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Sketches from the Spanish Mustang
There are dreams of fire, blood, twisted metal and faint, dying cries carried on the wind.
The Artist sits at a table in a casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado. She is broken, alone, and she is waiting. She's waiting for redemption, waiting for a chance to prove she can really see through someone else's eyes. As she waits, she sketches those around her, those who keep secrets buried deep.
All people have secrets, and some of them are every bit as dark as the Artist's own. There is the immigrant looking for fortune and finding death along the way. There is the woman running for her life, desperate to hide in a small town that is, for its own sake, trying to live again. There is the angry man, jilted by his now dead wife, looking for revenge. There is the veteran who can't remember, the woman about to lose her mother, and the drunk who doesn't want to be what people see on the outside. There are more people, everywhere, and all of them have secrets.
Written as a series of interconnected vignettes, each person's story is both intriguing and magical. As the mystery of the woman's sketches unfolds, life unravels with it. This is the Artist's gift--to uncover the hidden in life. Yet gifts can be curses, and curses can be secret.
Remembering is penance.
The Artist sits at a table in a casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado. She is broken, alone, and she is waiting. She's waiting for redemption, waiting for a chance to prove she can really see through someone else's eyes. As she waits, she sketches those around her, those who keep secrets buried deep.
All people have secrets, and some of them are every bit as dark as the Artist's own. There is the immigrant looking for fortune and finding death along the way. There is the woman running for her life, desperate to hide in a small town that is, for its own sake, trying to live again. There is the angry man, jilted by his now dead wife, looking for revenge. There is the veteran who can't remember, the woman about to lose her mother, and the drunk who doesn't want to be what people see on the outside. There are more people, everywhere, and all of them have secrets.
Written as a series of interconnected vignettes, each person's story is both intriguing and magical. As the mystery of the woman's sketches unfolds, life unravels with it. This is the Artist's gift--to uncover the hidden in life. Yet gifts can be curses, and curses can be secret.
Remembering is penance.
285 pages, Paperback
First published June 19, 2012
81 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin X. Wretlind
28 books296 followersBenjamin X. Wretlind is a speculative fiction author who writes science fiction, dark fantasy, magical realism, and some horror. He has been--at different times, of course–a fry cook, range boy, greens maintenance technician, reservations agent, room service attendant, editor, banquet server, meteorologist, instructor, program manager for Internet applications, curriculum developer, training simulation engineer, leadership facilitator/coach, process improvement consultant, learning manager and organizational psychologist. He currently builds and facilitates leadership courses at Yale.
Benjamin is the creator of the Transit series of novels, which has been called “an engaging, personality-driven tale with detailed SF worldbuilding.” He has also written and published many novels, collections, and the weirdest creative writing book ever. Owing his life’s viewpoint to Bob Ross, he has also painted a few things, thrown a few paintings away, and probably has a painting on an easel right now. Oh, and he loves wood working, too.
It’s all about creating.
Benjamin lives with his wife Jesse in Colorado.
Benjamin is the creator of the Transit series of novels, which has been called “an engaging, personality-driven tale with detailed SF worldbuilding.” He has also written and published many novels, collections, and the weirdest creative writing book ever. Owing his life’s viewpoint to Bob Ross, he has also painted a few things, thrown a few paintings away, and probably has a painting on an easel right now. Oh, and he loves wood working, too.
It’s all about creating.
Benjamin lives with his wife Jesse in Colorado.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 31, 2012
Benjamin Wretlind has done it to me again. Pulling me right out of my comfort zone, toying with my reality by spinning me around and dropping me back down to earth as I wrestle in my mind over what I have just witnessed. I write this to say…this man is damn good at his craft! This character driven story has an ebb and flow to each section that is satisfying when you finish their chapter, but also propels you to turn the page and read about the next in this unique telling of the people in the Spanish Mustang. Not since Clive Barker’s Hellraiser has my perceptions been so altered, thrilling me with each twist on the ride. Wretlind truly takes his readers on a wild journey as he peels back layers on his well-written characters, breathing life into them that allows them to be more than sketches as the title suggests. Kudos Mr. Wretlind!
December 11, 2021
Wretlind's prose, his timing, and his imagery are wonderful, and a reminder of what a great writer can produce.
Examples: " all he saw were shadows painted like devils in the night." "....a word rang through the dying man's head like a bell on a cold winter's night." "like snot off the nose of a sickened dog."
Later in the story, the analogy of the coyote-- what he really stood for-- was not heavy-handed, and it was written with eerie clarity. Especially when the "coyote" speaks....
If that wasn't enough to illustrate the skill of the author and his imagination, the transformation of the animal was an extreme visual, and extraordinary. Every time you hear a coyote's call, you will be reminded of what could really be happening. The surreal is layered over it all, coloring it with peyote dreams.
In this collection of stories, my favorite is Fulano's. The description of the trek by the immigrant brings into focus the plight of humans only hoping for a better life for their families. There is a level of horror in what they go through, and it is easy to picture Fulano not being the only immigrant who has gone through it. In this instance he went through it with more than the usual danger.
The Artist. Throughout, the transference of the images and layered meanings is done at a expert level. The symbolism of the gambling, verses gambling with a character's sanity, their life. and their soul, is perfect.
The book is a series of interconnected stories on a psychedelic trip without the acid, instead with mental illness layered over guilt, mixed with deep inner desire, and a sense of responsibility more important than your own life.
One of the final statements sums it up.
"...how do we all not see, not hear, not remember all that we once loved?"
Examples: " all he saw were shadows painted like devils in the night." "....a word rang through the dying man's head like a bell on a cold winter's night." "like snot off the nose of a sickened dog."
Later in the story, the analogy of the coyote-- what he really stood for-- was not heavy-handed, and it was written with eerie clarity. Especially when the "coyote" speaks....
If that wasn't enough to illustrate the skill of the author and his imagination, the transformation of the animal was an extreme visual, and extraordinary. Every time you hear a coyote's call, you will be reminded of what could really be happening. The surreal is layered over it all, coloring it with peyote dreams.
In this collection of stories, my favorite is Fulano's. The description of the trek by the immigrant brings into focus the plight of humans only hoping for a better life for their families. There is a level of horror in what they go through, and it is easy to picture Fulano not being the only immigrant who has gone through it. In this instance he went through it with more than the usual danger.
The Artist. Throughout, the transference of the images and layered meanings is done at a expert level. The symbolism of the gambling, verses gambling with a character's sanity, their life. and their soul, is perfect.
The book is a series of interconnected stories on a psychedelic trip without the acid, instead with mental illness layered over guilt, mixed with deep inner desire, and a sense of responsibility more important than your own life.
One of the final statements sums it up.
"...how do we all not see, not hear, not remember all that we once loved?"
August 3, 2012
Mr. Wretlind has done a magnificent job of drawing me into this book, slight pun intended. The author has a well written style that had me turning pages quickly. The characters came to life and I connected with each of them.
I'm not one for lengthy reviews, so here's the short version: Read this book. If you haven't heard of Benjamin Wretlind, which may very well be the case, you will. He has a mesmerising way with words.
Thanks for writing this book.
I'm not one for lengthy reviews, so here's the short version: Read this book. If you haven't heard of Benjamin Wretlind, which may very well be the case, you will. He has a mesmerising way with words.
Thanks for writing this book.
June 21, 2012
Every new work I read by Benjamin X. Wretlind solidifies in my mind an already rock solid belief: that he is one fantastic writer! With a skill on par with any of the great American novelists, Mr. Wretlind has penned a tale of such emotional and literary depth that it will haunt the reader long after the last page is turned. He has penned a tale filled with rage, sorrow, loss and just a little bit of hope. He has penned a tale that can only be described as a masterpiece. Do not miss this book. Do not miss any of Mr. Wretlind's work. He is truly a master of the written word.
February 13, 2013
ROY'S REVIEW
I guess the clue was in the title. It never quite all came together. Intriguing characters, each with his or her own story came and went…and never returned. Only reading the author’s notes at the end did I realise that Sketches From the Spanish Mustang was indeed a collection of stand-alone novellas. There was never the intention for a rounded story in the traditional sense.
The background for each of the sketches is the former mining town turned gambling centre Cripple Creek in Colorado, a place the author clearly knows well. Crumbling boom town buildings saved by the tourist dollar. The decaying pitheads on the outskirts of town, the descendants of the miners’ burros roaming the environs in the shadow of the inhospitable hills, all expertly conveyed to the reader. The glue holding the sketches together is the Artist, herself a tortured soul following the death of husband and son many years before. She blames herself and finds herself in a purgatory, condemned to sketch similarly troubled individuals until she is ‘released’.
She sits outside the Spanish Mustang Casino and, sensing favourable subjects, commences to sketch. We meet a former miner having lost his self-respect drawn into domestic killings sparked by money and jealousy; the Indian drunk who speaks with a boy ghost; the touching story of a mother and her wayward teenage daughter, a brain-damaged war veteran and the middle-aged waitress never able to find refuge from an abusive past.
The best sketch ought to have been left until last; instead the story of Fulano opened the book. An illegal immigrant seeking his fortune to support his family is granted his life on the journey across the border only for the bargain to come home to roost in Cripple Creek. A lovely piece of storytelling.
Writland is a good writer, no frills or fancy imagery, with the sense of how a good story works. I’d just have preferred to have known up front that it was a collection.
I guess the clue was in the title. It never quite all came together. Intriguing characters, each with his or her own story came and went…and never returned. Only reading the author’s notes at the end did I realise that Sketches From the Spanish Mustang was indeed a collection of stand-alone novellas. There was never the intention for a rounded story in the traditional sense.
The background for each of the sketches is the former mining town turned gambling centre Cripple Creek in Colorado, a place the author clearly knows well. Crumbling boom town buildings saved by the tourist dollar. The decaying pitheads on the outskirts of town, the descendants of the miners’ burros roaming the environs in the shadow of the inhospitable hills, all expertly conveyed to the reader. The glue holding the sketches together is the Artist, herself a tortured soul following the death of husband and son many years before. She blames herself and finds herself in a purgatory, condemned to sketch similarly troubled individuals until she is ‘released’.
She sits outside the Spanish Mustang Casino and, sensing favourable subjects, commences to sketch. We meet a former miner having lost his self-respect drawn into domestic killings sparked by money and jealousy; the Indian drunk who speaks with a boy ghost; the touching story of a mother and her wayward teenage daughter, a brain-damaged war veteran and the middle-aged waitress never able to find refuge from an abusive past.
The best sketch ought to have been left until last; instead the story of Fulano opened the book. An illegal immigrant seeking his fortune to support his family is granted his life on the journey across the border only for the bargain to come home to roost in Cripple Creek. A lovely piece of storytelling.
Writland is a good writer, no frills or fancy imagery, with the sense of how a good story works. I’d just have preferred to have known up front that it was a collection.
July 21, 2012
Benjamin X. Wretlind, author of "Castles: A Fictional Memoir of a Girl with Scissors", has released yet another literary masterpiece in "Sketches from the Spanish Mustang".
Centered on Cripple Creek, Colorado; a dying mining town clinging to life thanks to the emergence of casinos. Cripple Creek is only part of the story though, the citizens are the main focus in this haunting novel.
The tortured artist sketches these citizens giving us a glimpse in their life and revealing their struggles.
I thought "Castles" was a brilliant read from start to finish and Sketches from the Spanish Mustang lived up to everything that I expected. Wretlind's characters are fresh, rooted in realism, written brilliantly, and just fun to read. His writing style remains fluid and easy to read throughout. I still have a few questions about the conclusion of the novel but I'm sure I'll find those answers in my second read through.
If you have any doubt about Benjamin X. Wretlind as a writer, rest assured he is awesome and I'm positive he'll have a bright future. well worth the read and deserving of being on my top books of the year list.
Centered on Cripple Creek, Colorado; a dying mining town clinging to life thanks to the emergence of casinos. Cripple Creek is only part of the story though, the citizens are the main focus in this haunting novel.
The tortured artist sketches these citizens giving us a glimpse in their life and revealing their struggles.
I thought "Castles" was a brilliant read from start to finish and Sketches from the Spanish Mustang lived up to everything that I expected. Wretlind's characters are fresh, rooted in realism, written brilliantly, and just fun to read. His writing style remains fluid and easy to read throughout. I still have a few questions about the conclusion of the novel but I'm sure I'll find those answers in my second read through.
If you have any doubt about Benjamin X. Wretlind as a writer, rest assured he is awesome and I'm positive he'll have a bright future. well worth the read and deserving of being on my top books of the year list.
February 26, 2013
Wow. This book had me from the beginning. A vinette of stories held together by a special artist. A very different take on Dorian Grey.
August 26, 2025
couldn't get into it
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews