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So Much Heart
2024 SERGIO TRONCOSO AWARD FOR BEST FIRST BOOK OF FICTION
"Drew Buxton's debut short story collection exposes the wiry underbelly of things: schemes, addiction, dead bodies, intrusive thoughts, masculinity, American mythology, with a beating heart interested most in affirming the strangeness of this life."
-NYLON
"What makes these stories truly special, what turbocharges them, is their departure from realism into bent and refracted versions of past and future Americas."
-Southwest Review
“There are a lot of found body parts in Drew Buxton’s So Much Heart, but these aren’t gruesome tales. Bodies—or just the parts—are handled in the same straightforward manner as the arrival of a pizza and Oreos before bedtime, a high-stakes Pogs game. And when things go full-on surreal, all remains quite normal. In fact, everything is just fine here in So Much Heart. I’m not sure what to call this ultra-realistic surrealism, but I love it and I love these stories.”
—Mary Miller, author of Biloxi and Always Happy Hour
“Buxton's stories read like that shot in Lynch's Blue Velvet where we push past the green grass of Norman Rockwell Americana and see the rotten, cruel underbelly of things. Corpses, recess, cockfights in Vegas — these stories feel like cinema. "I want to tell him how, sometimes when I’m alone in the house, I shit my pants on purpose." Funny, unnerving, and gothic, these stories feel like blood relations to Donald Ray Pollock, Amelia Gray, or Stephen King.”
—Oliver Zarandi, author of Soft Fruit in the Sun
"You're the kind of honest that happens when you're lonely. You're late-night driving through Texas with a stranger—a pizza delivery guy for Papa John's. It's humid, unhinged, but hopeful. In So Much Heart, Drew Buxton pulls us close to losers and rejects, and we recognize ourselves. We scratch each other's backs."
—Ashleigh Bryant Phillips, author of Sleepovers
“So Much Heart drips authenticity with every sentence, in every story, within this high-spirited collection. Drew Buxton somehow manages to take bizarre feelings buried deep inside of us and make them into buoyant tales that we can all relate to on a deeply personal level. He makes the awkward, okay. The odd, feel casual. And erratic human emotions something to be celebrated, not shunned. In short, So Much Heart is the ultimate vibe check for everyone who reads it. Whether you pass is up to you.”
—Mallory Smart, author of The Only Living Girl In Chicago
"Drew Buxton's debut short story collection exposes the wiry underbelly of things: schemes, addiction, dead bodies, intrusive thoughts, masculinity, American mythology, with a beating heart interested most in affirming the strangeness of this life."
-NYLON
"What makes these stories truly special, what turbocharges them, is their departure from realism into bent and refracted versions of past and future Americas."
-Southwest Review
“There are a lot of found body parts in Drew Buxton’s So Much Heart, but these aren’t gruesome tales. Bodies—or just the parts—are handled in the same straightforward manner as the arrival of a pizza and Oreos before bedtime, a high-stakes Pogs game. And when things go full-on surreal, all remains quite normal. In fact, everything is just fine here in So Much Heart. I’m not sure what to call this ultra-realistic surrealism, but I love it and I love these stories.”
—Mary Miller, author of Biloxi and Always Happy Hour
“Buxton's stories read like that shot in Lynch's Blue Velvet where we push past the green grass of Norman Rockwell Americana and see the rotten, cruel underbelly of things. Corpses, recess, cockfights in Vegas — these stories feel like cinema. "I want to tell him how, sometimes when I’m alone in the house, I shit my pants on purpose." Funny, unnerving, and gothic, these stories feel like blood relations to Donald Ray Pollock, Amelia Gray, or Stephen King.”
—Oliver Zarandi, author of Soft Fruit in the Sun
"You're the kind of honest that happens when you're lonely. You're late-night driving through Texas with a stranger—a pizza delivery guy for Papa John's. It's humid, unhinged, but hopeful. In So Much Heart, Drew Buxton pulls us close to losers and rejects, and we recognize ourselves. We scratch each other's backs."
—Ashleigh Bryant Phillips, author of Sleepovers
“So Much Heart drips authenticity with every sentence, in every story, within this high-spirited collection. Drew Buxton somehow manages to take bizarre feelings buried deep inside of us and make them into buoyant tales that we can all relate to on a deeply personal level. He makes the awkward, okay. The odd, feel casual. And erratic human emotions something to be celebrated, not shunned. In short, So Much Heart is the ultimate vibe check for everyone who reads it. Whether you pass is up to you.”
—Mallory Smart, author of The Only Living Girl In Chicago
- GenresShort Stories
154 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2023
1 person is currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Drew Buxton
3 books13 followersDrew Buxton is a writer from Texas. His debut short story collection So Much Heart (With an X Books) won the Sergio Troncoso Award for Best First Book of Fiction (Texas Institute of Letters). It has received praise from Nylon, Southwest Review, Southern Review of Books, and Chicago Review of Books among others. His work has been featured in The Drift, Joyland, Electric Literature, Ninth Letter, and Vice.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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November 9, 2023Thank you to Drew for sending me this collection. Each story drips with feeling, settling into your heart and lungs like petroleum oil or chicken fat. One could imagine Buxton creating these stories within the walls of a chemical compounding pharmacy, preparing the right emotional cocktail that will both soothe and discomfort before sending you out to witness all of the frightening beauty that life has to offer.
August 14, 2023
This cover gives me 90s vibes and I don't really know why, but I'm right aren't I? This was the perfect blend of existential horror and dark humour I enjoy, this was a great collection I'm excited to see what he writes next!
