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Half an Inch of Water: Stories
A new collection of stories set in the West from "one of the most gifted and versatile of contemporary writers" (NPR)
Percival Everett's long-awaited new collection of stories, his first since 2004's Damned If I Do, finds him traversing the West with characteristic restlessness. A deaf Native American girl wanders off into the desert and is found untouched in a den of rattlesnakes. A young boy copes with the death of his sister by angling for an unnaturally large trout in the creek where she drowned. An old woman rides her horse into a mountain snowstorm and sees a long-dead beloved dog.
For the plainspoken men and women of these stories--fathers and daughters, sheriffs and veterinarians--small events trigger sudden shifts in which the ordinary becomes unfamiliar. A harmless comment about how to ride a horse changes the course of a relationship, a snakebite gives rise to hallucinations, and the hunt for a missing man reveals his uncanny resemblance to an actor. Half an Inch of Water tears through the fabric of the everyday to examine what lies beneath the surface of these lives. In the hands of master storyteller Everett, the act of questioning leads to vistas more strange and unsettling than could ever have been expected.
Percival Everett's long-awaited new collection of stories, his first since 2004's Damned If I Do, finds him traversing the West with characteristic restlessness. A deaf Native American girl wanders off into the desert and is found untouched in a den of rattlesnakes. A young boy copes with the death of his sister by angling for an unnaturally large trout in the creek where she drowned. An old woman rides her horse into a mountain snowstorm and sees a long-dead beloved dog.
For the plainspoken men and women of these stories--fathers and daughters, sheriffs and veterinarians--small events trigger sudden shifts in which the ordinary becomes unfamiliar. A harmless comment about how to ride a horse changes the course of a relationship, a snakebite gives rise to hallucinations, and the hunt for a missing man reveals his uncanny resemblance to an actor. Half an Inch of Water tears through the fabric of the everyday to examine what lies beneath the surface of these lives. In the hands of master storyteller Everett, the act of questioning leads to vistas more strange and unsettling than could ever have been expected.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published September 15, 2015
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About the author
Percival Everett
74 books9,246 followersPercival L. Everett (born 1956) is an American writer and Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.
There might not be a more fertile mind in American fiction today than Everett’s. In 22 years, he has written 19 books, including a farcical Western, a savage satire of the publishing industry, a children’s story spoofing counting books, retellings of the Greek myths of Medea and Dionysus, and a philosophical tract narrated by a four-year-old.
The Washington Post has called Everett “one of the most adventurously experimental of modern American novelists.” And according to The Boston Globe, “He’s literature’s NASCAR champion, going flat out, narrowly avoiding one seemingly inevitable crash only to steer straight for the next.”
Everett, who teaches courses in creative writing, American studies and critical theory, says he writes about what interests him, which explains his prolific output and the range of subjects he has tackled. He also describes himself as a demanding teacher who learns from his students as much as they learn from him.
Everett’s writing has earned him the PEN USA 2006 Literary Award (for his 2005 novel, Wounded), the Academy Award for Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (for his 2001 novel, Erasure), the PEN/Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature (for his 1996 story collection, Big Picture) and the New American Writing Award (for his 1990 novel, Zulus). He has served as a judge for, among others, the 1997 National Book Award for fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1991.
There might not be a more fertile mind in American fiction today than Everett’s. In 22 years, he has written 19 books, including a farcical Western, a savage satire of the publishing industry, a children’s story spoofing counting books, retellings of the Greek myths of Medea and Dionysus, and a philosophical tract narrated by a four-year-old.
The Washington Post has called Everett “one of the most adventurously experimental of modern American novelists.” And according to The Boston Globe, “He’s literature’s NASCAR champion, going flat out, narrowly avoiding one seemingly inevitable crash only to steer straight for the next.”
Everett, who teaches courses in creative writing, American studies and critical theory, says he writes about what interests him, which explains his prolific output and the range of subjects he has tackled. He also describes himself as a demanding teacher who learns from his students as much as they learn from him.
Everett’s writing has earned him the PEN USA 2006 Literary Award (for his 2005 novel, Wounded), the Academy Award for Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (for his 2001 novel, Erasure), the PEN/Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature (for his 1996 story collection, Big Picture) and the New American Writing Award (for his 1990 novel, Zulus). He has served as a judge for, among others, the 1997 National Book Award for fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 239 reviews
January 30, 2019
I enjoyed every story in the collection. A mix of themes, stories of journeys that may or may not involve spiritual elements, of families in conflict, or of a test of some kind; all set in a harsh and beautiful landscape. The stories seem to both begin and to end mid-stream, and yet, to be entirely whole, exactly right.
One aspect about this collection that I really love is the way each story merges the physical world with the spiritual world in an unexpected way. The tone of the stories never wavers from the concrete, and yet miraculous things occur in the minds of the protagonists. Even life and death feel like two sides of the same river where you can cross back and forth with relative ease and without fear. "A High Lake" is a story where this easy travel from life to death and back again happens quite overtly, and where it is central to the story theme, and it was my favorite story. But there is the same, true kind of magic in each one of these stories.
One aspect about this collection that I really love is the way each story merges the physical world with the spiritual world in an unexpected way. The tone of the stories never wavers from the concrete, and yet miraculous things occur in the minds of the protagonists. Even life and death feel like two sides of the same river where you can cross back and forth with relative ease and without fear. "A High Lake" is a story where this easy travel from life to death and back again happens quite overtly, and where it is central to the story theme, and it was my favorite story. But there is the same, true kind of magic in each one of these stories.
July 7, 2022
I thought this collection might be a good introduction to Everett’s writing, but I was disappointed in that. I found the stories conventional, many with repetitious and tedious details. The premise of a story would be interesting, but then the plot details were either too plodding or a contrivance, unless (as in a couple of them) they were too abrupt.
I enjoyed “Finding Billy White Feather” in toto. It was clever and amusing.
It's said one can drown in an inch or two of water, though I don't know if that’s why the collection is titled as it is. It’s true I didn’t drown in these stories. I guess I should’ve gone for one of his novels.
*
The day after finishing this collection I found Everett’s “The Appropriation of Cultures” online. I had none of the above issues with it.
I enjoyed “Finding Billy White Feather” in toto. It was clever and amusing.
It's said one can drown in an inch or two of water, though I don't know if that’s why the collection is titled as it is. It’s true I didn’t drown in these stories. I guess I should’ve gone for one of his novels.
*
The day after finishing this collection I found Everett’s “The Appropriation of Cultures” online. I had none of the above issues with it.
April 28, 2024
I'll be honest in saying its difficult to put into words Percival Everett's unique qualities. Its rare to uncover an author whose storytelling spans multiple genre using unique perspectives and character names that could be game show material!
Here he shows an ability to tell short form stories based in the rural West. The fact that he's a distinguished USC English professor as well as an author has the reader wonder where his knowledge of rural life emanates. Having read many of his books, these short stories comes as a surprise since Wounded seems to have been the only Western themed plot. In each of the stories, knowledge of animal husbandry, riding, Indian folklore and more are displayed which made me scratch my head muttering, 'how the heck does he know this stuff'?
Everett uses the title as metaphor comparing short stories to novels. Some are less than 10 pages, others a bit more yet all are equally entertaining. Regardless, I found every story enjoyable, interesting and engaging. With this book he maintains genre with every tale while his novels span humor, mystery, crime and in the case of I Am Not Sidney Poitier comic fantasy!
The fact he's written fiction, poetry, children's literature and was born in GA, his familiarity of horses, riding, ranching and Indian reservations has me assume he's had a cowboy fantasy throughout life. OR, perhaps his Southern CA neighbors are former Western movie stars. Whatever the case, if you enjoy short stories that are evocative, unique and based in the West, you'll certainly enjoy this book
Here he shows an ability to tell short form stories based in the rural West. The fact that he's a distinguished USC English professor as well as an author has the reader wonder where his knowledge of rural life emanates. Having read many of his books, these short stories comes as a surprise since Wounded seems to have been the only Western themed plot. In each of the stories, knowledge of animal husbandry, riding, Indian folklore and more are displayed which made me scratch my head muttering, 'how the heck does he know this stuff'?
Everett uses the title as metaphor comparing short stories to novels. Some are less than 10 pages, others a bit more yet all are equally entertaining. Regardless, I found every story enjoyable, interesting and engaging. With this book he maintains genre with every tale while his novels span humor, mystery, crime and in the case of I Am Not Sidney Poitier comic fantasy!
The fact he's written fiction, poetry, children's literature and was born in GA, his familiarity of horses, riding, ranching and Indian reservations has me assume he's had a cowboy fantasy throughout life. OR, perhaps his Southern CA neighbors are former Western movie stars. Whatever the case, if you enjoy short stories that are evocative, unique and based in the West, you'll certainly enjoy this book
July 13, 2023
Ok - so Percival Everett won the Booker Prize 2022 for his fiction book - The Trees. I couldn't find that so opted for this, Half an Inch of Water; a collection of short stories - nine to be precise, all of them, I think, are set in the state of Wyoming.
I more or less enjoyed the first three or four, but then I stared to notice a pattern of how he would finish with a quirky, little inversion; sort of shifting our sense of what should happen; or literally just leaving us hanging. I don't mind this, and I don't mind sending my mind back over the tale to see if I've missed something, but no it's the ending - unusually abrupt. In several he refuses his reader any kind of satisfying resolution. I haven't read his other books, so I'm not sure - is this a hallmark of his style?
A couple of the stories were appallingly; let's say sickeningly gruesome - and reminded me of Annie Proulx's Close Range: Wyoming Stories. She has a total of three story collections set in Wyoming, and to be perfectly honest I think Proulx did a better job. Other books set in the wild west come to mind - Gretel Erhlich's The Solace of Open Spaces - which also focuses on the nitty gritty of making a living in these tough parts of the US - and again I preferred her account. Whereas Proulx and Erhlich provide realistic accounts, Everett likes to add in a whimsical or fantastical detail. In some of them it's just plain grisly - something that might come over well in a film. I guessed the item in the box, in the story "Liquid Glass", and there are two stories about searching for someone - the weakest of the whole collection is "Finding Billy White Feather" - which deals with not being able to resolve a dilemma and says more about the man obsessed with the search than anything else. The other 'search story' is "Graham Greene" - and the theme is similar in that the searcher also cannot resolve the request made of him, but he acts in good faith - and again the actions of the story tell us more about his character than anything else.
To be perfectly honest I grew a little weary of these oblique moral tales. I don't think Percival Everett is my 'cup-a-tea'. There's also Mary Hunter Austin, The Land of Little Rain or The Walking Woman - which I thought of as I was reading Everett's "A High Lake," an old woman out riding on her own, she follows tracks and passes through a strange gate to another land, but she returns to her own fireside - and then there's that quirky little ending.
Even Willa Cather - you could try if you want to read about the South West, and its native peoples - she does a good job in books like Death Comes for the Archbishop.
To conclude: did Everett capture the people and the places of his Wyoming? In some ways, yes, the sense of the absence of people, a sense of lack in people's lives, or in the hardships of not being surrounded by shops, and the entertainments of city life - yes, he does manage to convey the openness of high plains or the harshness of the weather and landscape - frequent references to drivers not wanting to travel over snow; and a fairly consistent background of the fragility of peoples' connections to each other. And then there is the mystical element - several referents to the type of phenomenon that would fit in well with the TV series - The Unexplained. Didn't work for me.
I'm struggling - 3 stars - is generous.
I more or less enjoyed the first three or four, but then I stared to notice a pattern of how he would finish with a quirky, little inversion; sort of shifting our sense of what should happen; or literally just leaving us hanging. I don't mind this, and I don't mind sending my mind back over the tale to see if I've missed something, but no it's the ending - unusually abrupt. In several he refuses his reader any kind of satisfying resolution. I haven't read his other books, so I'm not sure - is this a hallmark of his style?
A couple of the stories were appallingly; let's say sickeningly gruesome - and reminded me of Annie Proulx's Close Range: Wyoming Stories. She has a total of three story collections set in Wyoming, and to be perfectly honest I think Proulx did a better job. Other books set in the wild west come to mind - Gretel Erhlich's The Solace of Open Spaces - which also focuses on the nitty gritty of making a living in these tough parts of the US - and again I preferred her account. Whereas Proulx and Erhlich provide realistic accounts, Everett likes to add in a whimsical or fantastical detail. In some of them it's just plain grisly - something that might come over well in a film. I guessed the item in the box, in the story "Liquid Glass", and there are two stories about searching for someone - the weakest of the whole collection is "Finding Billy White Feather" - which deals with not being able to resolve a dilemma and says more about the man obsessed with the search than anything else. The other 'search story' is "Graham Greene" - and the theme is similar in that the searcher also cannot resolve the request made of him, but he acts in good faith - and again the actions of the story tell us more about his character than anything else.
To be perfectly honest I grew a little weary of these oblique moral tales. I don't think Percival Everett is my 'cup-a-tea'. There's also Mary Hunter Austin, The Land of Little Rain or The Walking Woman - which I thought of as I was reading Everett's "A High Lake," an old woman out riding on her own, she follows tracks and passes through a strange gate to another land, but she returns to her own fireside - and then there's that quirky little ending.
Even Willa Cather - you could try if you want to read about the South West, and its native peoples - she does a good job in books like Death Comes for the Archbishop.
To conclude: did Everett capture the people and the places of his Wyoming? In some ways, yes, the sense of the absence of people, a sense of lack in people's lives, or in the hardships of not being surrounded by shops, and the entertainments of city life - yes, he does manage to convey the openness of high plains or the harshness of the weather and landscape - frequent references to drivers not wanting to travel over snow; and a fairly consistent background of the fragility of peoples' connections to each other. And then there is the mystical element - several referents to the type of phenomenon that would fit in well with the TV series - The Unexplained. Didn't work for me.
I'm struggling - 3 stars - is generous.
November 22, 2017
This is my sixth Percival Everett book, the second short story anthology, and this one works as a continuing story with repeating characters. Unlike all of the other books I’ve read so far, these stories are more traditional and literary, not humorous, all occupying the same Western (Wyoming, Colorado) terrain: ranches, rivers, fishing, flowing meadows. Rough-living people with softness inside. There’s a lot of warmth here.
“Little Faith” feels like an homage to one of my other favorite authors, Kent Haruf. Complete with no quotation marks on the dialogue. (All the other stories use quotation marks.) It is a quiet Western story. Stillness within a tense drama to find a lost little girl. It left me with a sigh. An interesting aside: in one of Everett’s other books, a protagonist points out that unless a character is identified as black, readers assume he’s white. The first reference to the veterinarian in this story being black doesn’t come until page 10:
“Stonefly” is a quiet fish-out-of-water story about dealing with pain. A mood piece.
“A High Lake” is a warm end-of-life story about an independent woman.
Tension, release, catharsis, gasp. “Exposure” took my breath away. It was a father/daughter story that is at once so obvious that I can’t believe nobody else has written some version of this, and so rare that I’m contemplating buying a copy of this book just to own this story. (I’m reading a library copy.)
“Wrong Lead” is a title with many possible meanings. A rancher gives riding lessons to fearful people and they learn a lot more than he acknowledges saying. Even though this is a domestic relationship story, Everett gives it so much more grit than this kind of material usually delivers.
“The Day Comes” left me with chills racing up and down my body. It started out like such a dry Western story, and then calmly everything turned. Well done.
“Finding Billy Whitefeather” feels like it might be a mystery, but it’s not. I won’t say more and ruin it. I will say that at the end, I threw my head back and said (not laughed): “Ha ha.”
“Liquid Glass” is the first Percival Everett story that hasn’t worked for me; it felt like a failed exercise that he couldn’t figure out. Would love to hear other opinions on this one.
And finally there’s “Graham Greene,” a story about a man who just tries to do the right thing.
“Little Faith” feels like an homage to one of my other favorite authors, Kent Haruf. Complete with no quotation marks on the dialogue. (All the other stories use quotation marks.) It is a quiet Western story. Stillness within a tense drama to find a lost little girl. It left me with a sigh. An interesting aside: in one of Everett’s other books, a protagonist points out that unless a character is identified as black, readers assume he’s white. The first reference to the veterinarian in this story being black doesn’t come until page 10:
[Wes, a client, says to Sam, the vet:] You know, being a black vet out here. I have to admit it, I had my doubts.Everett is black and writes black characters, so I now assume his people are black unless otherwise identified as white. He’s reversed my assumptions and I love it! I also love that his stories are not about being one race or another; race is just a fact. And you get to feel what the person living inside feels about the outside and its interpretation or lack thereof by others in a way that I’ve never read before.
About what exactly?
Whether you’d make it.
You mean fit in?
I guess that’s what I mean, yeah.
Wes, I grew up here. Grade school. High school. I’ve never fit in. I probably will never fit in. I accept that.
“Stonefly” is a quiet fish-out-of-water story about dealing with pain. A mood piece.
“A High Lake” is a warm end-of-life story about an independent woman.
Tension, release, catharsis, gasp. “Exposure” took my breath away. It was a father/daughter story that is at once so obvious that I can’t believe nobody else has written some version of this, and so rare that I’m contemplating buying a copy of this book just to own this story. (I’m reading a library copy.)
“Wrong Lead” is a title with many possible meanings. A rancher gives riding lessons to fearful people and they learn a lot more than he acknowledges saying. Even though this is a domestic relationship story, Everett gives it so much more grit than this kind of material usually delivers.
“The Day Comes” left me with chills racing up and down my body. It started out like such a dry Western story, and then calmly everything turned. Well done.
“Finding Billy Whitefeather” feels like it might be a mystery, but it’s not. I won’t say more and ruin it. I will say that at the end, I threw my head back and said (not laughed): “Ha ha.”
“Liquid Glass” is the first Percival Everett story that hasn’t worked for me; it felt like a failed exercise that he couldn’t figure out. Would love to hear other opinions on this one.
And finally there’s “Graham Greene,” a story about a man who just tries to do the right thing.
September 17, 2024
Loved it. The whole cowboy, hillbilly, vaguely situated near Laramie, Wyoming shit just works incredibly well for Everett, likely cause it’s 100% genuine. I could read a thousand of PE’s fishing stories (always a zugbug!) and still want more.
Probably his best collection, the thematic constants and some recurring characters are a wonderful bit of world-building. Sonofabitch. Everett may very well have cured me of my short story allergy. Dagnabit.
Probably his best collection, the thematic constants and some recurring characters are a wonderful bit of world-building. Sonofabitch. Everett may very well have cured me of my short story allergy. Dagnabit.
July 8, 2022
My introduction to Percival Everett was the zany, oddball novel, I Am Not Sidney Poitier. The title character looks like Sidney Poitier, but he is not Sidney Poitier, even though he is Not Sidney Poitier. That’s his name: “Not Sidney Poitier.”
If that isn’t zany enough, Not Sidney Poitier, who was orphaned at age eleven, becomes the foster son of media mogul, Ted Turner -- and then it gets crazy.
I really enjoyed the story and promised myself that I would read more of Everett’s work, which led me to this short story collection, Half An Inch of Water.
It wasn’t at all what I expected.
I expected oddball characters, zany plots, and loads of humor. There was very little of any of that in these stories. Only one story came close, Finding Billy White Feather. According to some people Billy was an Indian, while others said he was white; some said he had dark hair and dark eyes; others said he was blond and light-skinned. Only on one characteristic did all agree: Billy White Feather was a jerk.
You will have to read the story to find out which was true of Billy – if any of it was.
The other stories were much more conventional – and several were needlessly slowed down by deadening detail. While reading Stonefly, the passage describing fishing lures caused my mind to wander. I went back and began to read it a second time, but before I finished I was staring out the window. Then I realized that I really didn’t give a damn about fishing lures, which had nothing to do with the story anyway, so I moved on.
However, I am not through with Mr. Everett. I know he is a good writer and I will be reading some of his other novels, but I may never read his other short story collection.
If that isn’t zany enough, Not Sidney Poitier, who was orphaned at age eleven, becomes the foster son of media mogul, Ted Turner -- and then it gets crazy.
I really enjoyed the story and promised myself that I would read more of Everett’s work, which led me to this short story collection, Half An Inch of Water.
It wasn’t at all what I expected.
I expected oddball characters, zany plots, and loads of humor. There was very little of any of that in these stories. Only one story came close, Finding Billy White Feather. According to some people Billy was an Indian, while others said he was white; some said he had dark hair and dark eyes; others said he was blond and light-skinned. Only on one characteristic did all agree: Billy White Feather was a jerk.
You will have to read the story to find out which was true of Billy – if any of it was.
The other stories were much more conventional – and several were needlessly slowed down by deadening detail. While reading Stonefly, the passage describing fishing lures caused my mind to wander. I went back and began to read it a second time, but before I finished I was staring out the window. Then I realized that I really didn’t give a damn about fishing lures, which had nothing to do with the story anyway, so I moved on.
However, I am not through with Mr. Everett. I know he is a good writer and I will be reading some of his other novels, but I may never read his other short story collection.
December 1, 2015
Each year, I see the candidates for major literary awards and prizes and I never see Percival Everett's name mentioned. I don't understand this, but the awards and prizes aren't mine to give out, so I'm probably not intended to understand.
In the meantime, Mr. Everett's writings flow on, as inexorably and purely as one day flows into the next. He has my gratitude for that.
In the meantime, Mr. Everett's writings flow on, as inexorably and purely as one day flows into the next. He has my gratitude for that.
September 29, 2015
this is the first work I've read of Percival Everett's. I feel like I've discovered a diamond mine.
May 8, 2024
Only a wordsmith like Percival Everett can create such original, captivating, and interesting stories. Although this is an “older” book of his, the writing is fantastic. Highly recommended for those who like stories that take you places that make you contemplate life.
April 22, 2022
It does seem sightly ridiculous that every Percival Everett book I read becomes my new favorite book but I’m not lying. These stories are SO good. The first few hit so strongly in this cool, calm and collected kind of way. Then there’s a few that start to veer off into magical realism (Liquid Glass, particularly). Nine stories, ALL good, all compelling, all quirky and smart.
.
The stories are not sequential but there are some overlapping characters.
Also loved that there were a few Native American characters as well.
.
The stories are not sequential but there are some overlapping characters.
Also loved that there were a few Native American characters as well.
August 2, 2017
4.8⭐ Graham Greene by Percival Everett (Via Half An Inch Of Water)
On this, the sixth installment of Sticher podcast's LeVar Burton Reads , we're gifted with Graham Greene by Percival Everett. This story was just so beautifully, humorously, tragically human. I just love that part of it, that this could have happened to me. As a matter of fact, this is the sort of shit that happens to me. It really challenges the reader to look at motivations of the protag and the supporting characters. There was also a story within a story, in my opinion. Because of the way this story ends, it causes you to look back at one of the supporting characters, and envision her history in your mind. Now that you have all the pieces, you can sort of look at her and think about why she did all the things she did, and what caused her to set this protagonist in motion. And because this is a short piece, that whole aspect is yours to imagine.
I think that settings often manifest as a character themselves in small town stories, reservation stories, and short stories. The cast of players are all enjoyable. They're all familiar. They really brought in that realism and humanness. I think I might have to look at this author, he's got a fluid, enjoyable voice that comes off as effortless. Another great read via LeVar Burton Reads.
**Note**
Read on the dates listed, in the year 2017 - back dated to exempt from the goodreads challenge
On this, the sixth installment of Sticher podcast's LeVar Burton Reads , we're gifted with Graham Greene by Percival Everett. This story was just so beautifully, humorously, tragically human. I just love that part of it, that this could have happened to me. As a matter of fact, this is the sort of shit that happens to me. It really challenges the reader to look at motivations of the protag and the supporting characters. There was also a story within a story, in my opinion. Because of the way this story ends, it causes you to look back at one of the supporting characters, and envision her history in your mind. Now that you have all the pieces, you can sort of look at her and think about why she did all the things she did, and what caused her to set this protagonist in motion. And because this is a short piece, that whole aspect is yours to imagine.
I think that settings often manifest as a character themselves in small town stories, reservation stories, and short stories. The cast of players are all enjoyable. They're all familiar. They really brought in that realism and humanness. I think I might have to look at this author, he's got a fluid, enjoyable voice that comes off as effortless. Another great read via LeVar Burton Reads.
**Note**
Read on the dates listed, in the year 2017 - back dated to exempt from the goodreads challenge
December 9, 2017
I kind of figured out the ending before it happened, but Levar Burton can read me the phone book and I would listen with complete attention and rapt silence.
Good story too. Kind of sad, but sweet too. 3.5 stars, rounded up for the sweetness of the narrator. Not sure, if he thought the son could have been dead, why he didn't check obituary records. Just saying.
Good story too. Kind of sad, but sweet too. 3.5 stars, rounded up for the sweetness of the narrator. Not sure, if he thought the son could have been dead, why he didn't check obituary records. Just saying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2022
I never want to be sick but I was feeling just under the weather recently and really benefited from a day on the couch with no obligations other than reading. I wanted a book that I knew would be a winner and that I could finish in a day. This book of short stories had been on my shelf for a minute and was the perfect choice.
All these stories are set in the southwest and most have an element of magical realism. They are mostly subtle, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking.
Percival Everett might be the most underrated writer writing now. I dropped off my copy at a little free library in my neighborhood, hoping someone else will discover his genius.
All these stories are set in the southwest and most have an element of magical realism. They are mostly subtle, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking.
Percival Everett might be the most underrated writer writing now. I dropped off my copy at a little free library in my neighborhood, hoping someone else will discover his genius.
March 13, 2019
I came across this author by way of LeVar Burton's excellent "LeVar Burton Reads" podcast, in which he reads a short story, 'Graham Greene', taken from this anthology. I don't read much short fiction but that might have to change if I can find more like this; this was just great. I'm very much looking forward to reading some of this author's longer fiction.
September 4, 2017
"The coming cold weather didn't trouble her; it was not even unwelcome; it was simply a fact. your horse steps in a puddle, his hoof gets wet. It's not a good thing, it's not a bad thing, it's just a thing. She remembered her husband saying this from time to time."
Read
August 8, 2015Excellent stories. I wish there were 50 more.
May 27, 2024
Percival Everett writing about horses and fishing >>>
November 8, 2018
The short story Graham Greene found in this collection is refreshing, not only in how it's told but that it is set on a Wyoming Arapaho reservation. The story subverts your expectations and details a story about Roberta, an 102 year old woman, who is looking for her son before her death. She claims she has not seen him in decades and entreats Jack, who had worked on a water project on the reservation years ago, to find him. Given a picture, but few additional details, Jack goes out into the community to search for him. Not only does Jack make some assumptions about the son, but so do people who see the picture he has (hence the name of the story). The ending is bittersweet and you will think back to Roberta's motivation for the favor and why she specifically asked Jack to do it. This story was another great LeVar Burton Reads podcast selection.
June 16, 2024
Everett can do no wrong. Quite different from the long fic I've read, but quietly tender, subtly speculative, and funny.
January 16, 2016
Full disclosure; I am truly a fan of Percival Everett's writing, so I tend to be a bit biased when it comes to his work. Although I enjoyed this collection of stories, I can't say there was anything special about this book. His prose was ordinary and the stories, while showcasing a holistic approach to life didn't generate enough vibrancy to make the assemblage sizzle. I found each one pleasurable enough, but not adequately memorable. The stories leave you with things to ponder, but some definitely have that unfinished feel. I still would recommend this book to those who like short stories and good writing.
May 16, 2016
These short stories grew on me the further I read into the collection. The ending of "Finding Billy White Feather" was so satisfying. It's one of those stories that seems to be meandering nowhere and then suddenly the last two sentences snap it all into place.
"Liquid Glass" was another standout for me ... a lovely little ghost story about how wrong those "simple" fixes can go.
"Liquid Glass" was another standout for me ... a lovely little ghost story about how wrong those "simple" fixes can go.
February 3, 2024
Percival Everett is the greatest living master of the alienation story. These brief stories of black and native people surviving in rural Wyoming and Colorado are as good as anything ever written about the American West.
May 19, 2025
Nine delightful short stories and nary a weak straggler in the bunch. Many familiar characters from other collections and novels are also at the center or on the fringes of these tales, which I appreciate. Taken as a whole, they almost create another work about a rural Western community of ranchers, horse trainers, diner waitresses, big-animal vets, Native Americans, and well-meaning sheriffs.
Each of these stories truly works for me, avoiding the problems that so often beset short stories: not enough meat to engage the reader and/or not enough payoff to make for a fulfilling read.
Each of these stories truly works for me, avoiding the problems that so often beset short stories: not enough meat to engage the reader and/or not enough payoff to make for a fulfilling read.
April 11, 2022
I don't read many short stories, but I am glad I decided to try this collection. All of these stories are set in the west, mostly in rural Wyoming. Almost every story left me wanting more, and I can see all of them being expanded into longer volumes. The writing here is excellent, and I plan to read more by this author.
February 22, 2016
This is a great collection of short stories by an author I had never read before. It looks like about half of them were previously published and half were knew, but unless you were a regular subscriber to places like Virginia Quarterly Review or Callaloo, you probably missed them the first time.
The stories are not exactly "inter-related," but they are all set in the same rural area of Wyoming, so characters in one story will re-appear in others -- especially Sam Innis, the African-American large animal veteranarian who stars in the first story "Little Faith," and then appears to treat every character's horse in every other story throughout the collection, but doesn't get any further character development as he delivers twin foals or whatever.
Most of the individual stories were excellent, but asides from the setting, they really weren't all the same "kind" of story, which was a little disconcerting. Some of the stories were of the "uncanny" or "magical realism" variety, like the first story "Little Faith" where atheist Sam meets up with his friend, an elderly Native American named Dave and they discuss the soul (Sam and Dave: Soul Men. Get it!?!) Later, after Dave dies, and Sam is on a rescue mission when he is bitten by a rattlesnake. Sam has a vision/hallucination/spiritual encounter with Dave, who might offer to heal him after chiding him for accepting help despite his atheism. ("You think you're having a vision, are you? Your not a spiritual person. Yet here you are hallucinating stereotypes.") Others are straight realism, like the second story "Stonefly," about a young teenager coping with growing up after his older sister got drunk and drowned.
So, after reading the first two stories, you begin to realize that you don't actually know -- story to story -- if it's the type of story where magical, uncanny things might happen or not. So, later on, when very mysterious things start happening in "Finding Billy White Feather" (does Billy really even exist?) or "Liquid Glass" (is that headless body walking by a practical joke or an actual monster?) we are left even more unsure than the characters what the "rules" of the world are. And sometimes the answer appears to be magical, and sometimes it doesn't. Don't know if this variety led to a better or worse reading experience.
Four Out of Five Times I Had To Look Up "Farrier" Before I Could Remember What It Meant
The stories are not exactly "inter-related," but they are all set in the same rural area of Wyoming, so characters in one story will re-appear in others -- especially Sam Innis, the African-American large animal veteranarian who stars in the first story "Little Faith," and then appears to treat every character's horse in every other story throughout the collection, but doesn't get any further character development as he delivers twin foals or whatever.
Most of the individual stories were excellent, but asides from the setting, they really weren't all the same "kind" of story, which was a little disconcerting. Some of the stories were of the "uncanny" or "magical realism" variety, like the first story "Little Faith" where atheist Sam meets up with his friend, an elderly Native American named Dave and they discuss the soul (Sam and Dave: Soul Men. Get it!?!) Later, after Dave dies, and Sam is on a rescue mission when he is bitten by a rattlesnake. Sam has a vision/hallucination/spiritual encounter with Dave, who might offer to heal him after chiding him for accepting help despite his atheism. ("You think you're having a vision, are you? Your not a spiritual person. Yet here you are hallucinating stereotypes.") Others are straight realism, like the second story "Stonefly," about a young teenager coping with growing up after his older sister got drunk and drowned.
So, after reading the first two stories, you begin to realize that you don't actually know -- story to story -- if it's the type of story where magical, uncanny things might happen or not. So, later on, when very mysterious things start happening in "Finding Billy White Feather" (does Billy really even exist?) or "Liquid Glass" (is that headless body walking by a practical joke or an actual monster?) we are left even more unsure than the characters what the "rules" of the world are. And sometimes the answer appears to be magical, and sometimes it doesn't. Don't know if this variety led to a better or worse reading experience.
Four Out of Five Times I Had To Look Up "Farrier" Before I Could Remember What It Meant
November 20, 2015
I had been searching awhile for a book that was able to carry me away to another place and time, and I was lucky to have found this collection. While it is not a science fiction or fantasy novel, Percival Everett’s short story collection attains this transporting quality in its own way. Set in the West, the stories deal with the threat of the wilderness, the overcoming of loss, and the divide between generations. Throughout all of this, the narratives are infused with a magical quality that resists sentimentality but embraces hope.
If I were to adhere to literary tradition, I would identify Everett as Hemingway in the rugged West. In many ways, Everett’s prose seems reflective of the lone Western landscape -- unadorned and yet often able to fill one with feeling. I can try and pull out lines that affected me, but they may seem overly simplistic when taken out of the context of Everett’s tautly written passages of dangerous trips through ravines or battles to capture wild trout. I’ll note a few favorites, however, that occur in more contemplative moments in the stories. In “A High Lake,” as a woman and her horse travel further into the forest, Everett writes, “In fact she felt light; her bones did not speak to her.” When a boy looks up at the sky, he thinks that “for all he knew the snowflakes were stars, and he smiled.” This magical element of transformation and hope was one of my favorite aspects of Everett’s work. There is a brisk, mordant humor that keeps the collection grounded in realism—but those moments of fantasy and the supernatural were what lingered with me after I finished the collection.
If I were to adhere to literary tradition, I would identify Everett as Hemingway in the rugged West. In many ways, Everett’s prose seems reflective of the lone Western landscape -- unadorned and yet often able to fill one with feeling. I can try and pull out lines that affected me, but they may seem overly simplistic when taken out of the context of Everett’s tautly written passages of dangerous trips through ravines or battles to capture wild trout. I’ll note a few favorites, however, that occur in more contemplative moments in the stories. In “A High Lake,” as a woman and her horse travel further into the forest, Everett writes, “In fact she felt light; her bones did not speak to her.” When a boy looks up at the sky, he thinks that “for all he knew the snowflakes were stars, and he smiled.” This magical element of transformation and hope was one of my favorite aspects of Everett’s work. There is a brisk, mordant humor that keeps the collection grounded in realism—but those moments of fantasy and the supernatural were what lingered with me after I finished the collection.
August 9, 2016
To be honest, I thought I was going to hate this collection, but that's probably because I find the cover so bland and off-putting. However, it was actually a really nice collection of rustic stories that center around encounters with animals or spirits that create a symbolic (and physical) conflict for an emotional or spiritual problem. Namely, these stories address disillusionment, life and death, and the power of nature. It's a sincere and thoughtful collection, with glimpses of wry humor and the faintest touch of the supernatural and surreal to bind it all together. The flatness and sobriety of Everett's tone, and his proclivity for inconclusive endings, is shared among these stories, and rather than detracting from the stories, it adds to the sense that they occur across the same Western landscape (in fact, several of the stories share characters). All things said, I enjoyed these stories and I think that the collection's title is a reference to the saying "You can drown in half an inch of water," which is absolutely perfect.
February 24, 2023
You know, you’re okay, Wes said.
Sam looked at him. How’s that?
You know, being a black vet out here. I have to admit, I had my doubts.
About what exactly?
Whether you’d make it.
You mean fit in?
I guess that’s what I mean, yeah.
Wes, I grew up here. Grade school. High school. I’ve never fit in. I probably will never fit in. I accept that.
Wes’s face was now blank. He didn’t understand. He was just a degree away from cocking his head like a confused hound.
Sam said, Thanks, Wes. I’m glad you think I’m okay.
That’s all I was saying.
I know, Wes.
😍
Sam looked at him. How’s that?
You know, being a black vet out here. I have to admit, I had my doubts.
About what exactly?
Whether you’d make it.
You mean fit in?
I guess that’s what I mean, yeah.
Wes, I grew up here. Grade school. High school. I’ve never fit in. I probably will never fit in. I accept that.
Wes’s face was now blank. He didn’t understand. He was just a degree away from cocking his head like a confused hound.
Sam said, Thanks, Wes. I’m glad you think I’m okay.
That’s all I was saying.
I know, Wes.
😍
February 9, 2016
Everett depicts a fascinating portrait of the American West. His stories are simple but deeper meaning peeks around every corner. He dabbles in issues of race, aging, alcoholism, divorce, and adolescence while telling stories of very realistic characters. His characters will dip in and out of multiple stories, creating a full view of a town which I enjoyed. He dips into a little bit of fantasy, but he is careful not to tip too far in. I really enjoyed all of the characters and stories, I just always wish the stories were longer. I want to know what happens to these characters, and that isn't a bad thing.
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