What do you think?
Rate this book
Doghouse Roses: Stories
Steve Earle does everything he does with intelligence, creativity, passion, and integrity. In music, these strengths have earned him comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, the ardent devotion of his fans, and the admiration of the media. And Earle does a lot: he is singer, songwriter, producer, social activist, teacher. . . . He’s not only someone who makes great music; he’s someone to believe in. With the publication of his first collection of short stories, DOGHOUSE ROSES, he gives us yet another reason to believe.
Earle’s stories reflect the many facets of the man and the hard-fought struggles, the defeats, and the eventual triumphs he has experienced during a career spanning three decades. In the title story he offers us a gut-wrenchingly honest portrait of a nearly famous singer whose life and soul have been all but devoured by drugs. “Billy the Kid” is a fable about everything that will never happen in Nashville, and “Wheeler County” tells a romantic, sweet-tempered tale about a hitchhiker stranded for years in a small Texas town. A story about the husband of a murder victim witnessing an execution addresses a subject Earle has passionately taken on as a social activist, and a cycle of stories features “the American,” a shady international wanderer, Vietnam vet, and sometime drug smuggler — a character who can be seen as Earle’s alter ego, the person he might have become if he had been drafted.
Earle is a songwriter’s songwriter, and here he takes his writing gift into another medium, along with all the grace, poetry, and deep feeling that has made his music honored around the world.
Earle’s stories reflect the many facets of the man and the hard-fought struggles, the defeats, and the eventual triumphs he has experienced during a career spanning three decades. In the title story he offers us a gut-wrenchingly honest portrait of a nearly famous singer whose life and soul have been all but devoured by drugs. “Billy the Kid” is a fable about everything that will never happen in Nashville, and “Wheeler County” tells a romantic, sweet-tempered tale about a hitchhiker stranded for years in a small Texas town. A story about the husband of a murder victim witnessing an execution addresses a subject Earle has passionately taken on as a social activist, and a cycle of stories features “the American,” a shady international wanderer, Vietnam vet, and sometime drug smuggler — a character who can be seen as Earle’s alter ego, the person he might have become if he had been drafted.
Earle is a songwriter’s songwriter, and here he takes his writing gift into another medium, along with all the grace, poetry, and deep feeling that has made his music honored around the world.
206 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
33 people are currently reading
305 people want to read
About the author
Steve Earle
44 books78 followersSteve Earle is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, political activist, and Grammy Award winner.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
July 20, 2010
I first read Doghouse Roses back in 2003. I loved it then. Steve Earle,like James McMurtry has a literary bent to his music,and in Doghouse Roses there is a musical sense to Earle's literary work.The short stories are full of the type of characters he would sing about...loners,drifters,out of sort folk.
I picked up the book again recently,partially out of curiosity as to whether it would hold me a second time.
The second time was perhaps more power packed than the first.
Here's a collection of stories written from the heart,and in this person's opinion,one's heart would have to be hardened NOT to be moved by some of the stories
The story from where the title of the book comes from is a portrait of a romance and a couple lives headed down the tube.
Billy The Kid is the story of a Nashville musician's success and tragedy.
The Red Suitcase, set in a small town tells a story of a local eccentric,and what happens when he runs afoul of a local cop.
I found Taneytown,a story seen through the eyes of a retarded black child gripping and Mark Twain like.
I said back when I first read the book,that Steve Earle would have done just as well for himself if he had chosen to be primarily a novelist instead of a singer-songwriter..After reading it a second time,I'll still say the same thing.
I picked up the book again recently,partially out of curiosity as to whether it would hold me a second time.
The second time was perhaps more power packed than the first.
Here's a collection of stories written from the heart,and in this person's opinion,one's heart would have to be hardened NOT to be moved by some of the stories
The story from where the title of the book comes from is a portrait of a romance and a couple lives headed down the tube.
Billy The Kid is the story of a Nashville musician's success and tragedy.
The Red Suitcase, set in a small town tells a story of a local eccentric,and what happens when he runs afoul of a local cop.
I found Taneytown,a story seen through the eyes of a retarded black child gripping and Mark Twain like.
I said back when I first read the book,that Steve Earle would have done just as well for himself if he had chosen to be primarily a novelist instead of a singer-songwriter..After reading it a second time,I'll still say the same thing.
December 9, 2017
Steve Earle is a fantastic musician and songwriter. His run of excellent albums stretches back 30 years and has no sign of slowing. Steve Earle writes amazing songs, songs that will take your breath away. He can also be funny, fiercely political, and just plain Country-Rock kickass. He can talk, man, he's a talker. Half the fun of seeing him in concert are the between song rambles. So, the man has a grip on words, he's good with them. Us fans have known for decades that he can write a hell of a song, and telling by this book, he can write a hell of a short story, as well. This collection felt like an album. A Steve Earle album, imagine that. Much like an album, each and every story/song didn't blow me away but the good ones are amazing. The last two stories knocked me flat on my ass. "The Witness" is a deeply disturbing look at capital punishment, of which Earle is an outspoken protester. He has even witnessed an execution and this story was incredibly disturbing because it rang all so true. You can tell that Earle has seen what he is describing. Truly terrifying. The final story is a short, almost poetic look at a love that literally made me cry. Beautiful, haunting, poetic and real. Not every story in this collection is as good as those two, but overall it is a triumphant, excellent read. One of the best books I've read this year.
April 26, 2008
My friend J.D. hates Steve Earle. I mean, he writes entire sections of comic books he sells at his band’s shows devoted to hating on Earle – the leftist, terrorist-loving, drug-addled, out-of-it Steve Earle that exists in J.D.’s own quite-strange mind. It could be professional jealousy, as J.D. fronts a Nashville rockabilly band that (to my knowledge) has never been invited to open for Earle, or it could just be that J.D.’s a bit of a backwoods arch-conservative and it’s purely ideological.
I say all this because I feel it’s important to say that I don’t hate Steve Earle. He writes some of the most stirringly romantic rock and roll/country happening anywhere near Nashville (barring, of course, the Old Crow Medicine Show), and I tend to agree with a lot of his ideology, if not his stridency. But this, his first venture into the literary world, reveals his limitations. He can condense a story, an emotion, even a basic truth into three chords and a melody as well as most anyone, but the man is not a story writer.
And, to be fair, he strikes out soundly from a few different angles. There are the thinly-disguised cheesily romanticized biographical pieces that should have never made it past a decent editor like , say, the title track (er, story) and “Billy the Kid,” thin cardboard characters acting out his political dogmas like “The Red Suitcase” and “The Witness,” attempts to makes stories out of songs like “Taneytown” and “A Well-Tempered Heart,” and a few variations thereof.
And here I’ll admit a little professional jealousy of my own – as a writer, I have to say it pisses me off to see people who should never see publication past a vanity press getting book tours and big-press circulation entirely because they’re good at an entirely different medium. But I guess Rick Moody struck back on behalf of the writers with his Wingdale Community Singers, a band equally bad as the collection. And that’s something, I guess.
I say all this because I feel it’s important to say that I don’t hate Steve Earle. He writes some of the most stirringly romantic rock and roll/country happening anywhere near Nashville (barring, of course, the Old Crow Medicine Show), and I tend to agree with a lot of his ideology, if not his stridency. But this, his first venture into the literary world, reveals his limitations. He can condense a story, an emotion, even a basic truth into three chords and a melody as well as most anyone, but the man is not a story writer.
And, to be fair, he strikes out soundly from a few different angles. There are the thinly-disguised cheesily romanticized biographical pieces that should have never made it past a decent editor like , say, the title track (er, story) and “Billy the Kid,” thin cardboard characters acting out his political dogmas like “The Red Suitcase” and “The Witness,” attempts to makes stories out of songs like “Taneytown” and “A Well-Tempered Heart,” and a few variations thereof.
And here I’ll admit a little professional jealousy of my own – as a writer, I have to say it pisses me off to see people who should never see publication past a vanity press getting book tours and big-press circulation entirely because they’re good at an entirely different medium. But I guess Rick Moody struck back on behalf of the writers with his Wingdale Community Singers, a band equally bad as the collection. And that’s something, I guess.
April 20, 2025
Musician Steve Earle turned his prodigious talent into a book of several short stories. If you are a fan, you will probably recognize a little of him in some characters and a lot in others. One story is about a mentally challenged man in a small town who runs afoul of a new cop in town. Earle also penned a story about a man witnessing the execution of a man convicted of killing his wife. There is a twist at the end which indirectly addresses Earle's anti capital punishment views. I thought he did well for a first time offer. I wish there were fewer stories about men who were substance abusers but they say write what you know and being only a few years sober himself, I think he believed that was what he knew best.
December 1, 2015
I really liked these stories a lot--there was a nice variety and I thought they were very well written. I look forward to reading his novel.
May 5, 2025
$1 from library bin…waste
Doghouse Roses - 3 (some great prose, method required too much summary for my personal tastes)
Wheeler Country - 1.5 (mostly summary, chronic lack of scene)
Jaguar Dance - 1 (a mess, mostly info dump)
Taneytown: -1000 (holy hell are you serious? In what world is it appropriate for a white man to write a full story in broken, misspelled, completely inaccurate AAVE ?? WOW, I’d love to burn this book now…)
Billy the Kid - 1 (snooze fest, narration so distant from the action I don’t care about anything that happened)
The Internationale - 1.5 (cliche doesn’t even begin to describe this)
The Red Suitcase - 2 (interesting premise, poor execution)
A Eulogy of Sorts - 2 (stronger voice)
The Reunion - 2 (again, interesting premise but poor execution)
The Witness - 2.5 (could have been great, but too predictable, and too much summary)
A Well-Tempered Heart - 1 (uhhhh)
Doghouse Roses - 3 (some great prose, method required too much summary for my personal tastes)
Wheeler Country - 1.5 (mostly summary, chronic lack of scene)
Jaguar Dance - 1 (a mess, mostly info dump)
Taneytown: -1000 (holy hell are you serious? In what world is it appropriate for a white man to write a full story in broken, misspelled, completely inaccurate AAVE ?? WOW, I’d love to burn this book now…)
Billy the Kid - 1 (snooze fest, narration so distant from the action I don’t care about anything that happened)
The Internationale - 1.5 (cliche doesn’t even begin to describe this)
The Red Suitcase - 2 (interesting premise, poor execution)
A Eulogy of Sorts - 2 (stronger voice)
The Reunion - 2 (again, interesting premise but poor execution)
The Witness - 2.5 (could have been great, but too predictable, and too much summary)
A Well-Tempered Heart - 1 (uhhhh)
February 11, 2010
Steve Earle plays a mean guitar, he's a great songwriter, he's an admirable man, and his political views are outstanding. I've watched him on cable. I've seen him play live. I mumbled a hello once in person. Still I wondered - does this make him a writer I'd want to read? And the answer was yes.
Doghouse Roses is a collection of short stories. Most of them are good, or at least okay. Earle can write. He's got a style that works. I didn't find that the collection on a whole sustained my interest - but after I read the first story: Doghouse Roses, it didn't matter. I really didn't need to read any more. He could have just published that story and I would have been satisfied. It is a beautiful piece of writing. Maybe that's why the rest of the book left me flat? The first 26 pages was all I needed.
Doghouse Roses is a collection of short stories. Most of them are good, or at least okay. Earle can write. He's got a style that works. I didn't find that the collection on a whole sustained my interest - but after I read the first story: Doghouse Roses, it didn't matter. I really didn't need to read any more. He could have just published that story and I would have been satisfied. It is a beautiful piece of writing. Maybe that's why the rest of the book left me flat? The first 26 pages was all I needed.
August 25, 2025
really glad I came back around to this after a first, abortive, attempt around this time last year. grateful that I've increased my capacity for and enjoyment of reading by so, so much.
I think Earle is a truly amazing songwriter, one I've deeply loved for some time now. there's some growing pains in this new form that are a little evident here and there. I'd expected them and didn't mind. to a degree though I didn't really need to. Earle's voice is very natural. it's easy to see his political views & interests come through in a bunch of the story subjects -- so most of these stories feel comfortable, like familiar territory for Earle and for me. as such a fan and as someone who shares a lot of his views too. really liked how Billy the Kid was written in particular. but it's the penultimate story on the execution of a man from El Salvador that was the biggest winner for me. felt sick and sad and moved and helpless and so many more ands that I can't find the time to type.
really hope this guy does another collection of prose some day. would happily read them and God knows I'd do them a lot faster this time. I don't doubt his ability to write poetry either, potentially. but I'm hardly going to hold my breath. not perfect but I love this guy forever.
I think Earle is a truly amazing songwriter, one I've deeply loved for some time now. there's some growing pains in this new form that are a little evident here and there. I'd expected them and didn't mind. to a degree though I didn't really need to. Earle's voice is very natural. it's easy to see his political views & interests come through in a bunch of the story subjects -- so most of these stories feel comfortable, like familiar territory for Earle and for me. as such a fan and as someone who shares a lot of his views too. really liked how Billy the Kid was written in particular. but it's the penultimate story on the execution of a man from El Salvador that was the biggest winner for me. felt sick and sad and moved and helpless and so many more ands that I can't find the time to type.
really hope this guy does another collection of prose some day. would happily read them and God knows I'd do them a lot faster this time. I don't doubt his ability to write poetry either, potentially. but I'm hardly going to hold my breath. not perfect but I love this guy forever.
May 18, 2023
Doghouse Roses: Stories by Steve Earle (Houghton Mifflin 2003) (813.54) (3790).
I’m a hardcore fan of singer-songwriter Steve Earle, and my fandom has nothing to do with his music (talented musician though he is). After stumbling onto his incredible novel I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive and giving it one of the highest ratings I have ever accorded a book, I quickly ordered a copy of Doghouse Roses: Stories, for it was not available through my local public library.
This is a collection of eleven extremely diverse short stories, several of which are simply great! The best of these are the title story “Doghouse Roses,” which is about polydrug addiction and recovery, “Wheeler County,” which is about a sidetracked vagrant who is befriended by an unlikely ally, “Billy the Kid,” about a musical savant, “Taneytown,” in which a mentally-challenged young man learns a lesson in racism, and “The Red Suitcase,” which is about secrets and faith.
I purchased a used HB copy in good condition from Amazon for $6.09 on 12/21/21.
My rating: 7/10, finished 5/18/23 (3790).
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
August 21, 2018
One of my all time favorite songwriters and one hell of a story teller. Every short story in this one is well worth the read.
"Junkies die down here everyday. Most of the time nobody notices but other junkies, and they perceive only a brief interruption in the food chain. Nobody down here is really capable of mourning in the normal sense. Oh, we suffer the inconvenience of losing a connection, or a safe place to get high or scam a new set of works or maybe crash for a few hours, but that's about it." - A Eulogy Of Sorts
"Junkies die down here everyday. Most of the time nobody notices but other junkies, and they perceive only a brief interruption in the food chain. Nobody down here is really capable of mourning in the normal sense. Oh, we suffer the inconvenience of losing a connection, or a safe place to get high or scam a new set of works or maybe crash for a few hours, but that's about it." - A Eulogy Of Sorts
February 8, 2022
It’s not Kerouac or Salinger. At times a good 1 Star book because all the stories have death, drugs and violence, but for the one two creative passages a STRONG 3 Star. Therefore overall, a 2 Star. It’s okay, there is I guess a good bit research put in the stories, but they are NOT on the brighter side of life. This book is now in the charity shop.
March 4, 2023
It's not hard to see the admiration Steve has for Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark in a couple of these well written stories.
I was also impressed with his knowledge of the writers and characters of the 1920's French literary movement.
I think the stories are every bit as enjoyable as his songs.
I was also impressed with his knowledge of the writers and characters of the 1920's French literary movement.
I think the stories are every bit as enjoyable as his songs.
January 25, 2021
I enjoyed this collection of short stories. The quality varies throughout - I nearly didn't read it because I didn't click with the first story, but there are some that I really enjoyed and some imagery and characters that I think will stick with me for a long while to come.
February 3, 2022
Earle is a great songwriter, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into being a great fiction writer. That said, the lot of these stories is solid. Earle’s cringeworthy foray into the vernacular of a young black man in one story rubbed me the wrong way, but I enjoyed the collection overall.
July 18, 2018
Weel, I'm a big Steve Earle fan, I have all his records and all. I've seen hime lots of times, on solo tours or with the band. I even met him. This book anyway, is one of the best I've ever read.
August 4, 2018
Impressive collection of dark, tragic by one of my musical idols. Can't wait until Thursday to see him live!
October 11, 2018
3.6 Stars
Milton
Milton
November 8, 2018
I read his novel awhile back. Loved it, so bought this book of short stories -- which was written earlier. The stories are wonderful. Loved all of them!
February 15, 2020
Great stories by a great story teller
March 9, 2020
Very readable short stories about Vietnam Vets, Drug Runners and Junkies. Set it to music and call it Copperhead Road.
December 31, 2022
a re read, fantastic short stories, covering love, addiction and life.
July 19, 2023
So gorgeous. Usually don’t love short stories, but each of these is like a little movie.
October 4, 2013
I suspect that the blame goes mostly on Bob Dylan and Tarantula, but there is a standard line in rock music that says songwriters can't cross over and become authors. Take away guitar, drums, and bass, and even though it shouldn't, things change. It goes for John Lennon and Jim Morrison's poetry (which undoubtedly find thousands of new fans every year), but lives on in recent years with Nick Cave, and even dogs those who have made a decent career of it (just nothing resembling their musical output) like Leonard Cohen and Pete Townshend.
So, it would seem that Steve Earle would be an obvious crossover choice, but like Springsteen and so many others, maybe he is better off sticking to the medium he knows.
The good news is that Earle is a good short story writer, and this collection of short stories delivers everything you would hope for. Though the narrators are obviously close to the author- musicians, Vietnam veterans, drug dealers (in the classic 1970s High Times era vein) and death row inmates; you can't fault Earle for sticking to the adage "write what you know."
So, the stories never quite surprise when it comes to plot, they do read true- either from Earle's life directly or from stories he likely heard. It creates a very readable and very interesting collection of stories. If you didn't know it was Earle, you would have probably been hailing a new talent. Not everything works- the final story "A Well Tempered heart" breaks from the straight narrative story, and ends up in doggerel poetry territory. "Taneytown" is one of Earle's best narrative songs, but drawn out into a short story, loses its impact, and with Earle writing from the point of view of a slightly-retarded black man was probably not the best decision.
Overall, Earle fan's will be pleased, and non-Earle fans would probably enjoy as well.
So, it would seem that Steve Earle would be an obvious crossover choice, but like Springsteen and so many others, maybe he is better off sticking to the medium he knows.
The good news is that Earle is a good short story writer, and this collection of short stories delivers everything you would hope for. Though the narrators are obviously close to the author- musicians, Vietnam veterans, drug dealers (in the classic 1970s High Times era vein) and death row inmates; you can't fault Earle for sticking to the adage "write what you know."
So, the stories never quite surprise when it comes to plot, they do read true- either from Earle's life directly or from stories he likely heard. It creates a very readable and very interesting collection of stories. If you didn't know it was Earle, you would have probably been hailing a new talent. Not everything works- the final story "A Well Tempered heart" breaks from the straight narrative story, and ends up in doggerel poetry territory. "Taneytown" is one of Earle's best narrative songs, but drawn out into a short story, loses its impact, and with Earle writing from the point of view of a slightly-retarded black man was probably not the best decision.
Overall, Earle fan's will be pleased, and non-Earle fans would probably enjoy as well.
July 19, 2025
Steve Earle’s Doghouse Roses is a rugged, deeply felt collection of short stories. Much like Larry Brown’s Big Bad Love or Roberto Bolaño’s Last Evenings on Earth, these stories simmer with tension and emotional grit. Earle’s voice is unmistakable. He's part roadside philosopher, part wounded troubadour.
Some stories evoke what it might feel like if Raymond Carver had written country songs and then adapted those songs back into prose. It’s a convoluted notion on the surface, but Earle pulls it off with surprising clarity and heart. Other pieces echo the wry, outsider sensibility of Charles Portis, especially in tales of drug runners and drifters who teeter on the edge of ruin and redemption.
“The Reunion” and “The Red Suitcase” stand out for their raw authenticity. These stories are haunted by loss, addiction, and the long shadow of America’s forgotten highways. Earle’s characters are often exiles in search of connection, or they are coming to terms with the ghosts of their past.
Steve Earle is a natural-born storyteller. This collection resonates with the stark, unsparing beauty of a lonesome ballad.
Some stories evoke what it might feel like if Raymond Carver had written country songs and then adapted those songs back into prose. It’s a convoluted notion on the surface, but Earle pulls it off with surprising clarity and heart. Other pieces echo the wry, outsider sensibility of Charles Portis, especially in tales of drug runners and drifters who teeter on the edge of ruin and redemption.
“The Reunion” and “The Red Suitcase” stand out for their raw authenticity. These stories are haunted by loss, addiction, and the long shadow of America’s forgotten highways. Earle’s characters are often exiles in search of connection, or they are coming to terms with the ghosts of their past.
Steve Earle is a natural-born storyteller. This collection resonates with the stark, unsparing beauty of a lonesome ballad.
September 6, 2007
I have to say that I was a bit hesitant on reading a short story collection from a singer/songerwriter and a great one at that. It's not that I don't believe that solid storytelling comes just from strictly authors, but that it's not necessarily an innate trait among all writers; song, non-fiction, essayists. And I'm glad that Steve Earle impressed and even suprised me.
The first story and title of the book 'Doghouse Roses' should come as no suprise to anyone familiar with Earle's lifestory. It touches on the affects of addiction towards relationships both personal and professional and I'm sure that there is a lot of memior in the story if not most of the others.
However, Earle's 'Taneytown' and 'The Red Suitcase' strech his writing past the expected outlaw protagonist plots of diamonds in the rough that are self-aware. These two stories along with a couple others, have Earle' hitting the mark of good short fiction and beyond the realm of his own songwriting themes.
