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Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon
Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon is a book of fathers and sons, love lost and regained, haunted pasts, and snake smuggling. From kidnapping to bank robbing, pursuing rainbow trout to unspeakable monsters, from the deserts of Texas to the desolate forests of Oregon, Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon is about the extreme measures people take to recapture the ones that got away.
222 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2014
13 people are currently reading
343 people want to read
About the author
Cameron Pierce
54 books197 followersCameron Pierce is the author of eleven books, including the Wonderland Book Award-winning collection Lost in Cat Brain Land. His work has appeared in The Barcelona Review, Gray's Sporting Journal, Hobart, The Big Click, and Vol. I Brooklyn, and has been reviewed and featured on Comedy Central and The Guardian. He was also the author of the column Fishing and Beer, where he interviewed acclaimed angler Bill Dance and John Lurie of Fishing with John. Pierce is the head editor of Lazy Fascist Press and has edited three anthologies, including The Best Bizarro Fiction of the Decade. He lives with his wife in Astoria, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
April 26, 2018
This is one of those books that will live forever in my collection of favorites. Each story is remarkable in its ability to conjure strong emotions and unforgettable images. There is heart and soul on every page, though sometimes both are damaged. There are fish to be caught and spoken to, and some to fear. Other fish do enter the waters of love, and the final story put tears in my eyes. Highest recommendations.
July 20, 2015
Here’s the story of the last time I ever went fishing:
I was probably 12 or 13. I was camping with my family. We used to camp a lot because a.) my parents liked camping and b.) it was a relatively inexpensive thing to do on a vacation. I had my own pole. My own little tackle box and everything. My dad showed me how to spool and how to cast. We'd go out in the mornings when there was still dew on the ground. While I enjoyed spending time with my dad, I was never very good at fishing. Not just the technical aspects of the sport, but also the emotional ones. It required a certain sorta calmness of body and mind that I didn’t (and still don’t) possess. I hardly ever caught anything. But that last time I ever went fishing, I did.
Now I couldn’t tell you what kind of fish it was. Back when I was 12 I could probably name you every single dinosaur based solely off the footprint, but throw the most common-looking fish in front of me and ask me the species and I’d probably return with something snarky like "a brown one?" Anyway, I hooked it. I slowly reeled it in. I dragged its floppy body up on the dock. And then I stopped. Something was wrong. The hook had gone all the way through the fish’s cheek, out the side of its face, and into its eyeball. All this gunk was leaking out of the wound. I was horrified. I asked my old man what to do and he calmly said "Well you got to take it out, son." So I held the fish down. It struggled in my hands and under my boot. It fought me as much as a fish on land could. But the hook was in its eye good, snagged onto something deep inside its stupid fish head. I couldn’t get the damn thing out. My dad told me to keep trying, to pull harder, and when I started crying and told him I couldn’t, he got in there and ripped the hook out himself. It took the fish’s eye with it. By now the fish wasn’t struggling anymore. It would still flop a little, but it was weak. Pathetic. Sad. So I grabbed the one-eyed fish and tossed it back into the lake. It didn't swim away. It floated there dead on the surface.
I never went fishing again.
It’s apparent Cameron Pierce has a love for fish. More than a love. It’s like he finds his truth in the rivers and lakes of the Pacific coast. And if that's where he drew the inspiration for these tales, it makes me even question my own aversion to the sport. Not in practice, of course, but more in my understanding about what compels someone to go fishing in the first place. In OUR LOVE WILL GO THE WAY OF THE SALMON fishing is used as metaphor for pretty much everything. To varying degrees, fish are the only through line connecting these disparate tales. Narration, tone, characters, voice – EVERYTHING changes from story to story, but there is always some mention (big or small) of fish and fishing, both in the literal and metaphorical sense.
But that’s not to say the stories are ABOUT fishing exclusively. Or even at all. Some are, of course. Most aren’t. Instead, they’re more about loss. And love. And sadness. And glory. And nihilism. And hope. And every other emotion under the sun. They're more about how I felt when I looked at that dead fish on the last day I went fishing and less about the act of fishing itself. The longest story in here, THE SNAKE OF BORING, was goddamn mesmerizing. Truly. I couldn’t put it down if I tried.
I’m not gonna say it any clearer than this: I LOVED THIS FUCKING BOOK!
Cameron Pierce writes in a way that really hits me in the marrow. He prose here is beautiful. It cuts like a surgeon’s scalpel. There is not a wasted word. I’ve read a few of Pierce's books before, but I haven't in a long while. The last book of his I read was SHARK HUNTING IN PARADISE GARDEN (which is ironic because I believe that was his first) and even then, that was about 4 years back. While those were classifiably more "bizarro" than this one - which certainly has its surreal moments, though they're understated in comparison to the characters and their beckoning catharses - I don’t recall the actual ART of his writing in those other books affecting me like it did with this one. Maybe my memory is faulty. Or maybe it’s that this particular collection really tapped into something that I can connect with. Relate to. And that the execution with which he paints these worlds feels, at least to me, like breathing clean air.
So although one might be inclined, I’m not going to say the word masterpiece right now because such notions should be saved for the posthumous (please don’t die, Cameron!) or at least for those who are retiring or ready to fade into obscurity (please don’t stop writing either!) but when that day comes when that final word is wrought from this writer’s fingers, there’s no way this book will not be lauded as one of his best.
Read it.
I was probably 12 or 13. I was camping with my family. We used to camp a lot because a.) my parents liked camping and b.) it was a relatively inexpensive thing to do on a vacation. I had my own pole. My own little tackle box and everything. My dad showed me how to spool and how to cast. We'd go out in the mornings when there was still dew on the ground. While I enjoyed spending time with my dad, I was never very good at fishing. Not just the technical aspects of the sport, but also the emotional ones. It required a certain sorta calmness of body and mind that I didn’t (and still don’t) possess. I hardly ever caught anything. But that last time I ever went fishing, I did.
Now I couldn’t tell you what kind of fish it was. Back when I was 12 I could probably name you every single dinosaur based solely off the footprint, but throw the most common-looking fish in front of me and ask me the species and I’d probably return with something snarky like "a brown one?" Anyway, I hooked it. I slowly reeled it in. I dragged its floppy body up on the dock. And then I stopped. Something was wrong. The hook had gone all the way through the fish’s cheek, out the side of its face, and into its eyeball. All this gunk was leaking out of the wound. I was horrified. I asked my old man what to do and he calmly said "Well you got to take it out, son." So I held the fish down. It struggled in my hands and under my boot. It fought me as much as a fish on land could. But the hook was in its eye good, snagged onto something deep inside its stupid fish head. I couldn’t get the damn thing out. My dad told me to keep trying, to pull harder, and when I started crying and told him I couldn’t, he got in there and ripped the hook out himself. It took the fish’s eye with it. By now the fish wasn’t struggling anymore. It would still flop a little, but it was weak. Pathetic. Sad. So I grabbed the one-eyed fish and tossed it back into the lake. It didn't swim away. It floated there dead on the surface.
I never went fishing again.
It’s apparent Cameron Pierce has a love for fish. More than a love. It’s like he finds his truth in the rivers and lakes of the Pacific coast. And if that's where he drew the inspiration for these tales, it makes me even question my own aversion to the sport. Not in practice, of course, but more in my understanding about what compels someone to go fishing in the first place. In OUR LOVE WILL GO THE WAY OF THE SALMON fishing is used as metaphor for pretty much everything. To varying degrees, fish are the only through line connecting these disparate tales. Narration, tone, characters, voice – EVERYTHING changes from story to story, but there is always some mention (big or small) of fish and fishing, both in the literal and metaphorical sense.
But that’s not to say the stories are ABOUT fishing exclusively. Or even at all. Some are, of course. Most aren’t. Instead, they’re more about loss. And love. And sadness. And glory. And nihilism. And hope. And every other emotion under the sun. They're more about how I felt when I looked at that dead fish on the last day I went fishing and less about the act of fishing itself. The longest story in here, THE SNAKE OF BORING, was goddamn mesmerizing. Truly. I couldn’t put it down if I tried.
I’m not gonna say it any clearer than this: I LOVED THIS FUCKING BOOK!
Cameron Pierce writes in a way that really hits me in the marrow. He prose here is beautiful. It cuts like a surgeon’s scalpel. There is not a wasted word. I’ve read a few of Pierce's books before, but I haven't in a long while. The last book of his I read was SHARK HUNTING IN PARADISE GARDEN (which is ironic because I believe that was his first) and even then, that was about 4 years back. While those were classifiably more "bizarro" than this one - which certainly has its surreal moments, though they're understated in comparison to the characters and their beckoning catharses - I don’t recall the actual ART of his writing in those other books affecting me like it did with this one. Maybe my memory is faulty. Or maybe it’s that this particular collection really tapped into something that I can connect with. Relate to. And that the execution with which he paints these worlds feels, at least to me, like breathing clean air.
So although one might be inclined, I’m not going to say the word masterpiece right now because such notions should be saved for the posthumous (please don’t die, Cameron!) or at least for those who are retiring or ready to fade into obscurity (please don’t stop writing either!) but when that day comes when that final word is wrought from this writer’s fingers, there’s no way this book will not be lauded as one of his best.
Read it.
June 16, 2025
This collection is wonderful!
Each story is touching, fun, nostalgic and emotional. All at once! I was moved by almost all of the stories and characters.
Only three out of fifteen were under but that barely matters.
I didn't think you could read so many fishing stories without getting at least a bit bored but I was wrong...!
Fish is everywhere in this collection. And you could only ask for more.
I listened to the audiobook, which isn't my privileged way of reading but it suited me well and Jay Wohlert did a great job!
Each story is touching, fun, nostalgic and emotional. All at once! I was moved by almost all of the stories and characters.
Only three out of fifteen were under but that barely matters.
I didn't think you could read so many fishing stories without getting at least a bit bored but I was wrong...!
Fish is everywhere in this collection. And you could only ask for more.
I listened to the audiobook, which isn't my privileged way of reading but it suited me well and Jay Wohlert did a great job!
October 31, 2014
A TOP SHELF review, originally published in the October 31, 2014 of The Monitor.
Cameron Pierce has carved out an award-winning niche for himself as one of the premier authors of bizarro fiction, his talent recognized by the likes of Lloyd Kaufman and Piers Anthony. As an editor and publisher, however, he has explored all sorts of dark and darkly humorous genre, and in his latest collection of short stories, he gives readers a taste of just how versatile and masterful his prose can be.
Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon centers thematically on Pierce’s well documented love of fishing, an activity that permeates the plot of every one of the 13 tales to some extent or another. Though each story stands alone, several of them are knitted together by the appearance of an unsettlingly humanoid fish with the gift of speech and an inscrutable purpose.
The collection begins with an eponymous piece in which a man and his wheelchair-ridden grandmother go for one last tragic fishing trip together. This is followed by the unexpectedly beautiful “Sway,” which tells of the brief but transformative connection between a United States Marine and a Vietnamese fish farmer. In “Drop the World,” a young female boxer’s attempts at reuniting with her little sister push her to unfortunate choices.
Any boy whose father took him fishing will find much to love in “Short of Lundy,” a humorous look at the tall tales dads will tell. The bizarro-flavored “Help Me” and “The Bass Fisherman’s Wife” use the transformation of human to fish to explore the dynamics of family relationships. The twisted but moving ends of “Three Fisherman” are balanced by the return of the killer humanoid fish in “Floodland.”
A similar finned creature taunts the protagonist of “Let Love in,” a down-on-his-luck schmo whose determination to “endure anything” for his girl is put to the ultimate test and in “Easiest Kites There Are to Fly,” a man is followed by the “devil fish” once his actions result in the death of his father. It was at this point that I began to see the piscine humanoid killer as a symbol for the dark, unknowable depths of the human psyche, which occasionally spill beyond their margins to flood our lives with despair.
Of course, that’s my take. They work well as inexplicably horrifying monsters, also.
Flirting with novella length, the penultimate tale, “The Snakes of Boring,” is a raucous, Tarantinoesque romp featuring Rob Zombie rednecks, Robert Rodriguez action pieces and featuring the flakiest striped pangasius in America. Someone make this into a movie, stat.
The collection closes with the heart-wrenching (and possibly autobiographical?) “California Oregon,” in which two different versions of a young man’s life are alternatively narrated, each depending on which parent he chooses to live with upon his folks’ divorce.
Overall, Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon uses the tropes of weird, bizarro and horror fiction to dig deep into the wrongs we do each other, no matter how deep our love might go. I suspect that Pierce has written his most personal work to date; his dedicating the book to his parents adds nuances to the stories that a reader cannot help notice and identify with.
So grab your rod and pull up a lawn chair. Cameron Pierce wants to take you fishing.
Cameron Pierce has carved out an award-winning niche for himself as one of the premier authors of bizarro fiction, his talent recognized by the likes of Lloyd Kaufman and Piers Anthony. As an editor and publisher, however, he has explored all sorts of dark and darkly humorous genre, and in his latest collection of short stories, he gives readers a taste of just how versatile and masterful his prose can be.
Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon centers thematically on Pierce’s well documented love of fishing, an activity that permeates the plot of every one of the 13 tales to some extent or another. Though each story stands alone, several of them are knitted together by the appearance of an unsettlingly humanoid fish with the gift of speech and an inscrutable purpose.
The collection begins with an eponymous piece in which a man and his wheelchair-ridden grandmother go for one last tragic fishing trip together. This is followed by the unexpectedly beautiful “Sway,” which tells of the brief but transformative connection between a United States Marine and a Vietnamese fish farmer. In “Drop the World,” a young female boxer’s attempts at reuniting with her little sister push her to unfortunate choices.
Any boy whose father took him fishing will find much to love in “Short of Lundy,” a humorous look at the tall tales dads will tell. The bizarro-flavored “Help Me” and “The Bass Fisherman’s Wife” use the transformation of human to fish to explore the dynamics of family relationships. The twisted but moving ends of “Three Fisherman” are balanced by the return of the killer humanoid fish in “Floodland.”
A similar finned creature taunts the protagonist of “Let Love in,” a down-on-his-luck schmo whose determination to “endure anything” for his girl is put to the ultimate test and in “Easiest Kites There Are to Fly,” a man is followed by the “devil fish” once his actions result in the death of his father. It was at this point that I began to see the piscine humanoid killer as a symbol for the dark, unknowable depths of the human psyche, which occasionally spill beyond their margins to flood our lives with despair.
Of course, that’s my take. They work well as inexplicably horrifying monsters, also.
Flirting with novella length, the penultimate tale, “The Snakes of Boring,” is a raucous, Tarantinoesque romp featuring Rob Zombie rednecks, Robert Rodriguez action pieces and featuring the flakiest striped pangasius in America. Someone make this into a movie, stat.
The collection closes with the heart-wrenching (and possibly autobiographical?) “California Oregon,” in which two different versions of a young man’s life are alternatively narrated, each depending on which parent he chooses to live with upon his folks’ divorce.
Overall, Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon uses the tropes of weird, bizarro and horror fiction to dig deep into the wrongs we do each other, no matter how deep our love might go. I suspect that Pierce has written his most personal work to date; his dedicating the book to his parents adds nuances to the stories that a reader cannot help notice and identify with.
So grab your rod and pull up a lawn chair. Cameron Pierce wants to take you fishing.
December 1, 2014
Although I had read some Bizarro before Cameron Pierce, it was Die You Doughnut Bastards that served as my gateway/initiation to what Bizarro was truly capable of. From cover to cover, I was shown frayed relationships based around food court etiquette, arguments over action figures and who used up the last of the toilet paper in a post-apocalyptic setting. This all sounds so farcical on its face, but I assure you, the underlying tone was a bittersweet one.
Cameron's stories have always read to me like tales of remorse underneath the absurdity, the plainview ruminations, the horrifying transformations and ever shifting alliances as his protagonists (and sometimes antagonists) try to keep up in a world where nothing is ever really nailed down, but everything is pried loose.
After I had exhausted reading Pierce's entire bibliography, there were frequent whispers of an ongoing project related to his passion for fishing. It was to be called 'Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon.' I knew it was about fishing, but I didn't know what angle he would take. There was even some speculation (on my end) that perhaps it was a memoir of sorts, or nonfiction collection.
When I heard it had finally found a home at Broken River Books, I acted quickly to secure a copy. I had no idea what to expect, but another early reader suggested to me that it may be Pierce's answer to Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan, a noted influence on his work to begin with.
My fears of this being straight nonfiction, I quickly realized, were unfounded. Cameron is still Cameron here, with the rocky relationships, the adept juggling of subtext and straight plot, the dagger-like sentences that ring off the sides of your mouth while remaining deceptively simple, the short bursts of humor that accompany the most tragic of circumstances. It's all here, and better than ever.
In these stories, you will find a bestiary of the many diverse trout that occupy Lundy Lake (howling trout, cherry blossom trout, dolphin trout, Big Lundy Brown). You will find a marriage on shaky ground compared and contrasted with the relationship of worm and fish. You'll find a man who shits salmon eggs. You'll find kite salesmen, talking catfish, dead fathers who run at the speed of light, and at the end of it all, you'll find a very certain man who is transporting a coffin full of snakes for a bank heist.
Where Cameron may go in both his fiction and his life ten years from now is anyone's guess. All I know is that his storytelling chops are only getting stronger. There are passages I can't quote from the final story (the title story) because you have to reel those words in, experience them for yourself.
Cameron's stories have always read to me like tales of remorse underneath the absurdity, the plainview ruminations, the horrifying transformations and ever shifting alliances as his protagonists (and sometimes antagonists) try to keep up in a world where nothing is ever really nailed down, but everything is pried loose.
After I had exhausted reading Pierce's entire bibliography, there were frequent whispers of an ongoing project related to his passion for fishing. It was to be called 'Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon.' I knew it was about fishing, but I didn't know what angle he would take. There was even some speculation (on my end) that perhaps it was a memoir of sorts, or nonfiction collection.
When I heard it had finally found a home at Broken River Books, I acted quickly to secure a copy. I had no idea what to expect, but another early reader suggested to me that it may be Pierce's answer to Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan, a noted influence on his work to begin with.
My fears of this being straight nonfiction, I quickly realized, were unfounded. Cameron is still Cameron here, with the rocky relationships, the adept juggling of subtext and straight plot, the dagger-like sentences that ring off the sides of your mouth while remaining deceptively simple, the short bursts of humor that accompany the most tragic of circumstances. It's all here, and better than ever.
In these stories, you will find a bestiary of the many diverse trout that occupy Lundy Lake (howling trout, cherry blossom trout, dolphin trout, Big Lundy Brown). You will find a marriage on shaky ground compared and contrasted with the relationship of worm and fish. You'll find a man who shits salmon eggs. You'll find kite salesmen, talking catfish, dead fathers who run at the speed of light, and at the end of it all, you'll find a very certain man who is transporting a coffin full of snakes for a bank heist.
Where Cameron may go in both his fiction and his life ten years from now is anyone's guess. All I know is that his storytelling chops are only getting stronger. There are passages I can't quote from the final story (the title story) because you have to reel those words in, experience them for yourself.
January 30, 2015
Some may be surprised to know that fishing has been a theme is some very great literature. It goes back to at least Isaac Walton's The Compleat Angler which is as much as an ode to life in the 17th century as a guide to fishing. Then we have The Old Man and the Sea, and Moby Dick. I believe Thoreau wetted his line once or twice in Walden. Then there is Richard Brautigan's rhapsodic Trout Fishing in America which I suspect is a close cousin to the book I am about to review.
Our Love Will go the Way of the Salmon is Cameron Pierce's own ode to fishing. It may be too early to place it on the "great literature about fishing" list but it has its own milestone in my mind as the book by the author that clearly moves him from the Bizarro barrio to the realms of literature with a capital "L". It consists of 15 short pieces all related to fish or fishing in some way, shape, or form. They are all in Pierce's unique style of mixing the surreal with the mundane and leaving the reader in some kind of magical dilemma deciding what it all means. Some of the stories involves a talking fish with hands. The author wisely does not tell us the meaning of this but leaves us to decipher the creature in our own way. I see the fish as a harbinger of tragedy, sort of a symbol of the meaningless and misery in life we can never fully comprehend, but I am sure others may have their own interpretations. Again, this is literature and good literature doesn't do the work for you.
Pierce's passion for fishing is evident throughout the book. I understand this as I came from a family of fishing fanatics. Oddly I never got the fishing bug myself but I understand it. It is a special passion that says no matter how hard life is, there are always fish. It is a special passion that understands and embrace the struggles of life for all of nature's creatures. The joy is in the intimate struggle between the two adversaries. The fisherman has a special connection with his prey realizing that his pleasure is instantly connected with the trauma of the fish, just as our own lives are forever connected with the trauma of others and of life in general.
I believe Pierce understands this too. His stories are full of mundane and inexplicable happenings colliding with his own brand of magical realism. The title story paints fishing as practically a final ritual. "Sway" talks about the connection two people might find despite their terrible surroundings only to lose it when "real life" intrudes. "Short of Lundy" is an ode to father-son fishing ending with a list of imaginary trophies. "The Bass Fisherman's Wife" read to me like a Japanese folk tale until we reach the strange ending that could only be Pierce's. "Floodland" is one of the tales that involve the previously mentioned talking fish. It is one of the best stories in the book replete with odd imagery and sorrow.
All the stories, most fairly brief, are excellent. But there are two, the last ones in the book, that should be mentioned. "The Snakes of Boring" is the longest and finest piece in the collection. It involves a man who, with the help of two "friends", is taking "medicinal snakes" to Boring, Oregon with the idea of making a truckload of cash. It straddles the line between comical and tragic. Violent, funny and weird, it is a tour de force of narrative writing. The last story, not counting a short and heartfelt concluding statement, is "California Oregon", a moving piece loosely patterned like a "choose your own adventure" tale yet appearing to be strongly autobiographical. It questions the roads we take when we make choices in our life. Many of the author's stories seem to have a strong autobiographical nature to them and that only heightens the depth and passion of his works.
I have stated before that I greatly prefer Pierce's short fiction over his novels even though he is a masterful writer in either form. This collection only cements my opinion and confirms my prediction that he is the writer, in any genre, to watch over the next few years.
Our Love Will go the Way of the Salmon is Cameron Pierce's own ode to fishing. It may be too early to place it on the "great literature about fishing" list but it has its own milestone in my mind as the book by the author that clearly moves him from the Bizarro barrio to the realms of literature with a capital "L". It consists of 15 short pieces all related to fish or fishing in some way, shape, or form. They are all in Pierce's unique style of mixing the surreal with the mundane and leaving the reader in some kind of magical dilemma deciding what it all means. Some of the stories involves a talking fish with hands. The author wisely does not tell us the meaning of this but leaves us to decipher the creature in our own way. I see the fish as a harbinger of tragedy, sort of a symbol of the meaningless and misery in life we can never fully comprehend, but I am sure others may have their own interpretations. Again, this is literature and good literature doesn't do the work for you.
Pierce's passion for fishing is evident throughout the book. I understand this as I came from a family of fishing fanatics. Oddly I never got the fishing bug myself but I understand it. It is a special passion that says no matter how hard life is, there are always fish. It is a special passion that understands and embrace the struggles of life for all of nature's creatures. The joy is in the intimate struggle between the two adversaries. The fisherman has a special connection with his prey realizing that his pleasure is instantly connected with the trauma of the fish, just as our own lives are forever connected with the trauma of others and of life in general.
I believe Pierce understands this too. His stories are full of mundane and inexplicable happenings colliding with his own brand of magical realism. The title story paints fishing as practically a final ritual. "Sway" talks about the connection two people might find despite their terrible surroundings only to lose it when "real life" intrudes. "Short of Lundy" is an ode to father-son fishing ending with a list of imaginary trophies. "The Bass Fisherman's Wife" read to me like a Japanese folk tale until we reach the strange ending that could only be Pierce's. "Floodland" is one of the tales that involve the previously mentioned talking fish. It is one of the best stories in the book replete with odd imagery and sorrow.
All the stories, most fairly brief, are excellent. But there are two, the last ones in the book, that should be mentioned. "The Snakes of Boring" is the longest and finest piece in the collection. It involves a man who, with the help of two "friends", is taking "medicinal snakes" to Boring, Oregon with the idea of making a truckload of cash. It straddles the line between comical and tragic. Violent, funny and weird, it is a tour de force of narrative writing. The last story, not counting a short and heartfelt concluding statement, is "California Oregon", a moving piece loosely patterned like a "choose your own adventure" tale yet appearing to be strongly autobiographical. It questions the roads we take when we make choices in our life. Many of the author's stories seem to have a strong autobiographical nature to them and that only heightens the depth and passion of his works.
I have stated before that I greatly prefer Pierce's short fiction over his novels even though he is a masterful writer in either form. This collection only cements my opinion and confirms my prediction that he is the writer, in any genre, to watch over the next few years.
September 12, 2015
What is with 2015 and great short story collections? They're all coming out of the woodwork like zombies taking over the Earth. OUR LOVE WILL GO THE WAY OF THE SALMON is the third collection this year to move me after Tiffany Scandal's JIGSAW YOUTH (more of a novel-in-stories, really) and Jordan Harper's LOVE AND OTHER WOUNDS. What's interesting here is that there seems to be two Cameron Pierces writing in this collection. The surrealist writer who mostly writes in third person and the fishing tales narrator, who often but not always writes in first person.
I preferred the latter by a long shot, but both sides of Pierce's writing game have merit. His fishing tales pried smiles out of me from the sheer tenderness and creativity, SHORT OF LUNDY and THREE FISHERMEN being the best examples. Fishing often is about guys hanging out together and creating memories, and Cameron Pierce sees the beauty in that. The fastballs though were two stories respectively named DROP THE WORLD and CALIFORNIA OREGON, but I'll let you discover about them for yourself. They are too good for me to spoil them.
* more on www.deadendfollies.com on 09/16/15 *
I preferred the latter by a long shot, but both sides of Pierce's writing game have merit. His fishing tales pried smiles out of me from the sheer tenderness and creativity, SHORT OF LUNDY and THREE FISHERMEN being the best examples. Fishing often is about guys hanging out together and creating memories, and Cameron Pierce sees the beauty in that. The fastballs though were two stories respectively named DROP THE WORLD and CALIFORNIA OREGON, but I'll let you discover about them for yourself. They are too good for me to spoil them.
* more on www.deadendfollies.com on 09/16/15 *
February 11, 2016
What a great reading experience! Each of these stories are somehow tied to fish, but at the center are the undeniable experiences of the main characters. Balancing nostalgia, humor, and tragedy, each tale is unlike the one before. Devoid of a single unnecessary sentence, what often seems simple at first glance shows Pierce's true mastery of subtext. This is simply great storytelling, some of the best I have ever read.
November 4, 2015
What an awesome collection of the totally and utterly bizarre. I read this one pretty fast, so I'll go back someday and savor each story alone me thinks.
March 1, 2015
I have been on a roll reading a lot of incredible short story collections lately and Our Love Will Go The Way Of The Salmon is no exception. Most of the stories revolve around fish in some way but each story is very original. There is also some overlap among the stories. I don't think you have to read all of the stories in order, but because of the overlap reading them in order made the book more enjoyable for me personally.
The book starts strong with a really short story which shares a title with the book. It ends very abruptly and strange but it sets a tone for the book so well that I still remembered it at the end. I really did like all of the stories but my favorites were Help Me which is about this creepy half man half fish that is caught by a by a man fishing for perch. The creepy fish creature appears multiple times in the book and seems to bring dread with it. Another favorite was Easiest Kites There Are To Fly which is told in the narrative of an old fisherman's tale. A few of the stories read like this which to me makes the unsettling parts that much more interesting. The story Trophies I related to on a personal level as my father was an amateur bass angler. He competed (and won a few) in smaller bass tournaments around the South and he also hated carp. I used to like catching carp because they were big and put up and good fight but my dad always hated them and I know he would never consider mounting one no matter how big. Also I had read the novella Snakes Of Boring when Pierce sold it as a limited release last year. I enjoyed that story then and I enjoyed it the second time around.
Overall a brilliant set of stories written with in gothic prose mixed with surrealism that made me think of Haruki Murakami. I am not suggesting Pierce writes like Murakami but I would definitely recommend this book to Murakami fans. I think they would enjoy it. There are parts that are funny and there are parts that are devastating. I think Help Me and Easiest Kites will definitely be stories I will want to come back and reread again if not the whole collection. It's that good.
This is released on Broken River books which is hands down on of the most innovative and superb indie publishers out right now. Hands down. I suggest you pick this up as well as pretty much anything else they have put out. As for Cameron Pierce this book definitely has me excited for what he is offering in the future.
The book starts strong with a really short story which shares a title with the book. It ends very abruptly and strange but it sets a tone for the book so well that I still remembered it at the end. I really did like all of the stories but my favorites were Help Me which is about this creepy half man half fish that is caught by a by a man fishing for perch. The creepy fish creature appears multiple times in the book and seems to bring dread with it. Another favorite was Easiest Kites There Are To Fly which is told in the narrative of an old fisherman's tale. A few of the stories read like this which to me makes the unsettling parts that much more interesting. The story Trophies I related to on a personal level as my father was an amateur bass angler. He competed (and won a few) in smaller bass tournaments around the South and he also hated carp. I used to like catching carp because they were big and put up and good fight but my dad always hated them and I know he would never consider mounting one no matter how big. Also I had read the novella Snakes Of Boring when Pierce sold it as a limited release last year. I enjoyed that story then and I enjoyed it the second time around.
Overall a brilliant set of stories written with in gothic prose mixed with surrealism that made me think of Haruki Murakami. I am not suggesting Pierce writes like Murakami but I would definitely recommend this book to Murakami fans. I think they would enjoy it. There are parts that are funny and there are parts that are devastating. I think Help Me and Easiest Kites will definitely be stories I will want to come back and reread again if not the whole collection. It's that good.
This is released on Broken River books which is hands down on of the most innovative and superb indie publishers out right now. Hands down. I suggest you pick this up as well as pretty much anything else they have put out. As for Cameron Pierce this book definitely has me excited for what he is offering in the future.
January 18, 2015
For those familiar with Pierce's previous work, this book will show you something completely new. Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon is different from anything he has written before. But with that said, this collection is still definitely something only Pierce could have written, and despite its relatively normal subject (fishing / crime) this book is still certainly bizarro.
As far as the stories themselves, "The Snakes of Boring" is definitely the strongest from this collection, and arguably, it is one of the better stories Pierce has ever written. In each of Pierce's previous collections, there has been one (always longer) story that has stayed with me ever since reading it. In Lost in Cat Brain Land, it was "Drain Angel" & in Die You Doughnut Bastards, it was Lantern Jaws & in Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon, it is easily "The Snakes of Boring."
With that said, there are many other gems in this collection. I especially dug "Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon," "Short of Lundy," "Three Fishermen," "Let Love In," & "California, Oregon." Okay, I hated "Let Love In," but that's only because the story was so damn intense / depressing. It's a love / hate sort of thing.
Granted, this collection also has its weak spots (specifically, "Drop the World"), but overall this is one of the best short story collections I've ever read.
If you like Pierce or bizarro, read this book. Hell, if you like short stories or smiling, read this book. And if you like fishing, you'd be a damn fool to let this one go.
As far as the stories themselves, "The Snakes of Boring" is definitely the strongest from this collection, and arguably, it is one of the better stories Pierce has ever written. In each of Pierce's previous collections, there has been one (always longer) story that has stayed with me ever since reading it. In Lost in Cat Brain Land, it was "Drain Angel" & in Die You Doughnut Bastards, it was Lantern Jaws & in Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon, it is easily "The Snakes of Boring."
With that said, there are many other gems in this collection. I especially dug "Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon," "Short of Lundy," "Three Fishermen," "Let Love In," & "California, Oregon." Okay, I hated "Let Love In," but that's only because the story was so damn intense / depressing. It's a love / hate sort of thing.
Granted, this collection also has its weak spots (specifically, "Drop the World"), but overall this is one of the best short story collections I've ever read.
If you like Pierce or bizarro, read this book. Hell, if you like short stories or smiling, read this book. And if you like fishing, you'd be a damn fool to let this one go.
December 27, 2014
Remember when Ween put out The Mollusk, their "sea-themed album" and it turned out to be their best one? I feel like this is Pierce's Mollusk.
Wonderfully bizarre and disarmingly gentle. The stories in here display huge strides in talent, skill and maturity for Pierce as a writer—yet the niche area of focus (fish) make this wholly original and unlike anything I've read before. One of the more cohesive collections I've read recently.
PS: Pierce should lay claim to his blue-eyed fish monster with razor teeth and human hands, cuz that thing terrified me. It's the new cthulhu.
Merged review:
Remember when Ween put out The Mollusk, their "sea-themed album" and it turned out to be their best one? I feel like this is Pierce's Mollusk.
Wonderfully bizarre and disarmingly gentle. The stories in here display huge strides in talent, skill and maturity for Pierce as a writer—yet the niche area of focus (fish) make this wholly original and unlike anything I've read before. One of the more cohesive collections I've read recently.
PS: Pierce should lay claim to his blue-eyed fish monster with razor teeth and human hands, cuz that thing terrified me. It's the new cthulhu.
Wonderfully bizarre and disarmingly gentle. The stories in here display huge strides in talent, skill and maturity for Pierce as a writer—yet the niche area of focus (fish) make this wholly original and unlike anything I've read before. One of the more cohesive collections I've read recently.
PS: Pierce should lay claim to his blue-eyed fish monster with razor teeth and human hands, cuz that thing terrified me. It's the new cthulhu.
Merged review:
Remember when Ween put out The Mollusk, their "sea-themed album" and it turned out to be their best one? I feel like this is Pierce's Mollusk.
Wonderfully bizarre and disarmingly gentle. The stories in here display huge strides in talent, skill and maturity for Pierce as a writer—yet the niche area of focus (fish) make this wholly original and unlike anything I've read before. One of the more cohesive collections I've read recently.
PS: Pierce should lay claim to his blue-eyed fish monster with razor teeth and human hands, cuz that thing terrified me. It's the new cthulhu.
June 6, 2016
I purchased this collection when I saw a sale link, and I knew nothing about it, but the title intrigued me. I've been burned many times by cheap books on small presses that turn out to be hastily-published, non-edited, self-indulgent junk.
This is not one of those times.
What a pleasant surprise it is—a collection of highly-literate weird tales, each connected thematically by fish or fishing. The fish elements enter each story in different ways, sometimes subtly, and sometimes shockingly. There are some truly bizarre happenings here, and I won't spoil them by giving them away, but the beauty of the stories—and what makes them so weird—lies in how the most outlandish events are woven into scenes of such normalcy. The mundanity of marriage, dinners, family, etc. is broken by these strange episodes.
I would classify most of the stories as literary fiction, but one of the standouts is "The Snakes of Boring"—a squalid bit of noir that makes me want to see more of the same. I would read a crime novel by this writer in a heartbeat, but the range of these stories shows that he could do well wherever he seeks a niche.
This is not one of those times.
What a pleasant surprise it is—a collection of highly-literate weird tales, each connected thematically by fish or fishing. The fish elements enter each story in different ways, sometimes subtly, and sometimes shockingly. There are some truly bizarre happenings here, and I won't spoil them by giving them away, but the beauty of the stories—and what makes them so weird—lies in how the most outlandish events are woven into scenes of such normalcy. The mundanity of marriage, dinners, family, etc. is broken by these strange episodes.
I would classify most of the stories as literary fiction, but one of the standouts is "The Snakes of Boring"—a squalid bit of noir that makes me want to see more of the same. I would read a crime novel by this writer in a heartbeat, but the range of these stories shows that he could do well wherever he seeks a niche.
September 28, 2020
This collection floored me. Cameron Pierce writes stories featuring characters you'd expect to find in Raymond Carver's work, yet adds just enough weirdness to throw the reader for a loop. Some stories, like 'Swai,' end almost as soon as they begin, but nonetheless manage to punch you in the ribs. My personal favorite was 'The Snakes of Boring,' the longest in the collection, and the finest noir to feature a rocket launcher and a casket of snakes.
It's a rare treat to find fiction that makes you feel better for having read it. This collection is that type of fiction.
It's a rare treat to find fiction that makes you feel better for having read it. This collection is that type of fiction.
December 17, 2016
here you'll find some bloody brilliant writing, most of it hooked in some way around fish, fishing, and fishermen. while these short stories won't be everyone's kettle of fish (it's not for nothing that Pierce's genre is dubbed "bizarro fiction"), those willing to wade into these waters will find more than a few new angles from which to look at life and this strange world we live in.
August 3, 2015
"Fish stories" by definition are fanciful. But these ones are *really* out there -- and that's not surprising, considering that the publisher is Broken River Books. Quirky at a minimum, often downright bizarre, by turns funny and horrific, but also sad and touching. That's quite an emotional range.
October 15, 2016
This is the most emotional writing I've seen from Pierce. It feels and makes you feel. Contemplative, soft, and moving. Sometimes its tender, and other times it smacks the air right out of you. You know its coming, but you can't stop it...if for some reason you wanted to.
August 28, 2015
Really liked this collection. My favorites were probably 'Sway' and 'Drop the World'; beautiful stories.
March 12, 2018
I’m a massive fan of Cameron Pierce. I’ve mostly been drawn to his earlier Eraserhead Press titles and his work as Editor in Chief of Lazy Fascist Press. His Severed Press titles and his shift from all-out bizarro weirdness to more conventional horror stories (at least in image) centered around fishing wasn’t as big of a sell for me, so it’s taken me a while to jump into his fishing themed short story collection, Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon. While I understand Cameron Pierce has evolved as a writer and his interests have shifted considerably over the years, part of me still wishes he kept writing those crazy early bizarro stories which got him started.
But he wouldn’t still be doing what he’s doing if he wasn’t good at it. Cameron Pierce is a fantastic writer, and some of the weirdness of his earlier short stories still shines through. Reading through “Lost in Cat Brain Land”, then “Die You Doughnut Bastards!”, coming to “Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon”, you can witness the maturing of a writer, the strengthening of his storytelling abilities. I absolutely loved this collection. It was at times quaint, down to earth, beautiful, strange, and compelling, just to capture a few of the emotions on display. My favourite story in the collection was the delightfully bizarre and comically beautiful “the Bass Fisherman’s Wife”, with “the Snakes of Boring” right up there too, reading somewhat like a Tarantino road trip/heist film, filled with chaos and tragedy. I love how Pierce can pack so much heart and nuance into a story, no matter its length, and this skill is on full display in this short story collection. He might just take you for a wild ride at the same time too.
But he wouldn’t still be doing what he’s doing if he wasn’t good at it. Cameron Pierce is a fantastic writer, and some of the weirdness of his earlier short stories still shines through. Reading through “Lost in Cat Brain Land”, then “Die You Doughnut Bastards!”, coming to “Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon”, you can witness the maturing of a writer, the strengthening of his storytelling abilities. I absolutely loved this collection. It was at times quaint, down to earth, beautiful, strange, and compelling, just to capture a few of the emotions on display. My favourite story in the collection was the delightfully bizarre and comically beautiful “the Bass Fisherman’s Wife”, with “the Snakes of Boring” right up there too, reading somewhat like a Tarantino road trip/heist film, filled with chaos and tragedy. I love how Pierce can pack so much heart and nuance into a story, no matter its length, and this skill is on full display in this short story collection. He might just take you for a wild ride at the same time too.
January 5, 2015
“Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon”
A light surrealism permeates this tale. Pierce’s obsession is intriguing, especially if you reread his earlier works like The Ass Goblins of Ashuwitz or “The Elf Slut Sisters.” His voice feels more restrained, mature, and secure in this story, although it does border on Norman Mclean territory. This promises to be an intriguing evolution for one of the first bizarro writers I read 4-5 years ago.
“Sway”
This is a very funny story. Told from the POV of a Vietnam vet with foul, politically incorrect terminology, what begins like a cliched war story quickly becomes something entirely different and unexpected. I won’t spoil exactly how it develops, but I will say that Pierce’s twisted sense of humor surfaces in abundance so its earnest yet gruff tone is quickly undermined by Pierce’s satirical touch.
“Drop the World”
I have mixed feelings about stories told in the 2nd person, but it works well here. It drops you into the center of the action of a female boxing match. As the dreams and hopes of our protagonist spiral downward on a trail of auto-fume vapors, we encounter a surrealistic vision of the victor of the earlier boxing match intermixed with angel imagery. This one manages a downbeat ending that is still hopeful, even if that hope is smeared in rubble, debris, and delusion as the mouth in a body bag speaks.
“Short of Lundy”
This one has the structure of an imaginary encyclopedia of fantastic fish coupled with a simple story of a man and his father’s stories of fishing simple trout during his boyhood. Pierce’s whimsical imagination remains in full-display despite what the aforementioned synopsis might conjure. I particularly enjoyed the description of the last sea-monster sized fish eating cows and cranes.
“Help Me”
I read this story a few weeks ago in the anthology entitled Letters to Lovecraft. In that anthology, Pierce provides an introduction and states his love for “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” which is unsurprising given the fishy nature of its imagery and anthropomorphic concluding twist. This story seemed more complex and creepy reading it the second time through. I actually went back and read the last few pages for a third time before writing this. It seemed, on my second reading, the narrator had actually become the human-like fish that demanded help; on the third read, I noticed that the other fish remained in the car yet is referred to as “the firstborn.” This is my favorite one so far, and I’m happy I reread it. Probably the most straightforward horror tale of the collection.
“The Bass Fisherman’s Wife”
Wow. These keep getting better. There was something very elegant about the style of this one–very restrained and almost musically composed, if that makes any sense. It has a prim and proper style, like something out of Nathaniel Hawthorne yet with a decidedly Kafka-esque development. To summarize the events would do it a disservice–this one must be unveiled like a series of masterful paintings.
“Three Fishermen”
This odd trypich of tales do not fit together in any discernible puzzle or mystery, but maybe I should return to them at a later date to unlock their secrets.
“Floodland”
I loved this one. It has a slight Lost Highway feel to it while also revisiting the themes and imagery of “Help Me.” The narrator’s scene with his wife from a different life was handled well. This kind of story–with multiple planes of shifting realities–must’ve been difficult to pull off with such clarity and deceptive simplicity.
“The Incoming Tide”
Cosmic forces in tents and from the night. Missing elk by inches on slick roads after midnight. Slippery fragments, breaking but forming an arrow of energy towards a still-beating heart.
“Trophies”
A short somber tale that feels a bit like Hemingway without the drinking and contains zero fantastic elements. Still moving in its own way, like a more optimistic piece by Carver but also without the drinking.
“Let Love In”
We encounter another talking fish, although this one is fueled by bruised hallucination. In times of desperation, love can you make you do anything–even it that means trading flesh for fish at a dirty counter to hide reptilian eyes beneath the eaves.
“Easiest Kites There Are To Fly”
The title of this tales serves as a gateway to madness. Sad events lead a man to be haunted by a devil fish. Tempestuous relations with his father and wife also lead to him drinking too much and too often. The tale feels more like a fable or fairy tale than some of the others due to the whimsical feat of a man actually becoming successful, for a short stretch, selling small easy kites to fly.
“The Snakes of Boring”
This story, the longest in the collection, moved at an exceptionally fast pace due to its humor and hardboiled plot. Despite some ludicrous developments along the way, the story remained compelling–sort of like an Ealing comedy (think Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Lavender Hill Mob (I’m thinking of the imbecilic plan at the catfish farm that, of course, goes horrendously wrong). I won’t spoil other twists in the goofy but macabre plot.
“California Oregon”
This is an intense, choose-your-adventure style piece. While the form is used ironically, the emotions are harrowing and unsentimental. A very beautiful story that I will never forget.
“Our Love Will Go the Way of Salmon”
Sort of epilogue to a genuinely original collection of short stories. I read this while staying at a house on Lake Rupanco in southern Chile. Though I don’t usually fish, I did a bit while staying here. I also looked for salmon in a nearby river. Maybe someday I will again.
A light surrealism permeates this tale. Pierce’s obsession is intriguing, especially if you reread his earlier works like The Ass Goblins of Ashuwitz or “The Elf Slut Sisters.” His voice feels more restrained, mature, and secure in this story, although it does border on Norman Mclean territory. This promises to be an intriguing evolution for one of the first bizarro writers I read 4-5 years ago.
“Sway”
This is a very funny story. Told from the POV of a Vietnam vet with foul, politically incorrect terminology, what begins like a cliched war story quickly becomes something entirely different and unexpected. I won’t spoil exactly how it develops, but I will say that Pierce’s twisted sense of humor surfaces in abundance so its earnest yet gruff tone is quickly undermined by Pierce’s satirical touch.
“Drop the World”
I have mixed feelings about stories told in the 2nd person, but it works well here. It drops you into the center of the action of a female boxing match. As the dreams and hopes of our protagonist spiral downward on a trail of auto-fume vapors, we encounter a surrealistic vision of the victor of the earlier boxing match intermixed with angel imagery. This one manages a downbeat ending that is still hopeful, even if that hope is smeared in rubble, debris, and delusion as the mouth in a body bag speaks.
“Short of Lundy”
This one has the structure of an imaginary encyclopedia of fantastic fish coupled with a simple story of a man and his father’s stories of fishing simple trout during his boyhood. Pierce’s whimsical imagination remains in full-display despite what the aforementioned synopsis might conjure. I particularly enjoyed the description of the last sea-monster sized fish eating cows and cranes.
“Help Me”
I read this story a few weeks ago in the anthology entitled Letters to Lovecraft. In that anthology, Pierce provides an introduction and states his love for “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” which is unsurprising given the fishy nature of its imagery and anthropomorphic concluding twist. This story seemed more complex and creepy reading it the second time through. I actually went back and read the last few pages for a third time before writing this. It seemed, on my second reading, the narrator had actually become the human-like fish that demanded help; on the third read, I noticed that the other fish remained in the car yet is referred to as “the firstborn.” This is my favorite one so far, and I’m happy I reread it. Probably the most straightforward horror tale of the collection.
“The Bass Fisherman’s Wife”
Wow. These keep getting better. There was something very elegant about the style of this one–very restrained and almost musically composed, if that makes any sense. It has a prim and proper style, like something out of Nathaniel Hawthorne yet with a decidedly Kafka-esque development. To summarize the events would do it a disservice–this one must be unveiled like a series of masterful paintings.
“Three Fishermen”
This odd trypich of tales do not fit together in any discernible puzzle or mystery, but maybe I should return to them at a later date to unlock their secrets.
“Floodland”
I loved this one. It has a slight Lost Highway feel to it while also revisiting the themes and imagery of “Help Me.” The narrator’s scene with his wife from a different life was handled well. This kind of story–with multiple planes of shifting realities–must’ve been difficult to pull off with such clarity and deceptive simplicity.
“The Incoming Tide”
Cosmic forces in tents and from the night. Missing elk by inches on slick roads after midnight. Slippery fragments, breaking but forming an arrow of energy towards a still-beating heart.
“Trophies”
A short somber tale that feels a bit like Hemingway without the drinking and contains zero fantastic elements. Still moving in its own way, like a more optimistic piece by Carver but also without the drinking.
“Let Love In”
We encounter another talking fish, although this one is fueled by bruised hallucination. In times of desperation, love can you make you do anything–even it that means trading flesh for fish at a dirty counter to hide reptilian eyes beneath the eaves.
“Easiest Kites There Are To Fly”
The title of this tales serves as a gateway to madness. Sad events lead a man to be haunted by a devil fish. Tempestuous relations with his father and wife also lead to him drinking too much and too often. The tale feels more like a fable or fairy tale than some of the others due to the whimsical feat of a man actually becoming successful, for a short stretch, selling small easy kites to fly.
“The Snakes of Boring”
This story, the longest in the collection, moved at an exceptionally fast pace due to its humor and hardboiled plot. Despite some ludicrous developments along the way, the story remained compelling–sort of like an Ealing comedy (think Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Lavender Hill Mob (I’m thinking of the imbecilic plan at the catfish farm that, of course, goes horrendously wrong). I won’t spoil other twists in the goofy but macabre plot.
“California Oregon”
This is an intense, choose-your-adventure style piece. While the form is used ironically, the emotions are harrowing and unsentimental. A very beautiful story that I will never forget.
“Our Love Will Go the Way of Salmon”
Sort of epilogue to a genuinely original collection of short stories. I read this while staying at a house on Lake Rupanco in southern Chile. Though I don’t usually fish, I did a bit while staying here. I also looked for salmon in a nearby river. Maybe someday I will again.
March 24, 2017
out of five stars, i give this book six.
so goddamn beautiful.
if i had money, i'd buy more copies of this book and hand it out to strangers on the street.
so goddamn beautiful.
if i had money, i'd buy more copies of this book and hand it out to strangers on the street.
February 9, 2021
2.5/5. Not a lot of substance, it's literally just fish.
March 6, 2017
Cameron Pierce never disappoints. This is no exception. Some weird, some fairly straightforward, never a dull moment.
April 20, 2016
Nice collection from Cameron Pierce, some of them on the pleasantly odd side. I especially enjoyed the title story, and "Short of Lundy," the nine part flash piece "The Incoming Tide," and "California Oregon."
Praise via the Amazon description: "Pierce pushes characters into difficult situations in order to explore their pain. This is when he does his best work. Where for some, fishing is a means of escape, for others it represents madness and obsession." - ELECTRIC LITERATURE
"These are not your dad's fishing stories unless maybe your dad is Japanese fabulist Haruki Murakami [...] Recommended For: Psychedelic fishermen, mollusk hunters, fans of Ron Carlson and Richard Brautigan, brawlers, trawlers and lovers." - COAST WEEKEND
"Whether he's describing a grandmother who gets pulled into a watery grave by an almost mythological fish or telling the creepy story of a creature that wouldn't be out of place in an H.P. Lovecraft story, Pierce constantly pulls together concepts from the outmost edges of outré fiction and the kind of unassumingly profound storytelling that made authors like Flannery O'Connor and George Singleton household names." - VOL. 1 BROOKLYN
"Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon uses the tropes of weird, bizarro and horror fiction to dig deep into the wrongs we do each other, no matter how deep our love might go [...] Pierce has written his most personal work to date." - THE MONITOR
Praise via the Amazon description: "Pierce pushes characters into difficult situations in order to explore their pain. This is when he does his best work. Where for some, fishing is a means of escape, for others it represents madness and obsession." - ELECTRIC LITERATURE
"These are not your dad's fishing stories unless maybe your dad is Japanese fabulist Haruki Murakami [...] Recommended For: Psychedelic fishermen, mollusk hunters, fans of Ron Carlson and Richard Brautigan, brawlers, trawlers and lovers." - COAST WEEKEND
"Whether he's describing a grandmother who gets pulled into a watery grave by an almost mythological fish or telling the creepy story of a creature that wouldn't be out of place in an H.P. Lovecraft story, Pierce constantly pulls together concepts from the outmost edges of outré fiction and the kind of unassumingly profound storytelling that made authors like Flannery O'Connor and George Singleton household names." - VOL. 1 BROOKLYN
"Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon uses the tropes of weird, bizarro and horror fiction to dig deep into the wrongs we do each other, no matter how deep our love might go [...] Pierce has written his most personal work to date." - THE MONITOR
February 16, 2016
In this collection, Pierce displays an impressive array of voices in stories that can be funny, chilling, heartbreaking, or irreverent. The range of the subjects alone are not what's impressive, though; it's the mastery with which they're written that really make this such a great book. There are no 'weak' stories to speak of, and even though they are mostly different, they are all cohesive with each other. For the stories to be written well and curated well demonstrates that real personal thought and care was put into this book, something that went past ego and focused on quality. The theme of fishing gives it a unique flavor (no pun intended) in that it ties everything together, but not restrictively so. I love that the author and the publisher (Broken River Books) went out on a limb to create such a quality publication, simply because they wanted to rather than pandering to a certain demographic. This collection represents a maturing voice in Pierce's oeuvre, something I would compare to Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and the exciting part is that this is just a beginning. I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on his career.
May 7, 2015
"Love and Lunkers"
I gave this a 4.5 star review on Audible. This was a collection of strange short stories about fishing and love. And a lot of other interestingness in between. A few of the stories were longer and some were incredibly funny.
I thought the first story was great with grandma fishing and catching a wopper and it pulled her in but he saved the fish. I also liked the one where they went carp fishing and he wanted to have his 35 pound carp mounted. Too funny.
There was a great theme in this literature which was more like artwork. It was picturesque while contrasting salmon and love as well as many of the fish having blue eyes. It was definitely on the 'different' side. I think all in all at the end of the book I was just as perplexed as I was at the beginning.
Jay Wohlert did a really great job narrating this collection. He has a good voice and added that something extra to the book. I feel he made it easier to listen to and understand, IF it was to be understood. Overall, he did a super job.
Audiobook received in exchange for an unbiased review.
July 14, 2015
I really enjoyed this. Much less wacky than some of the comments might suggest; things tend to start going awry in sneaky, disorienting ways. Then before you know it, you're dragged halfway out to sea.
"Sway" is really a lovely little piece. Wow. And the obliquely Lovecraft-ian pieces put much-abused tropes into surprising contexts.
"Sway" is really a lovely little piece. Wow. And the obliquely Lovecraft-ian pieces put much-abused tropes into surprising contexts.
January 20, 2017
Dark and captivating, this collection of interconnected tales draws us into a world of odd misfits, talking fish and redneck murderers with rocket launchers - all the while keeping a close and compassionate eye on the characters' struggles and the tortured pasts that made them what they are. Vivid, engaging, intelligent.
June 23, 2015
I knew absolutely nothing about this book or author before I started this book. So bizarre - and entrancing. I'm still not sure how to wrap my head around it all, or how to categorize it. But I can definitely say I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading some more Cameron Pierce.
February 4, 2016
I liked this book a lot. All these stories feature fish in more-or-less weird contexts. I got this book as an Amazon freebie and I'll be exploring this author's works a bit more.
So Amazon freebies do work :)
So Amazon freebies do work :)
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