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Cloudbursts: Collected and New Stories
From one of our most acclaimed writers, a sumptuous gathering of his singular work in the short form, including six new stories--nothing short of a literary event.
For more than four decades, Thomas McGuane has been heralded as an unrivaled master of the short story. Now the arc of that achievement appears in one definitive thirty-eight stories drawn from his much-lauded previous collections, and another six entirely new pieces appearing for the first time in book form. Set in the seedy corners of Key West, the remote shore towns of the Bahamas, and McGuane's hallmark Big Sky country, with its vast and unforgiving landscape, these are stories of people on the fringes of society, whose twisted pasts meddle with their chances for companionship. Moving from the hilarious to the tragic and back again, McGuane writes about familial dysfunction, emotional failure, and American loneliness, celebrating the human ability to persist through life's absurdities.
For more than four decades, Thomas McGuane has been heralded as an unrivaled master of the short story. Now the arc of that achievement appears in one definitive thirty-eight stories drawn from his much-lauded previous collections, and another six entirely new pieces appearing for the first time in book form. Set in the seedy corners of Key West, the remote shore towns of the Bahamas, and McGuane's hallmark Big Sky country, with its vast and unforgiving landscape, these are stories of people on the fringes of society, whose twisted pasts meddle with their chances for companionship. Moving from the hilarious to the tragic and back again, McGuane writes about familial dysfunction, emotional failure, and American loneliness, celebrating the human ability to persist through life's absurdities.
556 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 6, 2018
309 people are currently reading
1367 people want to read
About the author
Thomas McGuane
77 books473 followersThomas Francis McGuane III is an American writer. His work includes ten novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life in the outdoors. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Cutting Horse Association Members Hall of Fame and the Fly-Fishing Hall of Fame.
McGuane's early novels were noted for a comic appreciation for the irrational core of many human endeavors, multiple takes on the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s. His later writing reflected an increasing devotion to family relationships and relationships with the natural world in the changing American West, primarily Montana, where he has made his home since 1968, and where his last five novels and many of his essays are set. He has three children, Annie, Maggie and Thomas.
McGuane's early novels were noted for a comic appreciation for the irrational core of many human endeavors, multiple takes on the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s. His later writing reflected an increasing devotion to family relationships and relationships with the natural world in the changing American West, primarily Montana, where he has made his home since 1968, and where his last five novels and many of his essays are set. He has three children, Annie, Maggie and Thomas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
April 20, 2018
I had previously known Thomas McGuane’s work only through individual stories in magazines. I had a high time making his fuller acquaintance through Cloudbursts: Collected and New Stories, a hefty but not overweight gathering (at 556 pages) that should surely at least be nominated for all the major literary awards.
McGuane certainly knows how to get a narrative going and motivate a reader into the questioning mode right off the bat. The longest story in the collection, “The Refugee,” which calls to mind Lowry’s Under the Volcano, begins with this: “Errol Healy was going sailing to evade custody in one of the several institutions recommended for his care.”
McGuane also knows how to quickly introduce a character’s personality. In “The Millionaire,” Betty, “a handsome blonde in her middle forties wearing a green linen Chanel suit,” is entering a summer rental cottage with her unmarried, pregnant 15-year-old daughter:
“Mom, where’s the thermostat? I’m getting goose bumps.”
“Find it, Iris. It will be on the wall.”
So, just like that, we have a first, defining utterance like “A little more than kin and less than kind.”
McGuane’s stories whose narrators speak in dialect are particularly engaging. In “Cowboy,” we get this: “The old feller had several peculiarities to him, most of which I’ve forgot. He was one of the few fellers I ever saw who would actually jump up and down on his hat if he got mad enough. You can’t imagine what his hat looked like.” (By the time you’re acclimated to the dialect, you know not to give “peculiarities” the dictionary pronunciation, without McGuane’s lapsing into the constant awkward phonetics that often burden writing in dialect. Reading aloud, I would go with pee-culiarities.)
A little later in that same story: “The old lady died sittin down, went in there and there she was, sittin down, and she was dead.”
McGuane is known as an outdoorsman, and his knowledge of the natural world and the tools and methods of those who work outdoors informs some of his strongest stories. You trust his details.
From “Stars”:
“In the gathering dark and the swirling snow, she began to imagine voices and distantly wondered if she could still see the trail. She stopped to listen more closely, hoping to hear something new through the wind. A pure singing note rose, high and sustained, then another, in a kind of courtly diction.’’
”Wolves.”
Irresistible humor abounds in McGuane’s work. In “North Country,” a father doesn’t comprehend that his daughter and her partner are heroin addicts: “The old guy was off making plywood like the automaton he was and thought Austin and Ruth just ‘kept getting the flu.’”
Here’s a run of dialog from that same story:
“Well. Come in and set, then. If you get hungry, Dulcie’d cook something up.”
“I don’t eat anything with a central nervous system.”
“You what?”
That’s immediately followed by: “Mr. Jones twisted the front doorknob and kneed the door over its high spot as they went indoors.“ (That verb “kneed” has the characteristic pepper of McGuane’s narrative gift.)
From “The House On Sand Creek”: “Ole Bob was a bubble and a half off plumb, even back then.”
From “Prairie Girl”: “Since it was a small town and functioned reliably as a Greek chorus …”
Just wait until you come to the codger in “The Motherlode” who takes pride in balancing a peanut on his nose while playing a 45 rpm recording of the Sons of the Pioneers singing “Cool, Clear Water.”
Even in the few stories that don’t finally succeed for me, McGuane pulls me in and keeps me reading until the end. Here’s the opening paragraph of “The Miracle,” by no means an example of an unsuccessful story and arguably one of this master’s finest:
“We always went back to my mother’s hometown when someone was about to die. We missed Uncle Kevin because the doctors misdiagnosed his ruptured appendix, owing to referred pain in his shoulder. Septicemia killed him before they sorted it out with a victorious air we never forgave. The liverless baby was well before our time — it would have been older than my mother had it lived — but my grandfather’s departure arrived ideally for scheduling purposes in the late stages of diabetes; we drove instead of taking the train and en route were able to stay over for an extra day at the Algonquin Inn in western New York, taking advantage of a Wiener Schnitzel Night, and still make it in time for the various obsequies while reducing prolonged visits by priests. (My father was an agnostic and fought sponging clergy with vigor, remarking that he had ‘fronted his last snockered prelate’ and adding ‘Amazing how often it’s Crown Royal.’” )
I believe it says something essential about McGuane that I have written about him and quoted from him this much with no hint of the grim circumstances in so many of his stories. (I remember, years ago, being startled to come to the thought that Eudora Welty’s vision was probably tragic — but that this is almost hidden, given Welty’s endless pleasure in how people conduct themselves and especially how they talk.)
I would enjoy a salty conversation between McGuane and Annie Proulx, I would.
For what it’s worth: I do wish designers of book jackets and other graphic projects would abandon the tendency of the last 15-20 years to apply what resembles strips of tape to present titles and other verbal information. This tendency was inartistic and unsightly from the start and has grown unendurably tiresome. On the jacket of McGuane’s book, two of the three strips have the jarring ugliness of electrical tape. We’ve learned to live with the ubiquitous, god-awful bar code. Spare us additional eyesores.
McGuane certainly knows how to get a narrative going and motivate a reader into the questioning mode right off the bat. The longest story in the collection, “The Refugee,” which calls to mind Lowry’s Under the Volcano, begins with this: “Errol Healy was going sailing to evade custody in one of the several institutions recommended for his care.”
McGuane also knows how to quickly introduce a character’s personality. In “The Millionaire,” Betty, “a handsome blonde in her middle forties wearing a green linen Chanel suit,” is entering a summer rental cottage with her unmarried, pregnant 15-year-old daughter:
“Mom, where’s the thermostat? I’m getting goose bumps.”
“Find it, Iris. It will be on the wall.”
So, just like that, we have a first, defining utterance like “A little more than kin and less than kind.”
McGuane’s stories whose narrators speak in dialect are particularly engaging. In “Cowboy,” we get this: “The old feller had several peculiarities to him, most of which I’ve forgot. He was one of the few fellers I ever saw who would actually jump up and down on his hat if he got mad enough. You can’t imagine what his hat looked like.” (By the time you’re acclimated to the dialect, you know not to give “peculiarities” the dictionary pronunciation, without McGuane’s lapsing into the constant awkward phonetics that often burden writing in dialect. Reading aloud, I would go with pee-culiarities.)
A little later in that same story: “The old lady died sittin down, went in there and there she was, sittin down, and she was dead.”
McGuane is known as an outdoorsman, and his knowledge of the natural world and the tools and methods of those who work outdoors informs some of his strongest stories. You trust his details.
From “Stars”:
“In the gathering dark and the swirling snow, she began to imagine voices and distantly wondered if she could still see the trail. She stopped to listen more closely, hoping to hear something new through the wind. A pure singing note rose, high and sustained, then another, in a kind of courtly diction.’’
”Wolves.”
Irresistible humor abounds in McGuane’s work. In “North Country,” a father doesn’t comprehend that his daughter and her partner are heroin addicts: “The old guy was off making plywood like the automaton he was and thought Austin and Ruth just ‘kept getting the flu.’”
Here’s a run of dialog from that same story:
“Well. Come in and set, then. If you get hungry, Dulcie’d cook something up.”
“I don’t eat anything with a central nervous system.”
“You what?”
That’s immediately followed by: “Mr. Jones twisted the front doorknob and kneed the door over its high spot as they went indoors.“ (That verb “kneed” has the characteristic pepper of McGuane’s narrative gift.)
From “The House On Sand Creek”: “Ole Bob was a bubble and a half off plumb, even back then.”
From “Prairie Girl”: “Since it was a small town and functioned reliably as a Greek chorus …”
Just wait until you come to the codger in “The Motherlode” who takes pride in balancing a peanut on his nose while playing a 45 rpm recording of the Sons of the Pioneers singing “Cool, Clear Water.”
Even in the few stories that don’t finally succeed for me, McGuane pulls me in and keeps me reading until the end. Here’s the opening paragraph of “The Miracle,” by no means an example of an unsuccessful story and arguably one of this master’s finest:
“We always went back to my mother’s hometown when someone was about to die. We missed Uncle Kevin because the doctors misdiagnosed his ruptured appendix, owing to referred pain in his shoulder. Septicemia killed him before they sorted it out with a victorious air we never forgave. The liverless baby was well before our time — it would have been older than my mother had it lived — but my grandfather’s departure arrived ideally for scheduling purposes in the late stages of diabetes; we drove instead of taking the train and en route were able to stay over for an extra day at the Algonquin Inn in western New York, taking advantage of a Wiener Schnitzel Night, and still make it in time for the various obsequies while reducing prolonged visits by priests. (My father was an agnostic and fought sponging clergy with vigor, remarking that he had ‘fronted his last snockered prelate’ and adding ‘Amazing how often it’s Crown Royal.’” )
I believe it says something essential about McGuane that I have written about him and quoted from him this much with no hint of the grim circumstances in so many of his stories. (I remember, years ago, being startled to come to the thought that Eudora Welty’s vision was probably tragic — but that this is almost hidden, given Welty’s endless pleasure in how people conduct themselves and especially how they talk.)
I would enjoy a salty conversation between McGuane and Annie Proulx, I would.
For what it’s worth: I do wish designers of book jackets and other graphic projects would abandon the tendency of the last 15-20 years to apply what resembles strips of tape to present titles and other verbal information. This tendency was inartistic and unsightly from the start and has grown unendurably tiresome. On the jacket of McGuane’s book, two of the three strips have the jarring ugliness of electrical tape. We’ve learned to live with the ubiquitous, god-awful bar code. Spare us additional eyesores.
June 25, 2018
McGuane is a master of the short story. This book is mostly a collection of his short stories that can be found elsewhere with a few new ones thrown in. Decent nonetheless. Derelicts, cons, misfits, philanderers, bird hunters, anglers, dogs, etc.
June 12, 2018
Well-written stories of ranchers, sailors, lawyers, philanderers, and businessmen. All but one protagonist is male; few rise above the level of mediocrity to achieve success, and a couple are outright failures. Each story manages to have some level of increasing tension.
April 29, 2015
This is a horrible and thoroughly unenjoyable short story.
Baseball features heavily and I find that boring.
The ending is especially horrific.
Baseball features heavily and I find that boring.
The ending is especially horrific.
April 11, 2020
Excellent collection that I am still making my way thru. As in other long anthologies I will make notes as I read them.
Those that I’ve read thus far include
“ Sportsmen “ follows two high school boys and their relationship, mostly centered around hunting and fishing, in the 1950’s both before and after one suffers a crippling accident.
“ The Millionaire “ is the unborn baby of a teenage girl whose family has decamped to a quiet cabin while she nears the end of her pregnancy. The child will be adopted by a wealthy couple.
“ A Man in Louisiana “ follows a man sent by his employer to travel across a few Southern states to pick up a purchased hunting dog. It does not go as planned.
“ Like A Leaf “ seems to be one of the authors more famous stories but I admit I’m a bit confused by it. A widower witnessed a rich neighbor man having an affair with a younger woman from the neighborhood. Things quickly get more confused, and the woman rapidly moves from a sympathetic figure to the driver of the whole badness.
Three less strong stories follows a man who steals the towns “ Dogs” after suffering a brain injury, a boy who battles with four brothers from a bad family and no future in “ A Skirmish “ as well as a short piece called “ Two Hours to Kill” in which a man using just that while waiting for an undertaker to show up ends up injured himself
“ Partners” follows a young lawyer who is groomed for partnership by an older, dignified partner. He finds that once made partner that, in order to break free, to become his own man, he has to treat his benefactor with disdain
“ The Road Atlas “ follows three brothers, namely one perhaps black sheep, as their business ventures split up and “ Flight “ follows two men in a hunting trip, where one confides to the other that they will not be recovering from their current illness
“ Vicious Circle “ is the first featured John Briggs story. In this he needs a young woman who , he discovers on their first date, that she is a raging alcoholic. Later she visits him in the hospital when he is brought in and gives him an unexpected and unexplained drug treatment
“ Cowboy “ follows a young man as he spends a big part of his life doing ranch work for a crusty old man.
“ Ice “ is an odd story. A high school student writes about the drum major in his high school band. When he walks too far out on the ice one day he returns into a dark storefront and sees evidence of the drummajor’s liaison with the gym teachers beautiful young wife.
“ Old Friends “ follows John Briggs as an old college friend on the run from financial crimes charges comes to visit him out West.
“ North Country “ follows a couple of functional heroin addicts in British Columbia while “ Zombie “ follows a young prostitute who runs afoul of a young man whose Father she sold out.
“ Miracle Boy “ is a story I really liked. Follows a young boy, then a teenager as he interacts with his large Irish family at the death of his Grandmother. Very entertaining
“ Aliens “ is another strong story. Follows a widower as he has a relationship with a woman he knew long ago. When she comes to visit him, however, their feelings can not overcome the strangeness of his life
“ The Refugee” is the longest story in the set thus far. It is interesting. A man running from the past and his own mental health issues sails from Cortez to Key West to visit an old woman who he hopes has mystical powers for him. So much sailing talk and logistics I must confess for a land being like me it was like a foreign language
“ Gallatin Canyon “ A man takes a road trip thru the Northwest and against his better judgement takes the route thru the Canyon. Tall cliff sides, huge drop offs, winding thin roads, but his girlfriend prefers the route. When a road rage incident ends up creating a dangerous situation it changes their relationship forever.
“ Weight Watchers “ has a man playing host to his Father for an unplanned visit. It seems his Mother kicks him out whenever his weight hits 250 or more.
“ The House on Sand Creek “ details an on again, off again relationship between a Westerner and a refugee from the breakup of Yugoslavia. The relationship is troubled.
“ Grandma and Me “ details a never do well and his 93 year old blind Grandmother who owns half the town. His behavior is less than splendid.
“ Hubcaps “ is a place and time story. Owen is an unhappy, unnoticed boy in his town. He lives next door to The Kershaws, a happy family with three sons. They play baseball in a field the boys and their Dad carved out of a field. The youngest son is Ben, a heavily disabled boy who loves baseball statistics. Ben experiences a social status rise that leads to an incident no one talks about before he disappears for good into the mental health care system
“ On a Dirt Road “ features a man who tells two things that happened on an eventful night. First he decided not to accompany his wife to a dinner date with another couple he cannot stand. Later, bored, he visits a neighbor who he had thought stuck up. Turns out there was more to that story. Later he stops at the restaurant where his wife is
with the couple. She’s not there. It all crashes then.
“ A Long View to the West “ A rancher recalls his relationship with an elderly neighbor. A septuagenarian, the man still rides and ropes much to our narrator’s worry and chagrin. When capturing some of his horses to bring in to corral he proves his mettle still.
“ The Casserole” Funny story where man and wife are going to his wife’s family’s ranch. Both longtime schoolteachers they have said they don’t want the ranch despite its million dollar value. After loading up the car ( more stuff than they need for a weekend he thinks ) they set off. When they arrive his mother in law hands him a casserole for the ride home.
“ Motherlode “ follows a young man who has built a successful cow semen insemination business who becomes embroiled in a drug smuggling situation
“ An Old Man who Liked to Fish “ is a short piece about a man who has an elderly couple ( the last of his father’s friends still alive ) out to his ranch to enjoy some fishing.
“ Prairie Girl” is a story of a young woman who moves from working at a town brothel, to marrying the gay son of the town bank’s President, to owning the bank
“ The Good Samaritan “ follows a rancher with a lot on his plate. An ex wife, a son in jail, an elderly Mother, and a business. When he hires a man to help around the farm when he is injured in an accident t it is just the beginning of his troubles.
“ Stars “ is a small story about a young woman going through a spate of anger issues while “ Shaman “ is an effective story about a chain of events that leads to the shooting of an unarmed, mortally sweet natured Native American man who happens upon people who don’t know him.
“ Canyon Ferry “ tells the story of a recently divorced Father who takes his son out on their weekly mandated excursion. The boy seems to enjoy the ice fishing but when a storm blows up and things go sideways he is more scared than he lets on. Still the Father is surprised the next week when the boy does not want to join him. It is the beginning to the end of their relationship
“ River Camp “ reads like a movie script. Tony, a big bellied Doctor, is divorcing Jack’s sister. The men, friends since childhood, decide on a camping trip. They employ a river guide who seems one step away from the incompetent one on Delieverance. A lifetime of bad water in thirr friendship bring rehashed won’t be as dangerous as the river
“ Lake Story “ follows a couple who meet every year for a week as part of their once a year only adulterous affair. This year things go off kilter.
“ Crow Fair “ I had read this before but remains a great story. Two men have placed their dementia ridden Mother in the town nursing home. Now she refers to herself by a name the boys never knew and talks to a man she apparently remembers intimately. One son finds it a bit funny while the other is mortified
“ Tango “ was a strong story. A young medical student rents an apartment in a mansion. An octogenarian owns the building, wealthy, art afficiando, he covets his assistant a thirty year old woman that lives across from our medical student on the first floor. Odd combination and odd things happen
I had read “ The Driver “ before and it’s still one of his darkest story. An addled, or dimwitted, or challenged young boy is accidentally left behind by his preoccupied Mother. He starts walking and ends up lost. A man picks him up to help him. The police do not see it that way.
“ Papaya “ is a weak story that I struggled to make sense of
“ Little Big Horn” is a good story where a man recollects the end of a previous relationship. He and the woman take a trip to visit some old hippie days friends. When they arrive they too are at the end of those rope with each other. Funny, interesting, characters
“ Kangaroo” was a great story. It follows the relationship between a low level criminal and his probation officer. And a young woman touring a kangaroo comes into play
“ Viking Burial” is a short piece that follows a man who helps a elderly man work on his dream boat, that, he knows, will never be finished
“ Ghost Riders in the Sky “ follows a couple of divorced siblings visiting in Key West. They reminisce over memories of their own divorced parents
“ Riddle “ follows a man who finds himself the victim of an ingenious car jacking
These stories are primarily centered in the ranch country of the northwest with a great deal focusing on low level crime, divorce, separation etc.
Those that I’ve read thus far include
“ Sportsmen “ follows two high school boys and their relationship, mostly centered around hunting and fishing, in the 1950’s both before and after one suffers a crippling accident.
“ The Millionaire “ is the unborn baby of a teenage girl whose family has decamped to a quiet cabin while she nears the end of her pregnancy. The child will be adopted by a wealthy couple.
“ A Man in Louisiana “ follows a man sent by his employer to travel across a few Southern states to pick up a purchased hunting dog. It does not go as planned.
“ Like A Leaf “ seems to be one of the authors more famous stories but I admit I’m a bit confused by it. A widower witnessed a rich neighbor man having an affair with a younger woman from the neighborhood. Things quickly get more confused, and the woman rapidly moves from a sympathetic figure to the driver of the whole badness.
Three less strong stories follows a man who steals the towns “ Dogs” after suffering a brain injury, a boy who battles with four brothers from a bad family and no future in “ A Skirmish “ as well as a short piece called “ Two Hours to Kill” in which a man using just that while waiting for an undertaker to show up ends up injured himself
“ Partners” follows a young lawyer who is groomed for partnership by an older, dignified partner. He finds that once made partner that, in order to break free, to become his own man, he has to treat his benefactor with disdain
“ The Road Atlas “ follows three brothers, namely one perhaps black sheep, as their business ventures split up and “ Flight “ follows two men in a hunting trip, where one confides to the other that they will not be recovering from their current illness
“ Vicious Circle “ is the first featured John Briggs story. In this he needs a young woman who , he discovers on their first date, that she is a raging alcoholic. Later she visits him in the hospital when he is brought in and gives him an unexpected and unexplained drug treatment
“ Cowboy “ follows a young man as he spends a big part of his life doing ranch work for a crusty old man.
“ Ice “ is an odd story. A high school student writes about the drum major in his high school band. When he walks too far out on the ice one day he returns into a dark storefront and sees evidence of the drummajor’s liaison with the gym teachers beautiful young wife.
“ Old Friends “ follows John Briggs as an old college friend on the run from financial crimes charges comes to visit him out West.
“ North Country “ follows a couple of functional heroin addicts in British Columbia while “ Zombie “ follows a young prostitute who runs afoul of a young man whose Father she sold out.
“ Miracle Boy “ is a story I really liked. Follows a young boy, then a teenager as he interacts with his large Irish family at the death of his Grandmother. Very entertaining
“ Aliens “ is another strong story. Follows a widower as he has a relationship with a woman he knew long ago. When she comes to visit him, however, their feelings can not overcome the strangeness of his life
“ The Refugee” is the longest story in the set thus far. It is interesting. A man running from the past and his own mental health issues sails from Cortez to Key West to visit an old woman who he hopes has mystical powers for him. So much sailing talk and logistics I must confess for a land being like me it was like a foreign language
“ Gallatin Canyon “ A man takes a road trip thru the Northwest and against his better judgement takes the route thru the Canyon. Tall cliff sides, huge drop offs, winding thin roads, but his girlfriend prefers the route. When a road rage incident ends up creating a dangerous situation it changes their relationship forever.
“ Weight Watchers “ has a man playing host to his Father for an unplanned visit. It seems his Mother kicks him out whenever his weight hits 250 or more.
“ The House on Sand Creek “ details an on again, off again relationship between a Westerner and a refugee from the breakup of Yugoslavia. The relationship is troubled.
“ Grandma and Me “ details a never do well and his 93 year old blind Grandmother who owns half the town. His behavior is less than splendid.
“ Hubcaps “ is a place and time story. Owen is an unhappy, unnoticed boy in his town. He lives next door to The Kershaws, a happy family with three sons. They play baseball in a field the boys and their Dad carved out of a field. The youngest son is Ben, a heavily disabled boy who loves baseball statistics. Ben experiences a social status rise that leads to an incident no one talks about before he disappears for good into the mental health care system
“ On a Dirt Road “ features a man who tells two things that happened on an eventful night. First he decided not to accompany his wife to a dinner date with another couple he cannot stand. Later, bored, he visits a neighbor who he had thought stuck up. Turns out there was more to that story. Later he stops at the restaurant where his wife is
with the couple. She’s not there. It all crashes then.
“ A Long View to the West “ A rancher recalls his relationship with an elderly neighbor. A septuagenarian, the man still rides and ropes much to our narrator’s worry and chagrin. When capturing some of his horses to bring in to corral he proves his mettle still.
“ The Casserole” Funny story where man and wife are going to his wife’s family’s ranch. Both longtime schoolteachers they have said they don’t want the ranch despite its million dollar value. After loading up the car ( more stuff than they need for a weekend he thinks ) they set off. When they arrive his mother in law hands him a casserole for the ride home.
“ Motherlode “ follows a young man who has built a successful cow semen insemination business who becomes embroiled in a drug smuggling situation
“ An Old Man who Liked to Fish “ is a short piece about a man who has an elderly couple ( the last of his father’s friends still alive ) out to his ranch to enjoy some fishing.
“ Prairie Girl” is a story of a young woman who moves from working at a town brothel, to marrying the gay son of the town bank’s President, to owning the bank
“ The Good Samaritan “ follows a rancher with a lot on his plate. An ex wife, a son in jail, an elderly Mother, and a business. When he hires a man to help around the farm when he is injured in an accident t it is just the beginning of his troubles.
“ Stars “ is a small story about a young woman going through a spate of anger issues while “ Shaman “ is an effective story about a chain of events that leads to the shooting of an unarmed, mortally sweet natured Native American man who happens upon people who don’t know him.
“ Canyon Ferry “ tells the story of a recently divorced Father who takes his son out on their weekly mandated excursion. The boy seems to enjoy the ice fishing but when a storm blows up and things go sideways he is more scared than he lets on. Still the Father is surprised the next week when the boy does not want to join him. It is the beginning to the end of their relationship
“ River Camp “ reads like a movie script. Tony, a big bellied Doctor, is divorcing Jack’s sister. The men, friends since childhood, decide on a camping trip. They employ a river guide who seems one step away from the incompetent one on Delieverance. A lifetime of bad water in thirr friendship bring rehashed won’t be as dangerous as the river
“ Lake Story “ follows a couple who meet every year for a week as part of their once a year only adulterous affair. This year things go off kilter.
“ Crow Fair “ I had read this before but remains a great story. Two men have placed their dementia ridden Mother in the town nursing home. Now she refers to herself by a name the boys never knew and talks to a man she apparently remembers intimately. One son finds it a bit funny while the other is mortified
“ Tango “ was a strong story. A young medical student rents an apartment in a mansion. An octogenarian owns the building, wealthy, art afficiando, he covets his assistant a thirty year old woman that lives across from our medical student on the first floor. Odd combination and odd things happen
I had read “ The Driver “ before and it’s still one of his darkest story. An addled, or dimwitted, or challenged young boy is accidentally left behind by his preoccupied Mother. He starts walking and ends up lost. A man picks him up to help him. The police do not see it that way.
“ Papaya “ is a weak story that I struggled to make sense of
“ Little Big Horn” is a good story where a man recollects the end of a previous relationship. He and the woman take a trip to visit some old hippie days friends. When they arrive they too are at the end of those rope with each other. Funny, interesting, characters
“ Kangaroo” was a great story. It follows the relationship between a low level criminal and his probation officer. And a young woman touring a kangaroo comes into play
“ Viking Burial” is a short piece that follows a man who helps a elderly man work on his dream boat, that, he knows, will never be finished
“ Ghost Riders in the Sky “ follows a couple of divorced siblings visiting in Key West. They reminisce over memories of their own divorced parents
“ Riddle “ follows a man who finds himself the victim of an ingenious car jacking
These stories are primarily centered in the ranch country of the northwest with a great deal focusing on low level crime, divorce, separation etc.
Read
March 15, 2025McGuane can write a good story.
Highlights include: "Sportsmen", "The Millionaire", "Dogs", "Partners", "Vicious Circle", "Ice", "North Country", "Zombie", "The Refugee", "Gallatin Canyon", "Weight Watchers", "Hubcaps", "The Casserole", "The Good Samaritan", "Shaman", "Canyon Ferry", and "Tango".
Highlights include: "Sportsmen", "The Millionaire", "Dogs", "Partners", "Vicious Circle", "Ice", "North Country", "Zombie", "The Refugee", "Gallatin Canyon", "Weight Watchers", "Hubcaps", "The Casserole", "The Good Samaritan", "Shaman", "Canyon Ferry", and "Tango".
November 13, 2019
I found Cloudbursts on a WSJ booklist, having never read any of McGuane’s previous books. This is a large collection of short stories of varied lengths and topics but with commonalities. It's almost as if one story leads to the next, the way a discussion moves from topic to somewhat-related topic. I rate it five stars mainly because of the deep content and how much I’ve thought about several stories. However, the topics and characters are so similar, along with recurring themes and objects, that in a collection of 45 stories (really) it is hard to keep many of them straight.
If this were a new author (which he is to me) I’d say this is an insightful reexamination of male literature and the vanishing free American West, something totally unexpected. None of the stories were classic comedies or tragedies. So, on that count it is a fresh look at life. But based on the time/place of most of the author’s writing, it was probably more par-for-the-course/not quite up to contemporary standards. The men are mostly cowboys (retired, aspiring, or in-spirit) and the women, when characterized at all, are usually minor influences. It surprises me that these non-PC stories written by an old man were mainly originally published in The New Yorker.
I personally don’t understand why so many short story writers like to leave their stories so incomplete, but by and large, to me these seemed to just end. They are not so much stories as impressions or set-ups. Each is interesting and certainly evokes imagery/emotions that are common in the American West in 2019. As a Westerner myself, I enjoyed the descriptions of familiar locations, even those familiar to me despite having never visited, which describes most of Montana to me. A surprising number accurately and objectively describe the cruelty/powerplay of boyhood, none better than A Skirmish. River Camp, on the other hand, might be the most insightful story I’ve come across about adult male friendship/life.
My favorite story was Prairie Girl, one that I’d like seen explored on a larger scale, although it probably worked best in its diminutive form. I also especially liked Zombie. Oddly, these were among the very few with female protagonists. In both cases the lead is played by a prostitute, what I imagine McGuane sees as a female cowboy.
I really liked all the stories except the openers Sportsmen and The Millionaire. Luckily, I persevered and finished the rest. Other favorites were The Refugee, Gallatin Canyon, Weight Watchers, and The House on Sand Creek an astounding collection of four in a row. The Refugee is certainly the most skillful story of the bunch, almost more of a novella. Its main character returns later in Papaya. In this case, I’m glad these two stories are presented separately because The Refugee stands so strongly on its own.
If this were a new author (which he is to me) I’d say this is an insightful reexamination of male literature and the vanishing free American West, something totally unexpected. None of the stories were classic comedies or tragedies. So, on that count it is a fresh look at life. But based on the time/place of most of the author’s writing, it was probably more par-for-the-course/not quite up to contemporary standards. The men are mostly cowboys (retired, aspiring, or in-spirit) and the women, when characterized at all, are usually minor influences. It surprises me that these non-PC stories written by an old man were mainly originally published in The New Yorker.
I personally don’t understand why so many short story writers like to leave their stories so incomplete, but by and large, to me these seemed to just end. They are not so much stories as impressions or set-ups. Each is interesting and certainly evokes imagery/emotions that are common in the American West in 2019. As a Westerner myself, I enjoyed the descriptions of familiar locations, even those familiar to me despite having never visited, which describes most of Montana to me. A surprising number accurately and objectively describe the cruelty/powerplay of boyhood, none better than A Skirmish. River Camp, on the other hand, might be the most insightful story I’ve come across about adult male friendship/life.
My favorite story was Prairie Girl, one that I’d like seen explored on a larger scale, although it probably worked best in its diminutive form. I also especially liked Zombie. Oddly, these were among the very few with female protagonists. In both cases the lead is played by a prostitute, what I imagine McGuane sees as a female cowboy.
I really liked all the stories except the openers Sportsmen and The Millionaire. Luckily, I persevered and finished the rest. Other favorites were The Refugee, Gallatin Canyon, Weight Watchers, and The House on Sand Creek an astounding collection of four in a row. The Refugee is certainly the most skillful story of the bunch, almost more of a novella. Its main character returns later in Papaya. In this case, I’m glad these two stories are presented separately because The Refugee stands so strongly on its own.
November 17, 2018
Believe it or not, even having been a McGuane fan for decades, I don't think I had ever read more than a couple of his short stories in magazines. This book collects most of his published stories, and the writing is consistently good and will be familiar to any McGuane reader. Of course, some are not as strong as others, and anyone reading this book in one shot like I did might get a bit numb from repeated themes. Nonetheless, this is a great collection and might win McGuane more readers and attention from literary critics, most of whom abandoned him following the publication of "Panama", which was such a departure from his somewhat kooky first three novels.
Most of McGuane's stories take place in Montana, where he lives. Although you might think that his characters might be the typical suspects, i.e. ranchers and small town dwellers in sometimes picaresque tales full of Big Sky wonders, in fact they represent a wide range of professions. But there is something indefinable about their "Westernness" and how it informs their reactions to the sorts of problems you might face in life. There's plenty of damaged people here; sometimes it's because of bad parenting, unfortunate incidents, poor choices; but often it's just their own fault, missing the warning signs. And that can result in disastrous outcomes for the protagonists.
The story "Tango" was later expanded upon in the novel "Driving on the Rim". "The Casserole" is brief but effective. One of my favorites is "A Man in Louisiana", where a guy learns a lesson when being sent to go buy a dog. "Motherlode" is a grim tale of what can happen to you if you go along with things you don't or won't understand. In "Crow Fair", two brothers find out something about their mother that one of them didn't want to know, and how that affects their relationship. "Zombie" might be considered an homage to Flannery O'Connor; yep, that grim. But not all the stories are like that. McGuane has always had a knack for dialogue, and his women characters are believable, which I find rare in contemporary American fiction written by men. Why is that, I wonder?
This book is best taken in small doses. That way the stories will stay with you for a while. But be warned: contemplating their messages might make you a bit uneasy. More like four and one half stars, I believe.
Most of McGuane's stories take place in Montana, where he lives. Although you might think that his characters might be the typical suspects, i.e. ranchers and small town dwellers in sometimes picaresque tales full of Big Sky wonders, in fact they represent a wide range of professions. But there is something indefinable about their "Westernness" and how it informs their reactions to the sorts of problems you might face in life. There's plenty of damaged people here; sometimes it's because of bad parenting, unfortunate incidents, poor choices; but often it's just their own fault, missing the warning signs. And that can result in disastrous outcomes for the protagonists.
The story "Tango" was later expanded upon in the novel "Driving on the Rim". "The Casserole" is brief but effective. One of my favorites is "A Man in Louisiana", where a guy learns a lesson when being sent to go buy a dog. "Motherlode" is a grim tale of what can happen to you if you go along with things you don't or won't understand. In "Crow Fair", two brothers find out something about their mother that one of them didn't want to know, and how that affects their relationship. "Zombie" might be considered an homage to Flannery O'Connor; yep, that grim. But not all the stories are like that. McGuane has always had a knack for dialogue, and his women characters are believable, which I find rare in contemporary American fiction written by men. Why is that, I wonder?
This book is best taken in small doses. That way the stories will stay with you for a while. But be warned: contemplating their messages might make you a bit uneasy. More like four and one half stars, I believe.
March 31, 2019
Having enjoyed "The Bushwhacked Piano" years ago, I had high expectations for this recent collection of short stories by Thomas McGuane. And was not disappointed. While there is much to credit his expertise in the lingo of sailing to cattle punching, am especially enthralled by his crisp, concise prose and storytelling where the endings similarly pull the rug out from under your feet, most spectacularly, and frequently so, in the final paragraph, if not the last sentence...word. The finality of death, intertwined with the happenstance of fate in the face of flawed character, is made all the more manifest by struggles that include failing careers, failed marriages, the recurring inevitable brain wrecks of alcoholism and dementia...and, well, the speed bumps, detours, and dangers around the bend of washed-out bridges we summarily write-off as "that's just life," and which we either ignore, or fail to see coming until it's too late. Yet, before dismissing these storylines as altogether depressing, McGuane's humor frames each episode so that you become darkly amused and feeling not the least-bit guilty at the afflicted characters' expense. In truth, there are few writers of McGuane's caliber that I have read where I can say as much: "I like the way his mind works." Will be snatching up more of his books as my "go-to" author in contemporary fiction. Definitely.
amused
amused
March 28, 2020
Blowing through the best stories from three collections (one each from the '80s, '00s, and '10s) is so consistently astonishing in its depth of true weirdos that populate his world that you'd think McGuane was unstoppable until a couple duds among the newly collected that cap off the collection. That being said, his stories get progressively calmer but exponentially stronger as the years pass (and a handful of the newly collected are among the collection's finest).
His early stories are a little goofier (even if comic goofiness remains one of McGuane's fortes), with highlights like "Dogs" that shows McGuane's consistent portrayal of an absurd world navigating the relationship with a real weirdo. Later stories somehow are able to move between inane "corporate" types and ranch-dwellers to show the similar futility of keeping things under control (see the wholly apt epitaph from fellow short story writer Peter Taylor: "The world is still changing, preparing people for one thing and giving them another").
Favorites:
"Dogs"
"Cowboy"
"Gallatin Canyon"
"The House on Sand Creek"
"Prairie Girl"
"Crow Fair"
"Tango"
"Kangaroo"
"Viking Burial"
His early stories are a little goofier (even if comic goofiness remains one of McGuane's fortes), with highlights like "Dogs" that shows McGuane's consistent portrayal of an absurd world navigating the relationship with a real weirdo. Later stories somehow are able to move between inane "corporate" types and ranch-dwellers to show the similar futility of keeping things under control (see the wholly apt epitaph from fellow short story writer Peter Taylor: "The world is still changing, preparing people for one thing and giving them another").
Favorites:
"Dogs"
"Cowboy"
"Gallatin Canyon"
"The House on Sand Creek"
"Prairie Girl"
"Crow Fair"
"Tango"
"Kangaroo"
"Viking Burial"
July 27, 2018
I simply prefer McGuane's novels where he has room to roam, particularly the early novels with their manic prose. He still knows how to tell a story, Lord knows. But you don't need me to tell you that.
January 25, 2019
Couldn't really get into it. Maybe it was the style or how whatever plot was there was written. It just wasn't for me.
April 4, 2022
WADE’S PICK
Book Club discussion in Dundee. Wine Tasting at Patricia Green Cellars—a lovely spot with great Pinots. Lamb chops on the grill, and flamingo napkin holders. Everyone enjoyed the stories; of course, some more than others. We picked our 5 favorites and discussed from there.
Kathy: 4.25 stars
1. Crow Fair
2. River Camp
3. Miracle Boy
4. Like a Leaf
5. Casserole
From Prairie Girl: “They set out in the middle of June, in Mary’s big Lincoln, heading for the great, nearly empty stretches of northern Montana, where underpopulated counties would deny the government’s right to tax them, attempt to secede from the Union, and issue their own money in the form of scrip. Some radicalized soothsayer would arise—a crop duster, a diesel mechanic, a gunsmith—then fade away, and the region would go back to sparse agriculture, a cow every hundred acres, a trailer house with a basketball backboard and a muddy truck. Minds spun in the solitude” p. 371
Doug: 4.0 stars
1. Man in Louisiana
2. Flight
3. Casserole
4. Canyon Ferry
5. Kangaroo
From Miracle Boy: “Yes, yes, it was. They slam into the old ladies to get the purses. We get a lot of broken hips, nice old ladies who might not walk again. When we catch the snatcher we take him up the alley and give him the same, couple shots with a paver” p. 181
Betsy: 3.5 stars
1. Flight
2. Canyon Ferry
3. Casserole
4. Lake Story
5. Driver
From An Old Man Who Liked to Fish: “Edward wasn’t seen again. That’s not quite accurate: his body turned up, what was left of it, in a city park in Billings, on the banks of the Yellowstone. It had gone down the West Fork of the Boulder; down the Boulder to the Yellowstone, past the town Captain Clark had named Big Timber for the cottonwoods on the banks; down the Yellowstone through step towns, cow towns, refinery towns; and finally to Two Moon Park in Billings, where it was found by a homeless man, Eldon Pomfret of Magnolia Sprints, Alabama. In a sense, Edward had gotten off easy” p. 361
Wade: 4.7 stars
1. Like a Leaf
2. The Refuge
3. Miracle Boy
4. Crow Fair
5. Flight “When we came out of the low ground, there seemed no end to the country before us: a great wide prairie with contours as unquestionable as the sea. There were buttes pried up from its surface and yawning coulees with streaks of brush where the springs were. We had to abandon logic to stop and leave the truck behind. Dan beamed and said, “Here’s the spot for a big nap.” The remark startled me” p. 81
Book Club discussion in Dundee. Wine Tasting at Patricia Green Cellars—a lovely spot with great Pinots. Lamb chops on the grill, and flamingo napkin holders. Everyone enjoyed the stories; of course, some more than others. We picked our 5 favorites and discussed from there.
Kathy: 4.25 stars
1. Crow Fair
2. River Camp
3. Miracle Boy
4. Like a Leaf
5. Casserole
From Prairie Girl: “They set out in the middle of June, in Mary’s big Lincoln, heading for the great, nearly empty stretches of northern Montana, where underpopulated counties would deny the government’s right to tax them, attempt to secede from the Union, and issue their own money in the form of scrip. Some radicalized soothsayer would arise—a crop duster, a diesel mechanic, a gunsmith—then fade away, and the region would go back to sparse agriculture, a cow every hundred acres, a trailer house with a basketball backboard and a muddy truck. Minds spun in the solitude” p. 371
Doug: 4.0 stars
1. Man in Louisiana
2. Flight
3. Casserole
4. Canyon Ferry
5. Kangaroo
From Miracle Boy: “Yes, yes, it was. They slam into the old ladies to get the purses. We get a lot of broken hips, nice old ladies who might not walk again. When we catch the snatcher we take him up the alley and give him the same, couple shots with a paver” p. 181
Betsy: 3.5 stars
1. Flight
2. Canyon Ferry
3. Casserole
4. Lake Story
5. Driver
From An Old Man Who Liked to Fish: “Edward wasn’t seen again. That’s not quite accurate: his body turned up, what was left of it, in a city park in Billings, on the banks of the Yellowstone. It had gone down the West Fork of the Boulder; down the Boulder to the Yellowstone, past the town Captain Clark had named Big Timber for the cottonwoods on the banks; down the Yellowstone through step towns, cow towns, refinery towns; and finally to Two Moon Park in Billings, where it was found by a homeless man, Eldon Pomfret of Magnolia Sprints, Alabama. In a sense, Edward had gotten off easy” p. 361
Wade: 4.7 stars
1. Like a Leaf
2. The Refuge
3. Miracle Boy
4. Crow Fair
5. Flight “When we came out of the low ground, there seemed no end to the country before us: a great wide prairie with contours as unquestionable as the sea. There were buttes pried up from its surface and yawning coulees with streaks of brush where the springs were. We had to abandon logic to stop and leave the truck behind. Dan beamed and said, “Here’s the spot for a big nap.” The remark startled me” p. 81
May 1, 2022
A mostly well written collection of 45 from a lifetime of short story writing, read one or two at a time over 10 weeks. McGuane writes about Key West, rural Michigan, and Montana for the most part, with varying degrees of success, as some well visited subject matter does not hit and others take on a predictable format.
The best of the lot - Vicious Circle
You go on an afternoon date with a girl out west. She has too much to drink and you drop her off at her dad's house. Later, you get bitten by a snake and invited to the girl's wedding, after she may or may not have administered the anti-venom in the local hospital. The plot does not make a ton of sense, but the characters are very well drawn and the story flows so well.
#2 - the middle 2/3 of The Refugee
Drunkenness rarely makes for good fiction, but it does here as divorced guy who runs an orange orchard has a few and takes his boat out. Cook some fish, get sick, get in a storm, run aground on a Caribbean island you're not really sure of, meet an academic working as a housekeeper whose employers introduce as their slave. See the boat go away and get put to work. Why not? Hard to say why this story works, but it does.
Other good ones -
Canyon Ferry - the sadness of losing a child's affection after divorce, told through an ice fishing attempt with a storm coming on
Lake Story - Long term infidelity, a nice lunch ruined, and the problems of information asymmetry when making decisions
The Good Samaritan - Though you could see the plot repetition in Tango and the overuse of the device that hits the reader over the head with foreboding on page 2, this was a pretty neat con artist tale against the backdrop of family dysfunction
Mediocrity -
None of the stories about the author's boyhood in the woods of the upper Midwest were good
Over the top -
Motherlode and Kangaroo
Total crap -
Crowfair - dumb as hell story of sibling rivalry and tricking an old mother with dementia
Papaya - cringey and predictable new yorker story written for an audience that does. not. want. their biases challenged
Miracle Boy - slow and pointless funeral piece
Overall, the best 1/3 of these 45 tales together would have garnered 4 stars, but the full piece gets 3.
The best of the lot - Vicious Circle
You go on an afternoon date with a girl out west. She has too much to drink and you drop her off at her dad's house. Later, you get bitten by a snake and invited to the girl's wedding, after she may or may not have administered the anti-venom in the local hospital. The plot does not make a ton of sense, but the characters are very well drawn and the story flows so well.
#2 - the middle 2/3 of The Refugee
Drunkenness rarely makes for good fiction, but it does here as divorced guy who runs an orange orchard has a few and takes his boat out. Cook some fish, get sick, get in a storm, run aground on a Caribbean island you're not really sure of, meet an academic working as a housekeeper whose employers introduce as their slave. See the boat go away and get put to work. Why not? Hard to say why this story works, but it does.
Other good ones -
Canyon Ferry - the sadness of losing a child's affection after divorce, told through an ice fishing attempt with a storm coming on
Lake Story - Long term infidelity, a nice lunch ruined, and the problems of information asymmetry when making decisions
The Good Samaritan - Though you could see the plot repetition in Tango and the overuse of the device that hits the reader over the head with foreboding on page 2, this was a pretty neat con artist tale against the backdrop of family dysfunction
Mediocrity -
None of the stories about the author's boyhood in the woods of the upper Midwest were good
Over the top -
Motherlode and Kangaroo
Total crap -
Crowfair - dumb as hell story of sibling rivalry and tricking an old mother with dementia
Papaya - cringey and predictable new yorker story written for an audience that does. not. want. their biases challenged
Miracle Boy - slow and pointless funeral piece
Overall, the best 1/3 of these 45 tales together would have garnered 4 stars, but the full piece gets 3.
December 23, 2018
The short story Riddle by Thomas McGuane was published in the respectable magazine The New Yorker. The audio of the story was recorded for the rubric 'The Writer's Voice'.
The title 'Riddle' is very suitable for this story. The idea of this narration is not clear. The author described a sequence of events which occurred to him. He recollected the time of being in a small American town. The narrator witnessed there a scene of meeting the old man and the boy when the boy called out to the old man “Jack! Hey, Jack!,”. The author wrote, "I don't know if I can put my finger on it after all this time, but the excitement or joy, or whatever it was that these two experienced when they saw each other, has never left me.".
Next part of the story took place in that town many years later. The narrator saw an arguing man and woman. He went out from his car, his car was stolen, and another woman drove him to town. He had a conversation with this woman and in the police station. Ooh! So many actions which were not coherent!
After reading this story, I tried to find on the Internet the comments about the plot of this story. Other readers appreciated the literary style but they also faced the riddle of the main idea of this story. The vivid descriptions of everyday routine and the mystery of vague meaning made this story quite memorable.
This is the link to the story.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
The title 'Riddle' is very suitable for this story. The idea of this narration is not clear. The author described a sequence of events which occurred to him. He recollected the time of being in a small American town. The narrator witnessed there a scene of meeting the old man and the boy when the boy called out to the old man “Jack! Hey, Jack!,”. The author wrote, "I don't know if I can put my finger on it after all this time, but the excitement or joy, or whatever it was that these two experienced when they saw each other, has never left me.".
Next part of the story took place in that town many years later. The narrator saw an arguing man and woman. He went out from his car, his car was stolen, and another woman drove him to town. He had a conversation with this woman and in the police station. Ooh! So many actions which were not coherent!
After reading this story, I tried to find on the Internet the comments about the plot of this story. Other readers appreciated the literary style but they also faced the riddle of the main idea of this story. The vivid descriptions of everyday routine and the mystery of vague meaning made this story quite memorable.
This is the link to the story.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
February 12, 2023
I really thought I liked Thomas McGuane's stories, seeing them frequently in The New Yorker over the years. After spending three consecutive 21-day library check-out cycles to get through this, I am really really over him.
Sure, this was a self-inflicted wound on my part - this is a huge book, with just way way too many stories, and I decided to read the whole thing (slowly) despite finding it less and less enjoyable. I could have stopped and somehow preserved my appreciation when the next New Yorker story appeared in my subscription. But I decided to press on.
Lots of short story collections are mixed bags, but the proportion here of stories that took me somewhere that I felt excited about was exceptionally low.
One of his notable qualities is setting the story deeply within the work of: horse wrangling, boat fisherman, dog breeding - and using exceptionally specific language to describe the tasks, the objections, the qualities, it's sort of interesting and impenetrable at the same time.
Each story (it seems) also includes some word that the most well-read of us probably have never heard before. Thank you, Kindle, for a one-press lookup for those odd words, I do like learning a new word, I think it's cool that authors are creative and expansive with language.
Few of these stories ended in an interesting place, many of them seemed like it was just time for him to stop writing and then whoops, we're done.
Sure, this was a self-inflicted wound on my part - this is a huge book, with just way way too many stories, and I decided to read the whole thing (slowly) despite finding it less and less enjoyable. I could have stopped and somehow preserved my appreciation when the next New Yorker story appeared in my subscription. But I decided to press on.
Lots of short story collections are mixed bags, but the proportion here of stories that took me somewhere that I felt excited about was exceptionally low.
One of his notable qualities is setting the story deeply within the work of: horse wrangling, boat fisherman, dog breeding - and using exceptionally specific language to describe the tasks, the objections, the qualities, it's sort of interesting and impenetrable at the same time.
Each story (it seems) also includes some word that the most well-read of us probably have never heard before. Thank you, Kindle, for a one-press lookup for those odd words, I do like learning a new word, I think it's cool that authors are creative and expansive with language.
Few of these stories ended in an interesting place, many of them seemed like it was just time for him to stop writing and then whoops, we're done.
January 6, 2025
This is a 530 page collection of short stories, and man it seemed longer than that. I enjoyed many of these stories, one or two at a time, and there were a few stories I had to skip because I just couldn’t get into them. After a while it seemed like many of the characters were the same, and I was glad to finally finish, although it ended with a few real nice ones.
It’s hard to judge a collection by the whole; there were plenty of 5 star stories, and a few 2 star ones as well. I would be hard pressed to say there were any 1 stars since McGuane is such a great writer. If you flip to a random story, chances are, you’ll enjoy it and it's in the 4 star range. And maybe it's my fault for going headfirst into this behemoth with other expectations.
A nice book to have on your shelf, a tough one to rent from your library and try to slough through like I did.
It’s hard to judge a collection by the whole; there were plenty of 5 star stories, and a few 2 star ones as well. I would be hard pressed to say there were any 1 stars since McGuane is such a great writer. If you flip to a random story, chances are, you’ll enjoy it and it's in the 4 star range. And maybe it's my fault for going headfirst into this behemoth with other expectations.
A nice book to have on your shelf, a tough one to rent from your library and try to slough through like I did.
June 22, 2020
I didn't finish it. The only reason I'm giving it a 2 is one or two stories actually had some resonance with me, for instance, two friends go hunting, his friend tells the narrator he's terminally ill, and goes over a hill and shoots himself. Several stories rating a 1 had me saying "And?" upon completing it, for instance the man who goes to a party at a doctor's house, insults everyone, and leaves with the doctor's dog. The narrator retrieves the dog. Later the guy who insulted everyone becomes ill and is treated by the doctor. And? A few I'd give a zero to are written in a cowboy/rancher lingo that had me wishing for a cowboy-English dictionary. I had no idea what the author was writing about. I would have been better off with a French novel; at least I could have referred to a dictionary when I happened on a word I didn't know. I went riding with my grand daughter (13) yesterday and told her about these cowboy stories. She said she began reading one about dragons with dialogue in dragonese and she put it aside. I thought, good strategy, there are too many unread good books out there to keep reading Cloudbursts.
April 25, 2018
With the death of Jim Harrison, McGuane is maybe the last great American writer not only of the west (and other frontiers) but of a certain type of masculinity that is both competent (especially with tasks like shooting, fishing or sailing) yet also vulnerable and fractured. Like the Hemingway of the short stories in other words but as if Nick Adams grew up and became a divorced car dealer or rancher somewhere out in small town Montana. He’s also good on losers and misfits. Several of the new stories focus on being a boy growing up and being afraid and lost. Some of these stories are set in the late 50s and early 60s. I remember the vogue for civil war caps that comes up a couple of times.
March 8, 2020
I had never heard of McGuane until I saw this book reviewed in a newspaper. So I bought it based on the rave reviews. And let me tell you, this man can write. Spectacular writing, and his stories are utterly amazing. But I struggled with this book nonetheless. Some of the stories were so dark that they really made me feel deep sadness. His writing is that impactful. After I finished one of those particularly dark stories, I'd have to put the book down for a few days and read something else. That is the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars. But I will read more of his writing for sure.
March 19, 2025
McGuane is a good writer with a lot of attention to detail especially in the stories about cowboying and sailing. My favorite, and the reason I bought the book was the story called “Cowboy”, but the bulk of the stories were about inconsequential people living undirected, aimless, wasted lives, just without any hope or meaning. Many of them just left me flat. Ok. Why did I just read that? And it just left me hanging. Many were just vignettes into peoples lives where nothing happened and nothing was resolved. I think I need something a little more uplifting.
September 13, 2019
I like TM’s stories almost as much as his novels. I hadn’t read a number of the early ones included here, which I was surprised to find remind me of John Updike. After much agonizing I decided to put this aside for awhile after about 300 pages. Too many stories to consume at one time plus I have already read a number of them in other collections.
November 6, 2022
You'll find no better prose stylist than Thomas McGuane. With these stories and his other works I often reread passages--reread whole stories and books--for their wit, poignancy, irony, emotional depth, unforgettable characters, and pure grace. His novels, short stories, essays, and screenplays have given me unwavering reading pleasure for nearly 50 years.
November 21, 2019
These short stories are a collection of miasma in the lives of alcoholics, mentally unstable, and adults who have had damaged childhoods. I couldn’t look away. They mostly ended as you would expect with a kernel of hope.
January 2, 2020
Old white men can still write. A wonderful set of stories set largely in his later years but still in the environment of the west he must know so well. He's got an easy style that is comfortable and solid. Very glad I read this.
August 16, 2024
Reads like something my dad ordered after listening to the MeatEater podcast and then kept by his old fly tying station (probably because it’s something my dad ordered after listening to the MeatEater podcast and then kept by his old fly tying station).
December 15, 2025
3.5 stars. I enjoyed the short story former quite a bit. However, I felt emotionally weary finishing nearly all of these stories. Most all were set in the PNW, Mountain West, or Florida. Very few were uplifting. All in all, a great study of the creativity and flexibility of a short story.
January 28, 2026
I’d give this a 4.5 if goodreads would let me. The stories are either sone of the greatest Americana you’ve ever read, or reflections of the authors interactions with past wives. Probably some interactions real and others imagined.
April 1, 2018
one of our greatest american writers. his novels are very very good and the short stories are simply great. like chekhov, mcguane is a master of humor and irony marked by concision. so good.
April 4, 2018
Wonderful.
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