Bodock: Stories

by Robert Busby

Stories is a collection of stories set in fictitious Bodock, amid the actual Mid-South ice storm that devastated Mississippi in 1994, to map a history of the town and contribute to its mythos. 


In the vein of Brad Watson’s Last Days of the Dog-Men, the characters in Bodock here are desperate to reconcile past failures. They’ve committed murder or lesser acts of violence, their negligence has brought on the loss of a child or spouse, or their pride has pushed them into having an affair with a stripper, or else they have simply been cursed with general ineptitude or misfortune. These Bodockians square away their inadequacies as husbands and fathers, sons and sons-in-law, brothers to man and nature, the best way they can, all while coming to terms with their own mortality.


Robert Busby is the winner of the C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize.

275 pages, Paperback

Published June 3, 2025

Reviews

[Lauren Rhoades · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this gritty and propulsive collection of stories set in North Mississippi in the mid 90s. All the characters are compelling, especially when they’re behaving badly. The writing is excellent.

[David Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Busby’s small town in the North Mississippi hill country is fictional, but the time frame is chillingly (for those of us who remember it) real — the 1994 Mid-South Ice Storm. (It’s one of the two iconic weather events of my nearly 40 years in Memphis, along with 2003’s Hurricane Elvis windstorm.) My favorite in the collection is a cracking good ghost story, “Twenty Mile,” that I enjoyed so much I found myself wishing it were the start of a novel, set in the spectral town of the title, in that “province of ghosts.” The rest of the book is more grounded in gritty reality, though you might sense a ghost there, too — of the great Larry Brown. Highly recommended. (Hub City Press, 2025).

[Mary Beech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Busby is an excellent writer, with crisp, poignant and engrossing storytelling. I love short stories, and these were varied yet centering on the town of Burdock, MS and its colorful inhabitants. The last story, Offerings, is the longest and the best - but despite the clear links to Bodock, felt like it was from a different book.

[Will Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for the title—my brothers and I used to have to cut up Bodock trees for firewood. This guy’s style reminded me some of Larry Brown. I enjoyed the stories and how they loosely connected.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew. There are a number of stories worth reading in this collection, but "Offerings" is the crown jewel. Gut punch and catharsis, it both ties the collection together and flags the author as a considerable talent.