The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake

I am not a big fan of short stories. I prefer to dive in and be swept away -- a remnant of some sprawling romanticism? an unshakable Victorian sense of what comprises a grand narrative? -- perhaps for neither of these reasons, but short story collections more often than not gather dust. Or, when I do read them, too often it is as a chore, something to slog through (too many collections of marginal stories in graduate school?).

I certainly can't object to them on length alone: I am constantly seeking out shorter books so that I might be able to finish them. Relatively easily.

So what is it?

I'm not sure. But The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake easily buck that prejudice. They are astounding evocations of poor, hard, violent lives, lived out by poor, hard, struggling men and women. I made the mistake of reading the two Afterwords in my volume and feel like none of the words I could use to describe the stories would be my own.

I did start to think of Tom Franklin's Poachers while reading Pancake. Pancake's stories are quieter, more humane (though nonetheless hard, true, and cutting for it).

Read them. Pick up a copy and read them.

It doesn't hurt that Pancake came to my alma mater to write. Of course, he also killed himself here.

So read the stories. They're all we've got.