June 25, 2023
So fucking good and so fucking funny. Easily my favorite short story collection of the year. "Tilikum Gets Loose," "Monticello," and "Ride With Me" were my favorites, but this whole collection is banger after banger. Five stars.
July 26, 2023
"He said when you shoot dope you experience the bliss of death for a little, and it helps you transition into the real thing. They'd been eating microwave mac and cheese last week when he said the distinction between life and death was arbitrary".
This book was such a pleasant discovery! As I started reading it I found myself craving the next story and the next, with every one never disappointing.
This collection of short stories is filled with So Much Heart that a book title has never been more appropriate!
The stories vary from bizarre to very dark, but all have in common characters with some mental health or problematic situations, all portrayed with such compassion and objectivity.
This is what struck me, the ability to write such heart breaking and dark stories without the use of stereotypes. Writing such characters in a way to make the reader believe them and their stories are real or they could be somewhere..
I really recommend this collection that will punch you in the stomach whilst laughing. You'll feel confused, satisfied, angry and upset but it'll leave you with So Much Heart!!
Thank you Drew Buxton for the opportunity to read it and this is my honest review.
This book was such a pleasant discovery! As I started reading it I found myself craving the next story and the next, with every one never disappointing.
This collection of short stories is filled with So Much Heart that a book title has never been more appropriate!
The stories vary from bizarre to very dark, but all have in common characters with some mental health or problematic situations, all portrayed with such compassion and objectivity.
This is what struck me, the ability to write such heart breaking and dark stories without the use of stereotypes. Writing such characters in a way to make the reader believe them and their stories are real or they could be somewhere..
I really recommend this collection that will punch you in the stomach whilst laughing. You'll feel confused, satisfied, angry and upset but it'll leave you with So Much Heart!!
Thank you Drew Buxton for the opportunity to read it and this is my honest review.
July 6, 2024
Love a good collection of short stories so I can take a brief escape into a book when I please without having to over commit my time. Unfortunately, Drew's vivid, unique tales were too captivating for me and I would constantly tell myself "just one more" after reaching the end of each of his short stories. Each one with just the right amount of absurdity to stay believable. Each main character with just the right amount of shittyness and redeeming qualities to feel real. Can't wait to see what the author writes next!
June 17, 2023
I can't remember the last time I read a collection of stories with such a wide variety of protagonists, from the first-person child narrator of the title story to a SeaWorld concessions worker to a woman who's only just listened to the "Serial" podcast for the first time and just wants to discuss it with someone. Moreover, I don't think I've ever read a collection that successfully inhabits such a range of personas with Buxton's level of insight. So Much Heart is seldom short on sleaze, but it's deeply, warmly human in a way that transcends the prescription pill bottles and sometimes-desolate settings found in its pages.
December 28, 2025
What a wonderful collection of short stories by Drew Buxton. I discovered this book from reading the title story in a short story advent calendar by Hingston and Olsen several years ago. Each story is unique and completely different from the others in the collection. I truly hope to read more by Drew Buxton in the future, highly recommended!
June 12, 2023
I wouldn't change a thing!
June 17, 2023
Bleak, brutally honest, and immersive… but unexpectedly delightful with just the right amount of sardonic humor. This collection has me excited to see what else he has coming out.
July 7, 2023
You wouldn't think a dark book would be so enjoyable to read, but the author makes it work. If you like books that don't sugarcoat the reality of being alive today, don't miss this one.
January 19, 2024
I received this book by the author. Thank you so much! My review is my own honest opinion.
I rated this 4.5 but rounded up for Goodreads.
First of all, can we all pause to appreciate this book cover? The cover art is absolutely amazing! I kept finding myself studying it when I wasn't reading the book. Now, on to the review!
These short stories are snippets of struggling people's lives, written like it's a normal Monday for them, but reality is they're anything but normal. There's an odd whimsy to these tales, despite them being so gritty and dark. How Buxton managed to make intrusive thoughts, mental illness, and addiction somehow lighthearted, I don't know, but he did. That being said, you have to have a grim dark humor to think that I suppose. That'd be me, my humor is dark.
My only gripe with these snippets is, I wish they were longer. That's more of a compliment than anything bad. I get sucked right into this wacky ride, only for it to be over and on to the next story. I use the term 'snippet' here as these don't have definitive conclusions. It's like sitting in front of a TV and flipping the channel after watching a show for a few minutes. I was put off by this at first, I'm so used to more definitive conclusions, but then the more stories I read, the more I tossed that bother out the window and buckled up for the ride.
I would absolutely recommend this debut collection of short stories for anyone with the same grim humor. There are triggers galore in this, so be advised!
I rated this 4.5 but rounded up for Goodreads.
First of all, can we all pause to appreciate this book cover? The cover art is absolutely amazing! I kept finding myself studying it when I wasn't reading the book. Now, on to the review!
These short stories are snippets of struggling people's lives, written like it's a normal Monday for them, but reality is they're anything but normal. There's an odd whimsy to these tales, despite them being so gritty and dark. How Buxton managed to make intrusive thoughts, mental illness, and addiction somehow lighthearted, I don't know, but he did. That being said, you have to have a grim dark humor to think that I suppose. That'd be me, my humor is dark.
My only gripe with these snippets is, I wish they were longer. That's more of a compliment than anything bad. I get sucked right into this wacky ride, only for it to be over and on to the next story. I use the term 'snippet' here as these don't have definitive conclusions. It's like sitting in front of a TV and flipping the channel after watching a show for a few minutes. I was put off by this at first, I'm so used to more definitive conclusions, but then the more stories I read, the more I tossed that bother out the window and buckled up for the ride.
I would absolutely recommend this debut collection of short stories for anyone with the same grim humor. There are triggers galore in this, so be advised!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews