What do you think?
Rate this book
Wild Tracks: Uncollected Writings 1985-2014
"Wild Tracks: Uncollected Writings 1985-2014" reprints the best of Christopher Conlon's fiction, nonfiction, and verse not available in the author's earlier books. Published over the past three decades in a wide variety of markets--from obscure, long-defunct poetry journals to national magazines such as Poets & Writers and America--many of these writings have been out of print and unavailable for years. This volume presents Christopher Conlon's work at its finest, offering further evidence that, as Mort Castle ("New Moon on the Water") asserts, "Conlon is one of the best of our time and of the times to come. He is one hell of a writer."
177 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
83 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 3, 2016
Autographed review copy provided by author and Goodreads friend Christopher Conlon.
This is a collection of "uncollected" works which did not make it into other books or anthologies. In the rare cases where they did, they have been somewhat neglected.
The individual pieces cross forms and boundaries. One can find a short story, flash fiction, a short play, poetry and literary criticism.
The title story, "Wild Tracks," a tragic and brutal coming of age tale, contains themes which I have noticed in Conlon's more recent work and got under my skin immediately. Some of the flash fiction has been reworked for his anthology "Herding Ravens."
One piece, "Proust in Africa," tells the story of Conlon's first encounter with the longest novel ever written, and how it affected his life during a tour of duty with the Peace Corps in Botswana. After reading this online in 2012, I took the plunge and read Proust myself in 2013. So now, on rereading this essay, I have a better understanding of what Conlon is talking about when he describes the aspects and episodes that made a deep and lasting impression on him. (And I love how he reworks one of these episodes in his poem "Soweto," one of several poems on his life in Africa.)
In Conlon's novels (and even in this collection), his characters often suffer severely because of the trauma they endured as children at the hands of dysfunctional parents or care-givers. In a series of gritty and gut-wrenching poems, he explores the history of his own family and acknowledges the factors which formed and deformed them.
Also remarkable is a series of poems treating the story of Anne Frank. These poems are not the kind of tributes one would expect a poet to give to the famous victim of the Holocaust. Instead most of them, by adopting an unusual point of view, give a damning indictment of those who perpetrated the crime which, despite its murderous effects, could not hush up the young girl's message.
With self-deprecating humor, Chris described this book to me as "a banquet of scraps." Even if a few of the morsels may be a bit challenging to chew on, in the end they make a memorable meal.
This is a collection of "uncollected" works which did not make it into other books or anthologies. In the rare cases where they did, they have been somewhat neglected.
The individual pieces cross forms and boundaries. One can find a short story, flash fiction, a short play, poetry and literary criticism.
The title story, "Wild Tracks," a tragic and brutal coming of age tale, contains themes which I have noticed in Conlon's more recent work and got under my skin immediately. Some of the flash fiction has been reworked for his anthology "Herding Ravens."
One piece, "Proust in Africa," tells the story of Conlon's first encounter with the longest novel ever written, and how it affected his life during a tour of duty with the Peace Corps in Botswana. After reading this online in 2012, I took the plunge and read Proust myself in 2013. So now, on rereading this essay, I have a better understanding of what Conlon is talking about when he describes the aspects and episodes that made a deep and lasting impression on him. (And I love how he reworks one of these episodes in his poem "Soweto," one of several poems on his life in Africa.)
In Conlon's novels (and even in this collection), his characters often suffer severely because of the trauma they endured as children at the hands of dysfunctional parents or care-givers. In a series of gritty and gut-wrenching poems, he explores the history of his own family and acknowledges the factors which formed and deformed them.
Also remarkable is a series of poems treating the story of Anne Frank. These poems are not the kind of tributes one would expect a poet to give to the famous victim of the Holocaust. Instead most of them, by adopting an unusual point of view, give a damning indictment of those who perpetrated the crime which, despite its murderous effects, could not hush up the young girl's message.
With self-deprecating humor, Chris described this book to me as "a banquet of scraps." Even if a few of the morsels may be a bit challenging to chew on, in the end they make a memorable meal.
October 10, 2014
When I talk to people about writers, to simplify things, I usually label writers into categories of what they do best; horror writer, mystery writer, autobiographical writer, sports writers, fantasy writer, poet, western writer, etc. Author Christopher Conlon is a rare breed, having just as much talent in every area of fiction and non-fiction. From what I have read of his variety of work, I would simply have to label him a great writer. Period. In poetry, non-fiction, or fiction, he writes with uncanny insight into the human emotion and his dialogue feels as natural and organic as I've ever encountered. Never shying away from difficult or painful subjects, Conlon is brutally honest, yet gentle in his storytelling prose.
For me, the two standouts in this collection are the title story, The Wild Tracks, and his non-fiction essay, Proust In Africa. The two complement each other beautifully in that the heartbreak and complicated relationship Conlon experienced in Africa mirrors a similar journey of the young protagonist in The Wild Tracks. Both cannot truly have what, at the time, appear to be their true love.
While the entire collection is quite wonderful, these two pieces seem to have stayed with me the longest. If newcomers to Conlon enjoy this and want more, especially dark fiction, I highly recommend his Midnight on Mourn Street and A Matrix of Angels, both incredible reads and wholly satisfying.
For me, the two standouts in this collection are the title story, The Wild Tracks, and his non-fiction essay, Proust In Africa. The two complement each other beautifully in that the heartbreak and complicated relationship Conlon experienced in Africa mirrors a similar journey of the young protagonist in The Wild Tracks. Both cannot truly have what, at the time, appear to be their true love.
While the entire collection is quite wonderful, these two pieces seem to have stayed with me the longest. If newcomers to Conlon enjoy this and want more, especially dark fiction, I highly recommend his Midnight on Mourn Street and A Matrix of Angels, both incredible reads and wholly satisfying.
October 30, 2014
I've just read two poems so far (I need to read these slowly and just one at a time to completely absorb everything) but got teary-eyed over "For Wilfred Owen" and when I read "He Goes to Funerals" I lost it, it was achingly beautiful. Amazing poetry!
Quite a bit of the poetry seems of a very personal nature. Some I liked, some I didn't but overall a very interesting book!
Quite a bit of the poetry seems of a very personal nature. Some I liked, some I didn't but overall a very interesting book!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews