From Publishers Weekly
"Of the 12 stories in Wideman's wide-ranging new collection, six have never been previously published, and most are standouts. Wideman excels in a variety of prose styles, adopting the points of view of both black and white characters, telling some stories entirely in dialogue, others in unrelieved exposition," stated PW .
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
In this collection Wideman shows he knows how to give a story place in both physical and psychic terms. In "Rock River" he lays out a mangy dog of a town tucked somewhere in the foothills of the Southwest. Here suicide seems as much a part of the terrain as the "thickets of boulders," dry riverbeds, and dusty roads that define the hopelessness of the landscape. In "Concert," place is primarily the self, as the narrator (who remains unidentified) unravels an interior monologue that becomes the warp upon which the strains of a musical performance are woven. Wideman also shows he has a wide range of voices: several of the stories are told from a child's point of view and one from that of a hip literary critic. There are echoes of Faulkner in the post-Joycean narrative methods and revelations of consciousness. This is the kind of adventuresome writing that keeps one awake.
- Francis Poole, Kentucky Wesleyan Coll., OwensboroCopyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
