Far Enough: A Western in Fragments

by Joe Wilkins

Fiction. Though Joe Wilkins's new collection of short fiction set under the big Montana sky may have all the trappings of a traditional Western—long shots of sage flats and blue mountains, late nights at the dingy local watering hole, and a hard-working cowboy making time with the boss's daughter—FAR ENOUGH is far from traditional. A series of short prose fragments told from several viewpoints, FAR ENOUGH follows Willie Benson, Wade Newman, and young Jackie Newman as they crisscross the high plains of eastern Montana, each searching for something to hold onto. Wilkins's narratives—splintered, wending, intertwined—sprawl out beneath a huge, dazzling sky filled with "blue lightning run the wrong way, red eruptions and the slow fade to gold, a white ache along the horizon." Poetic, darkly humorous, subversive—FAR ENOUGH is a Western for our time.

"Equal parts rocketing narrative and arresting imagery, FAR ENOUGH trains a grave attention on the longings and flaws of ranch people, and the injustices they inflict and suffer. In these fiercely- charged 'fragments,' Joe Wilkins distills small-town, Big-Sky culture into a brilliant, austere, yet addictive liquor."—Anna Keesey, author of Little Century

"Joe Wilkins's portrait of the modern American West is told via one-page dramatic tableaux that read like those suddenly captured moments in poetry, in language as simple and unadorned in its beauty as the Montana prairie. These men and women are laconic and unassuming in their wants, fears, desires, and Wilkins reveals them to us wholly, unsparingly, vividly. The vision here is clear-eyed and humane. If Chekhov were born in Billings instead of Taganrog, he might very well have written about people like this, just as Wilkins has."—Daniel Orozco, author of And Other Stories

"When I'm asked what an ideal story for our magazine would be, I think but don't like a Joe Wilkins story. FAR ENOUGH is tight, chiseled and beautiful, full of language so physical it seems like landscape itself. You can feel the West in these words. But you can feel the people too, their stories equal to the place. I love Joe Wilkins's stories. I always have."—David Gessner, Editor-in-Chief at Ecotone

52 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2015

About the author

Joe Wilkins was born and raised on the Big Dry of eastern Montana and now lives in the foothills of the Coast Range of Oregon. He is the author of a novel, Fall Back Down When I Die, praised as “remarkable and unforgettable” in a starred review at Booklist. A finalist for the First Novel Award from the Center for Fiction and the Pacific Northwest Book Award, Fall Back Down When I Die won the High Plains Book Award and has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, and German. Wilkins is also the author of a memoir, The Mountain and the Fathers, and four collections of poetry, including Pastoral, 1994, and When We Were Birds, winner of the Oregon Book Award. His second novel, The Entire Sky, is out now with Little, Brown. Wilkins directs the creative writing program at Linfield University and is a member of the low-residency MFA faculty at Eastern Oregon University.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It starts with a man losing his thumb, and ends with an almost pastoral scene of a parched landscape being treated to a drenching rain. Wilkins' collections are always wonderful, and this newest chapbook (I'm not sure if it's a work of prose poetry or flash fiction -- but I have come to the conclusion that the label doesn't really matter) is a great addition to his growing library of work. Subtitled, "A Western in Fragments" this book tells the story of the contemporary western landscape, with its rough and tumble characters that strive to survive a world that in some ways seems unforgiving yet hopeful at the same time.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the different style the way this story was told. A paragraph or two was like its own short story or chapter, but they all wove together to tell a story about a young cowboy, his life and how he got on the path he couldn't leave. The writing wasn't spectacular, but it was an engaging story with good characters that rendered a realistic portrait of a piece of the West.

[Kaycee Monnens · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only criticism is the unrealistic first story which set up the rest of them. No one should lose their thumb in a branding pen, and if they do, they are someone I do not want to work with. LOL.
I'm inspired by this writing style and want to try this way of writing prose in less-than-page sections.

[Jennifer Janzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the format, although my mother did not. This was the first book I'd encountered using this type of microfiction and it worked well with the material.

[Ben Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this experience, and am glad it read it. I want good thinks for Jackie. I love his obsession with the sky.

[Joyce Reynolds-Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

A retelling of some classic Western stories in short prose poem form. Quite lovely, and the fragment structure adds depth to the telling of the story.