his gynecologist brother.

Most of the short stories are light-hearted.  Not all are acceptable for middle and high school students. That's a shame because each story is such a delight.

Larry McMurtry of Lonesome Dove fame has contributed one of the stories, "There Will Be Peace in Korea."

If you are interested in Texas, you'll love the stories.

John Dunbar

Sugar Land, TX
1726507
Stray Dogs is an amazing collection of stories that focus not on long complicated cons, but on a bunch of losers banging around on the wrong side of the tracks.  These aren't stories of inherently clever psychopaths or notorious femme Fatales.  These are stories of small town guys who joined the army and end up doing long haul trucking.  Their teeth are rotting away.  These are stories of guys wandering the streets of Key West with their dog, hoping to score with some girl whose bursting like sunset from under a cloud.  These are stories of strung-out folks in a rain-soaked hell.  Then, there are the bullies who year people's lives apart and the guys who get Charles Atlas results overnight and become the bully.  There's nothing candy-coated here.  Death isn't quick, but rough and bloody and gunky.  There's the guy who thinks he might as well rip off the local liquor store.  It's a world filled with drunks, rotting meth mouths, and dirtbag old whores.  There's a few poems and prose thrown in but mainly it's about dudes growing up in trailers behind gas stations.
331463
Doll Palace is such a brilliant collection, I really cant believe its Saras debut. In each of these twenty-three totally fresh stories, she demonstrates her gift of being able to write pieces that are often witty, sad, strange, and thought-provoking all at once. On top of that, the stories are beautifully written. There are so many great, sharp lines, and Ive always been a sucker for great lines. She gives us lines like, I get it, weve got to live, but a grown man on fudge is one sick glimpse of humanity and A maze of pockmarks weaved along my jaw and neck, overgrown with facial hair but still warranting my Xanax prescription. Sara is one of those writers whose work I invariably like, and I look forward to more.
1046538
The first story in this book almost made me put it down and made me want to write it off. However by the second story, Chavisa Woods had me hooked till the end. Like most anthology books, there are ups and downs in the story line up and some will leave you wishing there were more pages to read, while others will make you feel like the couldn't end soon enough.

The stories are a mix of both reality-based and some X-Files-ish supernatural components. The stories are generally told from a young woman from a small rural town escaped to the big city point of view. Most of the stories flow well, but they do often feel like non-sequitors having no common theme  between the stories. This is literally a simple collection of stories bound together by the author and not much else. If you're a short story fan, this is a nice little book to add to your shelves.
2570005
Short story anthologies are like buck shot someone once told me. Some stories will hit a few people, some will be bullseye, and some will miss people all together.

This collection was a bullseye for me.

The very first story is gripping and had me from the first page. The author writes a unique flavor of horror. This is not a splatter, blood, and guts collection of horror stories. Reading his work was more like watching an old Twilight Zone episode which was refreshing (I later found out in the author's notes, his stories have been characterized as before).

Each story has a steady flow that kept me engaged the whole read. I especially enjoyed the first story, "What Becomes God". I think it was the best of the collection.

When I finished, it reminded of me of the feeling I get when I am listening to the radio and a Led Zepplin song that I love and haven't heard in a while comes on. Excellent collection, highly recommended.
3539974
I guess Im hooked on Christine Sneeds writing, especially her short stories. Her new collection, The Virginity of Famous Men, consists of 13 stories that are loosely linked by themes such as: relationships gone stale, the perks and perils of celebrity, and growing older but wiser. A particular favorite was the last of the stories, which shares the same title as the book; it serves as something of an epilogue to Sneeds earlier novel, Little Known Facts, revisiting characters who are now determined to move beyond the family turmoil of the rich and famous. These stories are like a sampler box of fine chocolate truffles  limit yourself to one a day, and you'll stretch the pleasure of consuming them to nearly two weeks. Bon appetit.
739381
First the book itself. It's a very nicely bound hardcover with a superb cover painting and a nice surprise, some relevant and sometimes darkly humorous illustrations. The stories P.S. Gifford tells are tidbits in the style of classic, mostly "quiet" horror... but they are a twisted lot, certainly. Borrowing from the atmospheric canon and sometimes a voice reminiscent of Poe and Hawthorne and James, and blending in the spirit of Rod Serling (more Night Gallery than Twilight Zone, but both are in the ballpark), Gifford imbues his vignettes with a humorously cynical darkness that sticks with you. Whether presenting innocents faced with the prospect of tasting the "long pork," or women frustrated with a clueless or useless husband, or hapless criminals contemplating a crime beyond their abilities, or victims of Sad Fortune (and sometimes they are the same person), Gifford delivers the kind of story that jabs slivers under your nails or needles and pins in your eyes. The sharply drawn portraits are all the more effective for their overall brevity, with the longest running a half-dozen pages and some barely several pages, and delivering their tiny thrusts in just the right tone. While in some ways the narrative style is a throwback, it's (for instance) the sparse use of contractions that helps create the illusion and contributes to the morality play atmosphere of these explorations of human nature and its frequent inhumanity. Containing 33 short but sharp "chapters," among them such highlights as "The Pair of Boots," "The Mainlanders," "Raw Talent," "Watts for Dinner," and "The Gastronome," (food is a recurring theme, as is drink...) the collection of Curiously Twisted Tales will enhance any rainy evening's reading and leave a taste for more of P.S. Gifford's mystery stew and skewed view of us and the world we inhabit, hapless as we may be in our efforts to improve our lot in life. These Tales are a spicy taste to be savored.

- WD Gagliani, author of Savage Nights
2182800
Complimentary copy provided in exchange for honest review.

So, the last few years weve seen a bumper crop of paranormal stories, most notably with vampires as the main creature of the night. And sure, weve been swayed by the smooth talking Jean-Claude and Eric Northman; turned on yet slightly repulsed by Asher; and possibly wondered what the big fuss was about a sparkly vampire (or was that just me?)

Anyway, yeah, those stories were good; sometimes better than good, but they all seem to be somewhat the same: the pale yet ethereal, tall, slim but lean with hair better than a Pantene commercial model whose eyes can peer so deep into you he (or she) can see into your not-yet-anywhere-close-to-being born great-grandchildrens souls, who, at the beginning of the story is so foul and vile not even Hell wants them, but because of the genuine love of some poor, unsuspecting tasty little meal who they probably thralled along the way ends up the wonderful hero by the end of the book where angels are singing their praises. Sound like a familiar story line?

Let me introduce you to Herb, a somewhat less-than-average cook at Ronnies Famous Truck-stop, Grill, Bait Shop and Gift Emporium located in some small town in Wisconsin. Herb doesnt have it going on. At. All. He drives a Pinto and needs three different alarm clocks just to help him get up in the mornings. Through a weird twist of fate (and I mean weird), Herb becomes the newest citizen of the undead society. And oh what a journey it is! True to form, Herb doesnt experience the transformation of waking up 3 days later looking like a Calvin Klein underwear model. No, his transformation is more Tales from the Crypt than Americas Next Top Model.

Scott Burtness has given us a book with a definitely unique twist on the paranormal vampire story with one of the most untypical protagonist in Herb. Despite the changes in his body, there is still a bit of goodness left in him that he tries to hold onto; which isn't easy considering his best friend Dallas is becoming more and more suspicious of Herb, not to mention both Herb and Dallas are competing for the attentions of local waitress Lois.

The ending comes as somewhat of a shock, but given the overall unique quality of this story, it does seem to follow the unconventional route of endings. I cant wait to read the next book in the series and recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a decidedly one-of-a-kind vampire hero.
596859
Tremblay's 94-page novella is something of a tour de force: four stand-alone stories, in various voices and styles, which interlock in satisfying fashion in a mash-up of science fiction, horror, and noir.  All take place in the double milieu of City, a gritty urban environment, and Pier, the stripped coastal sequoia forest whose treetops somehow provide City's foundation.  (If this sounds surreal, wait until the balloons arrive.)  The hardboiled opener, "Meat's Story", gives us a mad-scientist weapons dealer, his hired muscle, a wayward son, and a dead druglord. "Dole As Ribbit" adds a doubting priest who mind-reads a demented homeless man at the behest of a corrupt cop. "The Strange Case of Nicholas Thomas," detailing the mysterious flotilla of balloons that arrives every 19 years, seems an outright homage to Borges (who also appreciated noir) with its library setting, its layered editorial pseudoscholarship, and its reality-bending implications.  Finally, "She Wants To Be Saved" picks up threads from previous stories and knots them in a tangle of blood and degradation, told backward, "Memento"-style. City Pier is preoccupied with fathers and sons and especially with the contrast between gritty adulthood and childhood innocence; like all good noir, it is steeped in melancholy.
2061567
To read this book is to wade into a riptide of autobiographical incidents, observations, rumors, lies, exaggerations, and hard-edged, uncompromised truth. This collection swirls with beauty and craziness and humor, and probably reveals more about the author than is intended. Have fun.
4687875
Looking to learn all about bourbon? You won't find a better place to start than this.

Bourbon, Straight is packed to the gills with information on the history of the drink, how it's made, the stories of it's most famous brands and characters, and even a lengthy collection of reviews. It reads quickly and has a great "small batch" self-published kind of feel. This isn't another glossy whiskey book filled with lots of pretty pictures and a few basic facts, this is a rich project that is clearly the life's work of someone who lives and breathes bourbon. I went in knowing next to nothing about bourbon, but came out feeling like a bit of an expert.
1571094
Were you ever fortunate enough to spend an evening in a pub listening to the old guy with a backlog of stories as bottomless as his appetite for Guinness?  Relive, or enjoy for the first time, that experience with Patrick E McLean's "Stories I Told Myself".  These are tales as rich, lovingly related and "true" as any ever told by candlelight, hearth or drink.

It is clear that Mr. McLean crafts stories with a care for the reader.  He may have something he wants to say, but it seems to me he really has something he wants you to hear.  He chooses words, sculpts phrases and molds characters for the enjoyment of the reader.  This is a book written by someone clearly in love with the English language and storytelling, if not actual spelling and punctuation.

You will find yourself looking for someone to have the same experience that you do. These are stories to enjoy, to share and to revisit.  I originally heard them in Mr. McLean's own voice on 'The Seanachai' with my wife and kids.  His stories are still a touchstone for us.  His cadence and smooth voice are still in my head as I re-read Candy, Bright-lights and Driver's Re-Education.

Slainte!
1481015
"Falling Apart" is a collection of twenty remarkable short stories.  Each is unique, but they all share a haunting, melancholy quality that makes them very real and poignant.

"Caught in the Headlights" concerns a shy college student who desperately wants to talk to a certain girl, but cannot muster the courage to do it.  In "Everyday Routine," a man is driven to the breaking point when he realizes that his life is crushingly ordinary.  "A Better Tomorrow" looks at a grieving couple who are trying to go on after their child's death.  "Burn" is a terrifying glimpse of evil.  In "Bought Out," a man learns too late about right and wrong.  A drunk who is trouble with the law explains his side of the story in the amusing, "To My Darling Wife."

The stories are told simply and honestly, usually in the first person.  The characters are people you know and care about, and the plots draw on experiences and emotions we are all familiar with.  I heartily recommend "Falling Apart;"  the stories are touching, often painful, and always memorable.

Kona
1250405
Full Disclosure: I am the editor of this book. I had great fun reading and editing these wonderful tales of THE CAT'S ASS BOUTIQUE, a very strange, alluring and unsettling establishment. Shebat Legion's quirkiness shines through in every story, stories unique in the way they are plotted and told. Each story blends into the next story, with recurring characters such as Petra, Duke, his sister Lilly . . . vampires all, and all under the thumb of the Master Vampire known as Mister Abraham. There's even a few visits by the Three Fate Sisters, as well as a Leprechaun. Most of the stories take place on some of the major holidays, like Christmas, Easter and New Year's. But there are also "stories within stories," featuring other characters who often cross paths with these sometimes likable, sometimes frightening vampires. There's one funny, complex little gem called "The Day That Many Things Happened," which deals with a cast of humans who live in and around the town of Temagazombie, and the unusual and crazy set of circumstances that perfectly illustrates the meaning of "for every action there is a reaction." If you're familiar with a "Rube Goldberg invention" or just know how one domino can fall and affect all others, you'll get some idea of what I mean. There's even a visit to a most unusual store, "The Melody Shop," by a married man who doesn't know what to expect, what happens when his wife walks in, and how it may or may not affect their marriage . . . and how, once again, the Fates may or may not have played a role. The stories range from the humorous to the poignant, and there is a nice discussion in one tale regarding the nature of Death. These vampires may or may not be dead: they are not your traditional vampires, and this is at the heart of the Chronicles. Are they dead? If not . . . what sort of vampires are they? -- for they do drink blood and are capable of great mayhem and, in one story, great healing. They are merciful and merciless. Each vampire is totally unique in his or her own fashion, from the solid, protective Petra, to the very troubled and moody Lilly, to her quite confused and not-so-bright brother Duke . . . to the powerful and mysterious Elder Vampire they call Mister Abraham. VAMPIRE THERAPY, indeed! For these vampires are, indeed, in need of therapy. I guarantee, you'll enjoy these stories: they are fun and interesting and very different. Legion has truly created a universe totally her own. The book is designed to resemble a children's fairy tale book, with wonderful, evocative illustrations by the artist calling himself simply "Phil." In many ways, this IS a fairy tale book -- for adults. For besides the blood-drinking and mayhem, there is quite a bit of erotica and a few scenes of graphic sex. You're going to really enjoy this one.

-- Joe Bonadonna, author of MAD SHADOWS: THE WEIRD TALES OF DORGO THE DOWSER, THREE AGAINST THE STARS, and WATERS OF DARKNESS (in collaboration with David C. Smith.)
2316493
O'Leary is a vivid raconteur with an eye for telling details. These 18 stories have the feeling of being narrated around a campfire, a bottle of Jack passing from hand to hand as O'Leary spins quirky tales about quirky guys in tough situations. The subtitle says it all, '...Tales of men in pain.' Each tale sets up a situation and each "man in pain" responds uniquely. As the reader peers through a series of literary peepholes, some men triumph. Some fail. Some fail spectacularly. We learn how men think, feel and operate in a harsh world ridden by bad luck and loss. Because everything in America is now politicized, I particularly appreciated O'Leary's insights into the hearts of men in small towns in Montana, Wyoming, Texas, Washington and Oregon. They aren't worrying about the White House, they're worrying about surviving. O'Leary doesn't look down on them; he likes them and feels for their pain, without ever buying into it.  Each tale is a short ride with a brief climb and a long drop. Take "Dick Cheney Shot Me in the Face" with you next time you spend a weekend at the cabin, or pour yourself a shot of Jack and join O'Leary at a virtual campfire. Enjoy.