I have to give this collection a 4 out of 5 instead of a 3 because it impressed me so much. I expected to read a couple of stories and put it down, as I so ofton do with other collections and novels. Put out in 2001, I hope that somewhere in Earle's busy schedule he finds the time to produce another collection.
The first story and title of the book 'Doghouse Roses' should come as no suprise to anyone familiar with Earle's lifestory. It touches on the affects of addiction towards relationships both personal and professional and I'm sure that there is a lot of memior in the story if not most of the others.
However, Earle's 'Taneytown' and 'The Red Suitcase' strech his writing past the expected outlaw protagonist plots of diamonds in the rough that are self-aware. These two stories along with a couple others, have Earle' hitting the mark of good short fiction and beyond the realm of his own songwriting themes.
I have to give this collection a 4 out of 5 instead of a 3 because it impressed me so much. I expected to read a couple of stories and put it down, as I so ofton do with other collections and novels. Put out in 2001, I hope that somewhere in Earle's busy schedule he finds the time to produce another collection.
August 15, 2011
Not something I would usually pick to read and I must admit that the cover sold it to me. But I'm glad I read it as it really is a cool book. I've only ever been to America once and that was to the hyper-touristy Florida but even so I completely get this book. The gritty and harsh realities of American life has never felt so understandable and real, almost as if I was comfortable within it's knowledge. The darkness and tragedy of some of the stories are so human and deeply ingrained in all of us that despite being American in it's description, it's recognisable to anyone who can be moved by it's simplicity. My favourite stories were Billy the Kid, Doghouse Roses and A Well Tempered Heart. All were so moving in their own way and (as you can probably guess if you've read this book) all relate to human relationships, love and how tragic and poignant they can be to us. Well worth a read.
July 22, 2014
This is the first book I have read by Steve Earle and I really like his subject matter and writing style. He is well rounded in his observations, plot, and dialogue. His ideas, stories, and metaphors are truly creative and original. I can feel his life experience in his stories they seem to have an anecdote about them even though they are all novel.
As all short story books there were ones I liked more than others but unlike most that I have read I really thought they were all interesting. None of them are connected and because so it was an easy read and held my attention throughout the entire book. Wheeler County, Billy The Kid, and The Reunion really stood out at me but Doghouse Roses was my favorite story. I liked how he ended the book of with an open ended, deep, love letter of sorts it was well placed.
As all short story books there were ones I liked more than others but unlike most that I have read I really thought they were all interesting. None of them are connected and because so it was an easy read and held my attention throughout the entire book. Wheeler County, Billy The Kid, and The Reunion really stood out at me but Doghouse Roses was my favorite story. I liked how he ended the book of with an open ended, deep, love letter of sorts it was well placed.
March 1, 2013
Really enjoyed this collection of stories. Adding to my enjoyment were my surroundings...I read about leaving LA for the desert just after a day of driving the 10 into the Mojave for my botany work. We were actually sleeping among the Joshua trees, listening to the kit foxes and coyotes go about their nightly tasks. I didn't need any help visualizing the environment and what was happening in the stories, it is always neat to have that extra connection. Lastly, Earle's stories were written beautifully, but in the bad-ass way that I like and don't always get a chance to read. Great word-smithing, just as in his songwriting.
September 25, 2007
Alt. Country legend writes short stories. They're really good. The end.
Actually I suppose it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that Steve Earle tells a good story - good songwriting is all about telling good stories.
A good read. (no registered trademark).
Autobiographical bit (it's all about me): must have been going through an Americana phase last year. Italy at the moment, Russia earlier this year. Am colonising the world through books. And soon I shall take over the world...mwa ha ha etc...
Actually I suppose it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that Steve Earle tells a good story - good songwriting is all about telling good stories.
A good read. (no registered trademark).
Autobiographical bit (it's all about me): must have been going through an Americana phase last year. Italy at the moment, Russia earlier this year. Am colonising the world through books. And soon I shall take over the world...mwa ha ha etc...
September 25, 2011
This is a great book of short stories from one of America's best songwriters. I've been a fan of Steve Earle for years and have no idea why I didn't read this ten years ago when it came out. It's a gripping collection of stories and characters that make you stop after every chapter and contemplate life, love, mortality and justice. The stories are centered in LA, Tennessee, Texas, Mexico and Norway and many of the characters are composites of Earle's own life and experiences I'm sure. I couldn't put it down.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews