You Will Never See Any God: Stories

by Ervin D. Krause, Timothy Schaffert (Editor)

A farmer perishing under a fallen tractor makes a last stab at philosophizing: “There was nothing dead that was ever beautiful.” It is a sentiment belied not only by the strange beauty in his story but also in the rough lives and deaths, small and large, that fill these haunting tales. Pulp-fiction grim and gritty but with the rhythm and resonance of classic folklore, these stories take place in a world of shadowy figures and childhood fears, in a countryside peopled by witches and skinflints, by men and women mercilessly unforgiving of one another’s trespasses, and in nights prowled by wolves and scrutinized by an “agonized and lamenting” moon. Ervin D. Krause’s characters pontificate in saloons, condemning the morals of others as they slowly get sloshed; they have affairs in old cars on winter nights; they traffic in gossip, terrorize their neighbors, steal, hunt, and spy. This collection includes award-winning stories like “The Snake” and “The Quick and the Dead” as well as the previously unpublished “Anniversary,” which stirred a national controversy when it was censored by the University of Nebraska and barred from appearing in Prairie Schooner. Krause’s portrayal of the matter-of-fact cruelty and hopeful fragility of humanity is a critical addition to the canon of twentieth-century American literature.

Learn more about Ervin D. Krause.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

157 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Alan Heathcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing that these stories by Ervin Krause have just recently been resurrected, as they are some of the best I've read. Brutal, beautiful, hauntingly true, this book is immediately in my pantheon of story collections.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy could really write. This little book of short stories is packed with vibrant descriptions, mostly of harsh American farm life, but also with humanity at a level seldom achieved in so few pages. The situations are often grim, and the characters usually flawed. The narrative voice changes and displays a wide view of what people think and how they behave.

The stories are so rich that I’d recommend only digesting one or two a week and giving them plenty of time to settle. They’re that good.

[Holly Anne Lofgreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Offbeat collection which meanders and manages to find its way here and there. If stories can be described as lonely they are deep in the forest.

[Paul Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short stories is stark, gritty, and gutsy, peopled by a quiet farmer dying beneath the weight of his tractor, a weird little farm boy who thinks he knows evil, a crazy old women living alone in her fields, and a haunted traveler, to name a few, all on the great plains of Iowa and Nebraska.

Akin to the writing of Flannery O'Connor, this simple, yet stark existence makes you deeply aware of the vastness of the flat land, the horror of a plains thunderstorm, the simple beauty of a small prairie rattlesnake.

A beautifully written collection of little masterpieces!

[Patrick Probably DNF · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four stars for the writing itself. Too many flowery descriptions, adverbs, and repeated metaphors. (Not everything on a farm is "some ancient thing.") But five stars for the themes explored here, the cruelty of human beings, the destructive forces of nature, and the stark indifference of the world. Set in early 20th century midwest (Nebraska? Iowa?), these plain rustic stories manage to find beauty in the midst of tragic circumstance. Highly, highly recommend.

[Angie Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad someone recommended this collection of rather bleak, very human stories. Krause's descriptions are vivid, sometimes darkly comical and always deeply felt. I saw and knew each character fully, down to their small resentments, insecurities and quiet idiosyncrasies. If you love reading about people in their most bare and honest moments, this book is for you.

[J.D. Cetola · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some excellent short stories in this collection. All set in the Midwest (US) and generally centered around farms. None is uplifting, but all are beautifully written. "The Snake" and "The Metal Sky" are particularly excellent of the form.

[Mindy Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a dark but very beautiful collection of stories. Krause grew up poor on a farm, and most of the stories deal with the cruelty that nature can show to those who depend on it for their livelihood. The characters who inhabit the stories are sometimes cruel themselves, and even when they are humane, they often pay a price.

All of the stories are actually SHORT; there's none of this writing a 60 page novella and calling it a short story. My favorites were the first and the last, "Spring Flood" and "The Snake". The Snake is apparently still studied in literature classes, but it was new to me.

I was interested in "The Anniversary" as it was censored in the 60s and had never been published before, but it was actually my least favorite of the collection. It takes place in a city and doesn't have the "grappling with nature" element that I liked, and the relationship in the story was just plain weird and didn't speak to me at all. It certainly didn't offend me, though, and it's silly that a university would have suppressed it.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know I rated this three stars but I am probably going to have to change my rating. Many of these stories have stayed with me. Over a year later I still find myself thinking about them.