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Tiny Love: The Complete Stories
"Larry Brown wrote the way the best singers with honesty, grit, and the kind of raw emotion that stabs you right in the heart. He was a singular American treasure." —Tim McGraw
A career-spanning collection, Tiny Love brings together for the first time the stories of Larry Brown’s previous collections along with those never before gathered. The self-taught Brown has long had a cult following, and this collection comes with an intimate and heartfelt appreciation by novelist Jonathan Miles. We see Brown's early forays into genre fiction and the horror story, then develop his fictional gaze closer to home, on the people and landscapes of Lafayette County, Mississippi. And what’s astonishing here is the odyssey these stories Brown’s self-education as a writer and the incredible artistic journey he navigated from “Plant Growin’ Problems” to “A Roadside Resurrection.” This is the whole of Larry Brown, the arc laid bare, both an amazing story collection and the fullest portrait we’ll see of one of the South’s most singular artists.
A career-spanning collection, Tiny Love brings together for the first time the stories of Larry Brown’s previous collections along with those never before gathered. The self-taught Brown has long had a cult following, and this collection comes with an intimate and heartfelt appreciation by novelist Jonathan Miles. We see Brown's early forays into genre fiction and the horror story, then develop his fictional gaze closer to home, on the people and landscapes of Lafayette County, Mississippi. And what’s astonishing here is the odyssey these stories Brown’s self-education as a writer and the incredible artistic journey he navigated from “Plant Growin’ Problems” to “A Roadside Resurrection.” This is the whole of Larry Brown, the arc laid bare, both an amazing story collection and the fullest portrait we’ll see of one of the South’s most singular artists.
480 pages, Paperback
First published November 26, 2019
93 people are currently reading
1809 people want to read
About the author
Larry Brown
73 books653 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Larry Brown was an American writer who was born and lived in Oxford, Mississippi. Brown wrote fiction and nonfiction. He graduated from high school in Oxford but did not go to college. Many years later, he took a creative writing class from the Mississippi novelist Ellen Douglas. Brown served in the United States Marine Corps from 1970 to 1972. On his return to Oxford, he worked at a small stove company before joining the city fire department. An avid reader, Brown began writing in his spare time while he worked as a firefighter in Oxford in 1980.
Brown was awarded the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for fiction. Brown was the first two-time winner of the Southern Book Award for Fiction, which he won in 1992 for his novel, Joe and again in 1997 for his novel Father and Son. In 1998, he received a Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Award, which granted him $35,000 per year for three years to write. In 2000, the State of Mississippi granted him a Governor's Award For Excellence in the Arts. For one semester, Brown taught as a writer-in-residence in the creative writing program at the University of Mississippi, temporarily taking over the position held by his friend Barry Hannah. He later served as visiting writer at the University of Montana in Missoula. He taught briefly at other colleges throughout the United States.
Brown died of an apparent heart attack at his home in the Yocona community, near Oxford, in November 2004.
Larry Brown was an American writer who was born and lived in Oxford, Mississippi. Brown wrote fiction and nonfiction. He graduated from high school in Oxford but did not go to college. Many years later, he took a creative writing class from the Mississippi novelist Ellen Douglas. Brown served in the United States Marine Corps from 1970 to 1972. On his return to Oxford, he worked at a small stove company before joining the city fire department. An avid reader, Brown began writing in his spare time while he worked as a firefighter in Oxford in 1980.
Brown was awarded the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for fiction. Brown was the first two-time winner of the Southern Book Award for Fiction, which he won in 1992 for his novel, Joe and again in 1997 for his novel Father and Son. In 1998, he received a Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Award, which granted him $35,000 per year for three years to write. In 2000, the State of Mississippi granted him a Governor's Award For Excellence in the Arts. For one semester, Brown taught as a writer-in-residence in the creative writing program at the University of Mississippi, temporarily taking over the position held by his friend Barry Hannah. He later served as visiting writer at the University of Montana in Missoula. He taught briefly at other colleges throughout the United States.
Brown died of an apparent heart attack at his home in the Yocona community, near Oxford, in November 2004.
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May 9, 2022Having read four novels by Larry Brown and loving every one of them, I couldn't wait to sink my fangs into this collection of his short stories. I was unable to find the magic with these stories, and have decided against continuing with it. I'm too old and cranky to spend any more valuable reading time on something that I am not enjoying. And I don't have to, because I am big.
August 28, 2019
Larry Brown is one of my favorite authors so I was delighted to win this book in a Goodreads giveaway. It’s a great collection—there were only two stories that didn’t appeal to me—all the others were standard Larry Brown perfection. Brown wrote about ordinary people and places but the overall effect is transcendent. Highly recommend this book.
December 17, 2021
Since my wife and I are both avid readers (you could say her more than me as I get distracted by music most days), we tend to like to take trips outside of our area to visit independent bookstores. Recently, we headed in the direction of Oxford, MS and visited Square Books. As it sits on the edge of a city square, it makes you envisage a small city bustling and teeming with the locals on a mid-20th century Saturday afternoon. Luckily, as Oxford also houses a university close by, the football team was playing an away game, so the bustling was to a minimum and we were able to peruse to our delight; as we were headed out after spending quite some time there, I picked this up seeing as I've read two other novels of his and gave them a hefty 5 stars without thought.
Larry Brown was based out of the same town listed above. Serving in the US Marine Corp and later employed as a firefighter for many years, he picked up writing as a hobby. After sending out story after story to a myriad of publishing companies, the editor at Algonquin Books gave him a shot and the rest is history.
Tiny Love is comprised of his complete stories: two short story books "Facing the Music" and "Big Bad Love" along with a mixture of random others that were published elsewhere. The majority of his work focuses on home life. In Larry's mind, it's rarely fun being married and life is never happy. His characters are generally misogynistic, recovered or full-blown drunks, and cynical at best, perhaps typical of the people he grew up around and how life was there in Oxford. He tended to write about what he knew best and that's usually a good quality in a writer.
I'm giving this 3 stars. The stories all together can be a little similar and after reading a few here and there, you start to want to hop on to another one. If I were to read a few of these individually over a long stretch of time, I'd probably enjoy them more.
Standouts:
Old Frank and Jesus
Julie: A Memory (an experimental story which was unlike any I've ever read)
Tiny Love
92 Days (snippets of autobiography in this one)
A Roadside Resurrection
If you get a chance, take a trip to Square Books. Let's keep these independent bookstores alive.
Larry Brown was based out of the same town listed above. Serving in the US Marine Corp and later employed as a firefighter for many years, he picked up writing as a hobby. After sending out story after story to a myriad of publishing companies, the editor at Algonquin Books gave him a shot and the rest is history.
Tiny Love is comprised of his complete stories: two short story books "Facing the Music" and "Big Bad Love" along with a mixture of random others that were published elsewhere. The majority of his work focuses on home life. In Larry's mind, it's rarely fun being married and life is never happy. His characters are generally misogynistic, recovered or full-blown drunks, and cynical at best, perhaps typical of the people he grew up around and how life was there in Oxford. He tended to write about what he knew best and that's usually a good quality in a writer.
I'm giving this 3 stars. The stories all together can be a little similar and after reading a few here and there, you start to want to hop on to another one. If I were to read a few of these individually over a long stretch of time, I'd probably enjoy them more.
Standouts:
Old Frank and Jesus
Julie: A Memory (an experimental story which was unlike any I've ever read)
Tiny Love
92 Days (snippets of autobiography in this one)
A Roadside Resurrection
If you get a chance, take a trip to Square Books. Let's keep these independent bookstores alive.
June 25, 2020
I have not quite finished this but wanted to start writing about these stories. I have heard quite a bit about Larry Brown in the last six months. Everything I have heard is not enough. What a talent. What a writer. Unfortunately he is gone, way to soon, he came to writing late and left it too early. But what a gift he had.
Even the foreword in this book is special. Jonathan Miles writes movingly about his admiration for his mentor and tells us of the authors odd path to success.
The stories begin with his first published story “ Plant Growin’ Problems.” ( In the forward we are told of Brown’s Mother appearing at the local newsstand asking for the motorcycle magazine “ Easyriders” in which it appeared ) This story describes the battle between a greasy man growing pot on public forest land and a Sheriff who conspires to catch him.
In the very brief horror story “ Nightmare” we read about a man who wakes up and sees himself surrounded by dead beings and spirits. When he hears his loved ones crying above him he realizes where he is
“ Facing the Music “ follows a man as he lays in bed watching an old Ray Miland movie and trying to dodge his wife’s advances without making her cry.
“ Kubuku Rides ( This is It ) is told one a dialect of sorts ( perhaps illiterate of sorts ). A woman tells of her drinking problem. Her inability to hide it from her husband and his anger and eventual sad acceptance of it.
“ The Rich “ is narrated by Frank, a small town travel agent. He describes what he imagines “ the rich “ think about and how they live, in sharp contrast to his life.
“ Old Frank and Jesus “ is an absolute gem. A middle aged man, a farmer, a husband, a Father is school age children, he cannot get up off the couch this morning. He is beyond caring. As he contemplates his life, his sick cow in the barn, his cows loose due to a knockdown fence, his wife who, concerned about a rabies outbreak, made him shoot his dog Frank. He thinks about Jesus. He thinks about the gun he borrowed from a neighbor to shoot “ Rats “. That gun is under the couch he lays on.
“ A Boy and His Dog” is another incredible creation. Toying with words it is almost 300 five sentence words that follows a series of unintended consequences in a small town. Brilliant
“ Julie : A Memory “ : An even more experimental work, this one is not easy. It took me a couple of attempts to get the flow. A mixed up fever dream the story tells at least three distinct timelines, but there are other events mixed in. The sentences go from one event to another. Sex, young love, rape and murder. This is a violent, dark story but the form is special.
“ Samaritans “ A man tells his story of an interaction with a boy, and eventually, his whole family crammed into a broken down car, in a broiling hot car in a dusty bars parking lot.
In “ Night Life “ we are given another vision with a surprising twist. A man, a mechanic, an ex con, is hit on at the local bar by a woman who , by physical appearance, he deems out of his league. On two consecutive occasions she enjoys his advances until she chickens out. She is married. Well, separated. Finally she calls and invites him to her house. It ends up a mansion, two beautiful small children. When she tells him it’s time to go he realizes she intends to, and has been, leaving those children home alone. He is very upset by this.
“ Leaving Town “: A man, a jack of all trades laborer takes a job to do some work on a middle aged woman’s house. Her ex husband had been abusive. She and he talk more than he ya comfortable with and she attacks him sexually. He leaves. His girlfriend is lazy, uneducated, a terrible Mother to her ( not his ) child. He loves the child though, who is disabled, a problem with her legs. After not returning to finish the job at the woman’s house ( she is old enough to be his Mother ) he eventually leaves his girlfriend in the middle of the night while she sleeps. He does not think she will be upset that he takes the girl.
“ The End of Romance “ is narrated by a fellow who feels his relationship is over or about to be. Yet she continually pulls him back. When he witnesses an attempted robbery at a convenience store and the police show up angry and loaded the story ends with him pointing at her, waiting in the car, as the culprit
“ The Crying “ is a simpler, not quite as effective story. In it a man likes to hunt on a lot he and his friends lease. One day they both hear a noise, a crying. Much searching uncovers nothing. He is driven to return by himself and keep looking, he has a premonition of what he will find, and eventually he does, the skeleton of a hunter from decades ago who never returned home one night.
“ And Another Thing “ follows a plumber who received a call just before five o clock. He bears audible witness to a tremendous argument between a couple as he works under the house on a stopped up toilet.
“ Tiny Love “ follows a small ( as in diminutive) man who works at a die casting plant. He has a mindless job placing metal in for casting and then subsequently removing it. It’s mindless but requires concentration as he has fellow employees missing fingers. He is desperately in love with his wife. She is on his mind a great deal. She is a large woman, she is infirm and Tiny babies her. She also is an alcoholic. Every night he brings her a half pint when he returns from work. Her day basically starts then and she is often up all night while he is ready for bed. When he holds the alcohol back per Doctor’s instruction she turns into an alleycat, yelling and screaming, biting and slashing. When he gives in, and Tiny always gives in, she then begins offering more and more extravagant sexuality. All of his struggles eventually lead to a totally predictable accident at work.
“ A Birthday Party “ follows a forty year old man, a writer, an apparently functioning alcoholic, who is celebrating a lonely birthday in a local bar
“ Falling Out of Love “ is a gem of a story. A man is out with his girlfriend Sheena. She rocks his world physically but he feels the love skipping away, if it has not already left. They are out driving around one afternoon( Brown’s characters do quite a bit of aimless driving ) enjoying a cold drink or two when they end up with two flat tires. After an argument Sheena takes off walking. Our man contemplated her beauty walking away, drinks a couple more and, eventually decided if he goes slow he can drive the car. When he overtakes Sheena some miles down the road she gets in and love returns. A love so forceful she pushes him out of the car onto the pavement where they lay in an embrace when the local law pulls up.
Brown wrote quite a bit about writing itself. The act of trying to get published. Writing, sending, waiting, rejection, revising, around and around. It took him years to get published. He, as the foreword said, did not come up through the Iowa workshop. He was a small town fireman who decided to try to write stories and stick with it longer than most anyone would have.
In “ The Apprentice “ we see some of his experience though he switches the roles and makes the writer a wife. He narrated through her husband who views her obsession
In “ Wild Thing “ a man, unhappy in his marriage, meets a woman looking for a time comes on to him. After two nights spent parking on a dirt road, both interrupted by police activity, she brings him to her house where her husband catches them.
“ Big Bad Love” is funny, crude and perfect. The story starts with a mans dog dying. It’s hot and he is no hurry to bury it. His wife won’t leave him alone. Her sex organ is like the Grand Canyon and he can’t fill it up. Lots of thinking and drinking on back roads doesn’t bring a solution nor does playing 14 Tom T Hall songs in a row on the jukebox.
“ Goldnuggets” is a little lesser of a story. A man spends an evening in a strip club.
“ Waiting For the Ladies “ A mans wife comes home crying from the dumpsters. Seems a man flashed her. He sets out to find him. He imagines a whole life for the flasher. Very funny language and reasoning as the time spent riding around looking for the man in the blue truck gives time for his doubts about his wife’s fidelity to slip in.
“ Old Soldiers” is the narrators recollection of an older man who ran a small store, a local older man he met at a bar one night and his own memories of his Father as they entwine in his mind.
“ Sleep “ seems undeveloped. A husband struggles with his wife’s insomnia and her need for him to check on noises in the night.
“ Discipline “ is a satire that does not quite work as well as it could. The exercise goes on too long for one. In it we have an author who as the story develops is in jail and is telling a story of the extreme punishment he suffered. It seems like he is charged with plagiarism of other Southern authors, if not phrases then at least in tired old tropes and themes.
“92 Days “ is another very memorable story. Long but worthy it is another narration of the struggling writer, always with stories going out, coming in , and always rejecting. Through the course the constant is his drinking but other challenges abound. An angry ex wife, alimony, a disabled toddler child who dies, a couple of drinking buddies killed in an accident, jail time for public drunkenness but through it all one editor gives him a lifeline of hope at a couple of times when he needs it most.
“ A Roadside Resurrection “ is more interesting than great as a story. Told in two different arcs that never connect. We have an itinerant faith healer who is kidnapped by a couple with a deranged inbred son locked in the cellar. While they look for a miracle he doubts he can provide another couple seeks him out as well. She is the third wife of a former Elvis impersonator. Said Elvis is now close to dying and awaits his passing by to find his miracle cure.
It’s quite possible these stories are not for everyone. They are a bit varied. But, those that work fully are some of the most memorable stories you will read.
Even the foreword in this book is special. Jonathan Miles writes movingly about his admiration for his mentor and tells us of the authors odd path to success.
The stories begin with his first published story “ Plant Growin’ Problems.” ( In the forward we are told of Brown’s Mother appearing at the local newsstand asking for the motorcycle magazine “ Easyriders” in which it appeared ) This story describes the battle between a greasy man growing pot on public forest land and a Sheriff who conspires to catch him.
In the very brief horror story “ Nightmare” we read about a man who wakes up and sees himself surrounded by dead beings and spirits. When he hears his loved ones crying above him he realizes where he is
“ Facing the Music “ follows a man as he lays in bed watching an old Ray Miland movie and trying to dodge his wife’s advances without making her cry.
“ Kubuku Rides ( This is It ) is told one a dialect of sorts ( perhaps illiterate of sorts ). A woman tells of her drinking problem. Her inability to hide it from her husband and his anger and eventual sad acceptance of it.
“ The Rich “ is narrated by Frank, a small town travel agent. He describes what he imagines “ the rich “ think about and how they live, in sharp contrast to his life.
“ Old Frank and Jesus “ is an absolute gem. A middle aged man, a farmer, a husband, a Father is school age children, he cannot get up off the couch this morning. He is beyond caring. As he contemplates his life, his sick cow in the barn, his cows loose due to a knockdown fence, his wife who, concerned about a rabies outbreak, made him shoot his dog Frank. He thinks about Jesus. He thinks about the gun he borrowed from a neighbor to shoot “ Rats “. That gun is under the couch he lays on.
“ A Boy and His Dog” is another incredible creation. Toying with words it is almost 300 five sentence words that follows a series of unintended consequences in a small town. Brilliant
“ Julie : A Memory “ : An even more experimental work, this one is not easy. It took me a couple of attempts to get the flow. A mixed up fever dream the story tells at least three distinct timelines, but there are other events mixed in. The sentences go from one event to another. Sex, young love, rape and murder. This is a violent, dark story but the form is special.
“ Samaritans “ A man tells his story of an interaction with a boy, and eventually, his whole family crammed into a broken down car, in a broiling hot car in a dusty bars parking lot.
In “ Night Life “ we are given another vision with a surprising twist. A man, a mechanic, an ex con, is hit on at the local bar by a woman who , by physical appearance, he deems out of his league. On two consecutive occasions she enjoys his advances until she chickens out. She is married. Well, separated. Finally she calls and invites him to her house. It ends up a mansion, two beautiful small children. When she tells him it’s time to go he realizes she intends to, and has been, leaving those children home alone. He is very upset by this.
“ Leaving Town “: A man, a jack of all trades laborer takes a job to do some work on a middle aged woman’s house. Her ex husband had been abusive. She and he talk more than he ya comfortable with and she attacks him sexually. He leaves. His girlfriend is lazy, uneducated, a terrible Mother to her ( not his ) child. He loves the child though, who is disabled, a problem with her legs. After not returning to finish the job at the woman’s house ( she is old enough to be his Mother ) he eventually leaves his girlfriend in the middle of the night while she sleeps. He does not think she will be upset that he takes the girl.
“ The End of Romance “ is narrated by a fellow who feels his relationship is over or about to be. Yet she continually pulls him back. When he witnesses an attempted robbery at a convenience store and the police show up angry and loaded the story ends with him pointing at her, waiting in the car, as the culprit
“ The Crying “ is a simpler, not quite as effective story. In it a man likes to hunt on a lot he and his friends lease. One day they both hear a noise, a crying. Much searching uncovers nothing. He is driven to return by himself and keep looking, he has a premonition of what he will find, and eventually he does, the skeleton of a hunter from decades ago who never returned home one night.
“ And Another Thing “ follows a plumber who received a call just before five o clock. He bears audible witness to a tremendous argument between a couple as he works under the house on a stopped up toilet.
“ Tiny Love “ follows a small ( as in diminutive) man who works at a die casting plant. He has a mindless job placing metal in for casting and then subsequently removing it. It’s mindless but requires concentration as he has fellow employees missing fingers. He is desperately in love with his wife. She is on his mind a great deal. She is a large woman, she is infirm and Tiny babies her. She also is an alcoholic. Every night he brings her a half pint when he returns from work. Her day basically starts then and she is often up all night while he is ready for bed. When he holds the alcohol back per Doctor’s instruction she turns into an alleycat, yelling and screaming, biting and slashing. When he gives in, and Tiny always gives in, she then begins offering more and more extravagant sexuality. All of his struggles eventually lead to a totally predictable accident at work.
“ A Birthday Party “ follows a forty year old man, a writer, an apparently functioning alcoholic, who is celebrating a lonely birthday in a local bar
“ Falling Out of Love “ is a gem of a story. A man is out with his girlfriend Sheena. She rocks his world physically but he feels the love skipping away, if it has not already left. They are out driving around one afternoon( Brown’s characters do quite a bit of aimless driving ) enjoying a cold drink or two when they end up with two flat tires. After an argument Sheena takes off walking. Our man contemplated her beauty walking away, drinks a couple more and, eventually decided if he goes slow he can drive the car. When he overtakes Sheena some miles down the road she gets in and love returns. A love so forceful she pushes him out of the car onto the pavement where they lay in an embrace when the local law pulls up.
Brown wrote quite a bit about writing itself. The act of trying to get published. Writing, sending, waiting, rejection, revising, around and around. It took him years to get published. He, as the foreword said, did not come up through the Iowa workshop. He was a small town fireman who decided to try to write stories and stick with it longer than most anyone would have.
In “ The Apprentice “ we see some of his experience though he switches the roles and makes the writer a wife. He narrated through her husband who views her obsession
In “ Wild Thing “ a man, unhappy in his marriage, meets a woman looking for a time comes on to him. After two nights spent parking on a dirt road, both interrupted by police activity, she brings him to her house where her husband catches them.
“ Big Bad Love” is funny, crude and perfect. The story starts with a mans dog dying. It’s hot and he is no hurry to bury it. His wife won’t leave him alone. Her sex organ is like the Grand Canyon and he can’t fill it up. Lots of thinking and drinking on back roads doesn’t bring a solution nor does playing 14 Tom T Hall songs in a row on the jukebox.
“ Goldnuggets” is a little lesser of a story. A man spends an evening in a strip club.
“ Waiting For the Ladies “ A mans wife comes home crying from the dumpsters. Seems a man flashed her. He sets out to find him. He imagines a whole life for the flasher. Very funny language and reasoning as the time spent riding around looking for the man in the blue truck gives time for his doubts about his wife’s fidelity to slip in.
“ Old Soldiers” is the narrators recollection of an older man who ran a small store, a local older man he met at a bar one night and his own memories of his Father as they entwine in his mind.
“ Sleep “ seems undeveloped. A husband struggles with his wife’s insomnia and her need for him to check on noises in the night.
“ Discipline “ is a satire that does not quite work as well as it could. The exercise goes on too long for one. In it we have an author who as the story develops is in jail and is telling a story of the extreme punishment he suffered. It seems like he is charged with plagiarism of other Southern authors, if not phrases then at least in tired old tropes and themes.
“92 Days “ is another very memorable story. Long but worthy it is another narration of the struggling writer, always with stories going out, coming in , and always rejecting. Through the course the constant is his drinking but other challenges abound. An angry ex wife, alimony, a disabled toddler child who dies, a couple of drinking buddies killed in an accident, jail time for public drunkenness but through it all one editor gives him a lifeline of hope at a couple of times when he needs it most.
“ A Roadside Resurrection “ is more interesting than great as a story. Told in two different arcs that never connect. We have an itinerant faith healer who is kidnapped by a couple with a deranged inbred son locked in the cellar. While they look for a miracle he doubts he can provide another couple seeks him out as well. She is the third wife of a former Elvis impersonator. Said Elvis is now close to dying and awaits his passing by to find his miracle cure.
It’s quite possible these stories are not for everyone. They are a bit varied. But, those that work fully are some of the most memorable stories you will read.
August 27, 2019
This was my first reading of the written works of Larry Brown. His stories have been described as “gritty” and “real”. I would definitely agree with those descriptions. My favorite stories in this collection are “Tiny Love”, “Sleep”, & “A Roadside Resurrection.” I do have to provide trigger warnings for racial slurs, sexism, & drunk driving. Many of the stories involve bars, driving drunk with a cooler of beer on the floorboard and picking up women. These stories may not be what I am used to reading, but there are elements of brilliance in the prose. #LibraryThingEarlyReviewer #AlgonquinBooks
January 7, 2020
Book Review- Tiny Love
By Larry Brown
Published as the complete stories this is a full display of the depth of Larry Brown, a writer “of the people” who died in his early 50s.
Brown lived in Oxford, Mississippi where he worked for the local Fire Department. Developing an interest in writing he became a master of the short story form.
His stories detail the lives of divorcees, working men, their children, their habits-good and bad, their dreams, despairs, sexual drives and the hum drum of daily life when living from paycheck to paycheck. He has a great knack capturing the dialogue and posture of his characters and, while their lives may demonstrate questionable judgement and misguided behaviors, he depicts them with deep respect and empathy. “There but for the grace of god” appears to be a guiding principle in his approach.
His first published story, Plant Growin’ Problems, is about a biker who escapes a drug bust and the sadistic sheriff who becomes a victim of his own making. In another tale, an older married couple are in bed watching Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend. The wife rubbing up against him while he remembers screwing another woman; “she turns the light off, and we reach each other in the darkness like people who are blind”.
A daytime bar scene, a loner drinking beer temporarily hooks up with a woman with a carful of kids she leaves behind to have a drink and tease him into sex and a loan. “Her name was Myra and I could smell whiskey on her breath” becomes a stand-in for several women, married or divorced, looking for love in all the wrong places.
In Leaving Town, a man reflects on his life: “your life goes by and if you spend it unhappy, what’s the point? If staying won’t make you happy, and leaving ruins somebody’s life, what’s the answer…She was miserable as I was.”. This dynamic sums up a few of the life situations Brown portrays; people trapped in lives that drain the joy and increase the pain.
Larry Brown easily reminds one of other great American writers: Harry Crews, Flannery O’Conner and Raymond Carver easily come to mind. Writers who depict the rural working-class America that still exists today.
By Larry Brown
Published as the complete stories this is a full display of the depth of Larry Brown, a writer “of the people” who died in his early 50s.
Brown lived in Oxford, Mississippi where he worked for the local Fire Department. Developing an interest in writing he became a master of the short story form.
His stories detail the lives of divorcees, working men, their children, their habits-good and bad, their dreams, despairs, sexual drives and the hum drum of daily life when living from paycheck to paycheck. He has a great knack capturing the dialogue and posture of his characters and, while their lives may demonstrate questionable judgement and misguided behaviors, he depicts them with deep respect and empathy. “There but for the grace of god” appears to be a guiding principle in his approach.
His first published story, Plant Growin’ Problems, is about a biker who escapes a drug bust and the sadistic sheriff who becomes a victim of his own making. In another tale, an older married couple are in bed watching Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend. The wife rubbing up against him while he remembers screwing another woman; “she turns the light off, and we reach each other in the darkness like people who are blind”.
A daytime bar scene, a loner drinking beer temporarily hooks up with a woman with a carful of kids she leaves behind to have a drink and tease him into sex and a loan. “Her name was Myra and I could smell whiskey on her breath” becomes a stand-in for several women, married or divorced, looking for love in all the wrong places.
In Leaving Town, a man reflects on his life: “your life goes by and if you spend it unhappy, what’s the point? If staying won’t make you happy, and leaving ruins somebody’s life, what’s the answer…She was miserable as I was.”. This dynamic sums up a few of the life situations Brown portrays; people trapped in lives that drain the joy and increase the pain.
Larry Brown easily reminds one of other great American writers: Harry Crews, Flannery O’Conner and Raymond Carver easily come to mind. Writers who depict the rural working-class America that still exists today.
May 4, 2020
This is Southern Lit®, but not quite as back-woodsy and smell-the-cornbready as some of it. 443 pages of stories. The first 203 pages are good, all 3 or 4 star stories. Stories about hick losers having women troubles, etc., but. . .it’s pretty obvious this guy read A LOT of Bukowski (one story, A Birthday Party, which starts on page 204, and begins the long long long stretch of crummy 1 and 2 star stories, reads like a bad imitation of bad Bukowski. In fact, it’s so bad, I wondered if it wasn’t really meant to be a satire). There’s a numbing sameness to the entire collection, which perhaps makes the last 240 pages seem worse than they really are. Page after page, story after story of the same flawed male character grabbing a hot beer and going for a ride in his pickup to think shit over. The hicks in these stories are so drunk and defeated and world weary, even Bukowski himself would tell them to put away the bottle. The first 203 pages, all the fun and heartbreak and craziness that lead to alcoholism, the last 240 pages, all the unending tedium of weeks, months, years of Alcoholics Anonymous confessions.
July 1, 2020
It's great to see all of Larry Brown's stories collected in one book, sixteen years after his untimely death. One of my all-time favorite writers, Brown's style is straight-ahead no BS--as funny as it is rough and as empathetic as it is ruthless. Some of my all-time faves are here: Boy and Dog (which looks like a long poem of short lines), Julie: A Memory (as strange as any Donald Barthelme story), Facing the Music (heartbreaking), a bounty of classic barroom follies (Wild Thing, Samaritans, Night Life), and the hilariously sadsack romance of the previously-uncollected title story. The foreword by Jonathan Miles is a pleasure and it's even an unexpected joy to finally read Brown's first-ever published short story, Plant Growin' Problems, a story that, after years of submitting stories to magazines, finally got his publishing career started (thank you, Easyriders Magazine). Long live the mighty fireman/literary underdog from small town Mississippi, Larry Brown.
July 26, 2020
Labeling Larry Brown as a "writer" doesn't quite capture the essence of his art. There are rhythms in his prose and beats in dialogues. In my opinion, Brown is something of blues musician and Tiny Love is a box set of his collected short stories.
These tales give a powerful insight into the human condition when your are up against the ropes, cracking open your last beer without enough money to buy another six pack, and what love you had previously found, took for granted, cherished, or abused is turning into a tormenting nemesis. The grit and despair of these tales is told with so much grace that even the darkest grotesque moments are able to drip tenderness that allows the reader to relate to those who are down and out.
Brown was a master, howling from the heart.
These tales give a powerful insight into the human condition when your are up against the ropes, cracking open your last beer without enough money to buy another six pack, and what love you had previously found, took for granted, cherished, or abused is turning into a tormenting nemesis. The grit and despair of these tales is told with so much grace that even the darkest grotesque moments are able to drip tenderness that allows the reader to relate to those who are down and out.
Brown was a master, howling from the heart.
October 2, 2020
“I was smoking my last cigarette in a bar one day, around the middle of the afternoon. I was drinking heavy, too, for several reasons. It was bright and hot outside, and cool and dark inside the bar, so that's one reason I was there. But the main reason I was in there was because my wife left me to go live with somebody else.”
“I loved nature and I felt nature loved me. Why else would they send those fireflies, and doves, and geese that honked like a pack of wild dogs howling down the sky?”
“I didn't know why something that started off feeling so good had to wind up feeling so bad. Love was a big word and it covered a lot of territory. You could spend your whole life chasing after it and wind up with nothing, be an old bitter guy with long nose hair and no teeth, hanging
out in bars looking for somebody your age, but the chance of success went down then. After awhile you got too many strikes against you.”
This was my introduction to Mr. Brown and what a fine place to start. This is all of Brown's stories collected in one volume. Yes, the majority of these southern-based stories involves the consumption of massive amounts of alcohol and the reckless behavior that trails along with it. Somehow, Brown makes it all work and I never tired of flipping the pages, as character after character, lands on his or her face. This are Brown's people and he knows and loves them deeply. Sadly, Brown died early, at age 53 but he sure left a helluva legacy.
“I loved nature and I felt nature loved me. Why else would they send those fireflies, and doves, and geese that honked like a pack of wild dogs howling down the sky?”
“I didn't know why something that started off feeling so good had to wind up feeling so bad. Love was a big word and it covered a lot of territory. You could spend your whole life chasing after it and wind up with nothing, be an old bitter guy with long nose hair and no teeth, hanging
out in bars looking for somebody your age, but the chance of success went down then. After awhile you got too many strikes against you.”
This was my introduction to Mr. Brown and what a fine place to start. This is all of Brown's stories collected in one volume. Yes, the majority of these southern-based stories involves the consumption of massive amounts of alcohol and the reckless behavior that trails along with it. Somehow, Brown makes it all work and I never tired of flipping the pages, as character after character, lands on his or her face. This are Brown's people and he knows and loves them deeply. Sadly, Brown died early, at age 53 but he sure left a helluva legacy.
February 8, 2025
Larry Brown’s short stories are a treasure.. his most common themes are the following: alcoholics, alcoholic wives, trying to hook up in bars, getting too drunk, dead dogs, veterans..
Some of my favorite stories were “Tiny Love,” about a little man who works a terrible job in a factory to bring alcohol home to his alcoholic, bed-ridden wife ..
Also loved “Old Soldiers,” about old school vets and their trouble adjusting to life after war, and how they can only bond with each other..
Funny, dry wit. Yes please
Some of my favorite stories were “Tiny Love,” about a little man who works a terrible job in a factory to bring alcohol home to his alcoholic, bed-ridden wife ..
Also loved “Old Soldiers,” about old school vets and their trouble adjusting to life after war, and how they can only bond with each other..
Funny, dry wit. Yes please
December 12, 2019
As Dwight Garner wrote, reading Larry Brown "may make you want to drink beer while driving slowly and looking at the world, in the late-afternoon light, while listening to music in the front seat of a pickup truck."
February 29, 2020
I picked this book up at a library sale for $3 and I'm glad I did, because on reading it I discovered that it is made up of all the stories published in 'Facing the Music' and 'Big Bad Love' (which I already have). There are about 6 other stories included, and for that I am glad. I still give this 5 stars, because whether reading or re-reading Larry Brown the writing is still exceptional. If you've not ever read his short stories I am sure you'll enjoy this compilation. For more familiar readers just be aware that you may have already 80% of this volume previously and enjoy the new material.
October 4, 2020
If I had to choose my favourite literary sub-genre, "realism written by authors doing working-class jobs to support their writing" would likely be it, not just for the aesthetic itself but for how fantastical it now seems that this was ever a maintainable lifestyle.
Larry Brown was a fireman with only a high school diploma, and in his own words: Nothing but desire, no talent, and a love of the written word. What's so fascinating about this collection is how visible his progression is - each story is a hell of a lot better than the previous one. There's a recurring theme of writing against the current of constant rejections and the moods that this creates, which makes it all the more amazing that he nevertheless made it.
Larry Brown was a fireman with only a high school diploma, and in his own words: Nothing but desire, no talent, and a love of the written word. What's so fascinating about this collection is how visible his progression is - each story is a hell of a lot better than the previous one. There's a recurring theme of writing against the current of constant rejections and the moods that this creates, which makes it all the more amazing that he nevertheless made it.
June 22, 2024
I abandoned this book because it was so disturbing. I had read such amazing things about Larry Brown that I thought I would love having this huge collection to enjoy. However, the stories in this collection were so dark and disturbing that I could not continue after the first six.
It is reassuring to learn that readers who are fond of this author also abandoned this book. Because other readers insist he’s written some wonderful stories, I will seek out others of his books, but this creepy book is going back to the library unfinished.
It is reassuring to learn that readers who are fond of this author also abandoned this book. Because other readers insist he’s written some wonderful stories, I will seek out others of his books, but this creepy book is going back to the library unfinished.
August 27, 2019
I have entered many book giveaways here on Goodreads over the years but this is the first time I won a free book. I'm thrilled that it is by one of my favorite authors, Larry Brown. It was a welcome addition to my library and quite a surprise since the author passed away a few years ago and I didn't expect any new releases by him. Thank you Goodreads!
This is an eclectic collection of short stories that begins with his first published short story. As always Larry Brown tells it like it is with a writing style like no other. It's a great read!
This is an eclectic collection of short stories that begins with his first published short story. As always Larry Brown tells it like it is with a writing style like no other. It's a great read!
October 9, 2021
Tiny Love: The Complete Stories by Larry Brown (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill 2019) (Fiction - Short Stories) (3579).
Here’s the complete set of short stories from the warped and brilliant imagination of legendary Southern author Larry Brown. His novels are the essence of the great Southern contemporary realistic fiction known as “Grit Lit,” and his short stories are always astonishing! Nobody puts an unexpected twist into his stories as well as Larry Brown.
Here are my favorites of these tales: “Plant Growin’ Problems” tells of a secretive cannabis farmer and his encounter with a twisted sheriff. “Kubuku Rides” is about an unrepentant alcoholic who smugly believes that she has her husband under her thumb. “Night Life” features a bar room lothario who meets an available single mother. “Leaving Town” is about a new start in life for the parent of a handicapped child. “Tiny Love” is the story of a diminutive man in a codependent relationship with a lazy wheelchair-bound alcoholic whom he adores. He works at a dangerously mind-numbing job in a factory to support his beloved’s addiction - until he meets another woman.
“Wild Thing”, “Big Bad Love”, and “Old Soldiers” are all great stories.
The strangest and most intriguing story is “A Roadside Resurrection.” This is my favorite of the collection. This is a truly weird saga which features a travelling healer/preacher with feet of clay who may actually have the gift of miraculous healing, his encounters with the true believers who crave his touch, and the limitations on his power.
Larry Brown is one of a kind. I highly recommend this book!
My rating: 7.5/10, finished 10/8/21 (3579).
July 23, 2022
I feel like I have read everything L Brown wrote and was surprised to see this newer collection at the library. I think I have always preferred the authors novels vs short stories. I slugged through it, of course some are better than others. If I could rate 2.5 stars I would.
February 4, 2024
This collection was a long series of the "take my wife, please" gag, but other than that, amazing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2019
A very interesting collection of short fiction. As always, Larry Brown depicts a gritty, honest portrayal of life in rural Mississippi. There's no gratuitous, over the top characters or circumstances. Larry gives you the people that live there. This is their life, struggles, happiness. Sometimes very funny and sometimes heartbreaking. I love that about his books. Wish there was more.
February 4, 2020
For me, these are for the most part targeted to men, especially those stories from "Big Bad Love", whose protagonists are men resigned to tired and unhappy lives, driving around in their pickups, unhappy in their marriages and making excuses for their not working, blaming the women, and seeking a new relaltionship in seedy bars. They drink too much, feel sorry for themselves. I would have to say that while I liked a number of the stories and am using a couple for the Short Story Discussion Group I facilitate, and I think that his writing is representative of the focus for which he is admired, they are depressiing and disrespectful of women, which is very offputting for me.
I was drawn to this volume based on the accolades mentioned by highly regarded authors and critics. It does not inspire me to read more of his work.
I was drawn to this volume based on the accolades mentioned by highly regarded authors and critics. It does not inspire me to read more of his work.
March 28, 2020
Tiny Love: The Complete Stories by Larry Brown, could easily have been a 5-star book if it'd been the incomplete stories of Larry Brown. Slightly more judicious curation would have made this a fantastic read from cover to cover
Tiny Love contains 25 short stories about poor Southern life. Approximately 10 of them are outstanding, 7 are excellent, 4 are good, and 4 are dogshit. If you think you'd enjoy reading unflinchingly honest portrayals of flawed, mostly down and out people, I highly recommend reading Tiny Love, but skipping Nightmare, Kubuku Rides, The Rich, and Julie: A Memory.
Tiny Love contains 25 short stories about poor Southern life. Approximately 10 of them are outstanding, 7 are excellent, 4 are good, and 4 are dogshit. If you think you'd enjoy reading unflinchingly honest portrayals of flawed, mostly down and out people, I highly recommend reading Tiny Love, but skipping Nightmare, Kubuku Rides, The Rich, and Julie: A Memory.
April 11, 2023
Boy Prose at its Boy Prose-st but I'd rather a dude really lean into Boy Writing or otherwise embrace it. Never goes well when he tries to avoid it.
Lots of road sodas and high praise for Bukowski and vulva taint and shaft—at times the term "puss" is egregiously used—but it was Awesome where it was awesome. I think these stories will live with me for a very long time.
Favs were "Facing the Music" "Kubuku Rides" "Julie" "The Crying" "The Apprentice" "92 Days" (which are all 5-star superstars on their own)
Lots of road sodas and high praise for Bukowski and vulva taint and shaft—at times the term "puss" is egregiously used—but it was Awesome where it was awesome. I think these stories will live with me for a very long time.
Favs were "Facing the Music" "Kubuku Rides" "Julie" "The Crying" "The Apprentice" "92 Days" (which are all 5-star superstars on their own)
April 30, 2020
Gritty contemporary Southern literature at its best. We were robbed of a great writer all too soon in 2004, when Brown died of a sudden heart attack. If you like this collection try one of his novels, they are excellent, also, my favorite being FAY.
December 17, 2020
A couple of nice spots in a sea of drunken redundant mediocrity. Pretentious unpretentiousness
August 29, 2025
Larry Brown doesn’t miss. He.can make so much happen between the lines with plain language, using colloquialisms and implication, while being surprisingly innovative with the narrative form. I’ve already discussed Facing the Music, which appears in this collection too, but the rest of the complete stories in Tiny Love deserve their own praise.
One thing Brown never misses is an ending. Other writers will simply close the curtains unexpectedly, but not ol’ Larry. His last sentences often feel like the real story waiting in ambush, as if everything beforehand was tightening the coil. There’s something of his early inspiration Stephen King in that slow build of tension, the sense that the ground is shifting under your feet. Add in Cormac McCarthy’s fatalism and Flannery O’Connor’s dark sense of inevitability (two other writers LB loved) and you get something more uniquely Brown. “A Roadside Resurrection,” the last piece he ever finished, reads like all three influences colliding in one place — grotesque and spiritual, with a unique back-and-forth format.
Other highlights for me were “Plant Growin’ Problems,” “And Another Thing,” “The Apprentice,” “Wild Thing,” “Big Bad Love,” “Waiting for the Ladies,” and “Sleep”. Brown’s settings are Mississippi bars, kitchens, fields, but the reach is broader. These stories gritty truth of people’s lust for life — the heartbreak, the loneliness, the bad decisions and small salvations. They could be happening anywhere, anytime between WWII and today. What Brown captured was the universality of struggle, written from a place of truth, plain but not simple.
One thing Brown never misses is an ending. Other writers will simply close the curtains unexpectedly, but not ol’ Larry. His last sentences often feel like the real story waiting in ambush, as if everything beforehand was tightening the coil. There’s something of his early inspiration Stephen King in that slow build of tension, the sense that the ground is shifting under your feet. Add in Cormac McCarthy’s fatalism and Flannery O’Connor’s dark sense of inevitability (two other writers LB loved) and you get something more uniquely Brown. “A Roadside Resurrection,” the last piece he ever finished, reads like all three influences colliding in one place — grotesque and spiritual, with a unique back-and-forth format.
Other highlights for me were “Plant Growin’ Problems,” “And Another Thing,” “The Apprentice,” “Wild Thing,” “Big Bad Love,” “Waiting for the Ladies,” and “Sleep”. Brown’s settings are Mississippi bars, kitchens, fields, but the reach is broader. These stories gritty truth of people’s lust for life — the heartbreak, the loneliness, the bad decisions and small salvations. They could be happening anywhere, anytime between WWII and today. What Brown captured was the universality of struggle, written from a place of truth, plain but not simple.
April 23, 2023
I mostly enjoyed this collection of stories by Larry Brown. There was clarity and brevity to the writing that was refreshing. These drunks were defeated but weren’t filled with self-loathing and hatred like Bukowski's.
Many of the stories followed a too-familiar blueprint. The man (it was always a man) should head home to his long-suffering but imperfect partner. Instead, he’ll ride around drinking or go to the bar. Soon enough he’d find himself in some trouble- usually involving another woman. Finally, the man would return home and discover that he or his home environment was altered. It’s not a bad blueprint-especially if you don’t mind writing that’s heavy on the male gaze and focused solely on the restless hunger of middle-aged men. I appreciated Brown took care to tie up his stories with endings that weren’t too abrupt or ambiguous.
92 days, this collection’s longest (and in my opinion best) story comes at the tail end of the book. It’s a good story with some evocative writing and contains the best parts of Brown’s recurring themes with fewer of his shortcomings.
The main characters throughout the collection were well written but the secondary characters (especially the women) felt like tropes. There was much to appreciate in these stories- the naturalistic dialogue, the grounded settings, and the clear and concise writing. However, your appreciation will vary on whether you can connect with the iterative themes and repetitive subject.
Many of the stories followed a too-familiar blueprint. The man (it was always a man) should head home to his long-suffering but imperfect partner. Instead, he’ll ride around drinking or go to the bar. Soon enough he’d find himself in some trouble- usually involving another woman. Finally, the man would return home and discover that he or his home environment was altered. It’s not a bad blueprint-especially if you don’t mind writing that’s heavy on the male gaze and focused solely on the restless hunger of middle-aged men. I appreciated Brown took care to tie up his stories with endings that weren’t too abrupt or ambiguous.
92 days, this collection’s longest (and in my opinion best) story comes at the tail end of the book. It’s a good story with some evocative writing and contains the best parts of Brown’s recurring themes with fewer of his shortcomings.
The main characters throughout the collection were well written but the secondary characters (especially the women) felt like tropes. There was much to appreciate in these stories- the naturalistic dialogue, the grounded settings, and the clear and concise writing. However, your appreciation will vary on whether you can connect with the iterative themes and repetitive subject.
April 28, 2022
Larry Brown remains one of my favorite authors and I think shares the throne of King of Grit Lit with Harry Crews. I have read all of Brown's novels, including the unfinished A Miracle of Catfish, and now two of his collections of short stories. I still have the non-fiction writings and Facing the Music to complete my reading of his work. We lost Mr. Brown way too soon and to me based on his last book, there was still a lot of good writing left to be done. I admit to liking his novels more than his short stories and in this collection there were several that seemed somewhat repetitive. Much of this material is not for the faint hearted and some will find the alcoholism and graphic sexual references disgusting, but they are probably not grit lit fans to begin with. My favorite was still Big Bad Love about the boy and his dead dog which was from his previous collection, Big Bad Love. Tiny Love is worth the read just to read the foreword by Jonathan Miles who did a marvelous job of describing Larry Brown. Miles tells of a 1982 journal entry that Larry wrote: "What do you have going for you? Nothing but desire, no talent, and a love of the written word." But, he added, "that last should be enough to overcome the other two." I only disagree with Brown on the no talent. He had more than enough for a lifetime!
September 5, 2021
This collection consists of all stories from Facing the Music and Big Bad Love, along with seven new short stories ("Plant Grown' Problems," "Nightmare," "The Crying," "And Another Thing," "Tiny Love," "A Birthday Party," and "A Roadside Resurrection"). I've reviewed the old stories from the other two collections on their own, so I'll just be looking at the seven new ones here.
Larry Brown's seven new stories in Tiny Love read a bit like the myths and fables of pulp fiction: intense, ruthless, and engaging. But most of the stories lacked anything else beyond that. Just by-the-books brainless action.
On the other hand, the other few stories freed itself from this mold. Through these I really felt like I was sitting there and getting to know these characters and not just reading them like they were glued onto the papers of a comic book and boxed inside the frames. In the rawer stories, it felt like these characters existed outside of just their story, with their own lives to lead and their human struggles along the way and their unobtainable desires always in mind and everything in-between that would make a person whole and lovingly imperfect.
"Tiny Love" was my favourite story in the collection. I'm not surprised the book is named after it.
Larry Brown's seven new stories in Tiny Love read a bit like the myths and fables of pulp fiction: intense, ruthless, and engaging. But most of the stories lacked anything else beyond that. Just by-the-books brainless action.
On the other hand, the other few stories freed itself from this mold. Through these I really felt like I was sitting there and getting to know these characters and not just reading them like they were glued onto the papers of a comic book and boxed inside the frames. In the rawer stories, it felt like these characters existed outside of just their story, with their own lives to lead and their human struggles along the way and their unobtainable desires always in mind and everything in-between that would make a person whole and lovingly imperfect.
"Tiny Love" was my favourite story in the collection. I'm not surprised the book is named after it.
August 2, 2020
Everything you've heard is true—this here's a masterpiece. Brown is one of those rare unwashed geniuses that succeeded as a writer despite almost every obstacle thrown in front of him. It isn't just that these stories are funny (they are), they are daring in a way that white male writers simply cannot get away with these days, sadly. The humanity and honesty here is almost blinding. Ironic that Brown takes his place on my alphabetized bookshelf alongside Bukowski who influenced Larry with his fearless, unvarnished candor.
One of the things I love and makes me trust Brown, is that there are so many damn stories here about WRITING. About WANTING and NEEDING to write. About loving books (and beer). Oh Larry, taken far too soon because of goddamn cigarettes and drinking and whatnot... you won in the end—don't you see?
I need to take more chances with my writing. These aren't the kind of stories they'll let you write in college MFA workshops, LOL. Required Grit Lit reading, my contemporary peers. As John Fahey and Henry Vestine used to say on their teenage motorcycle trips into the deep south in search of ancient blues 78s: This is Old Weird America.
One of the things I love and makes me trust Brown, is that there are so many damn stories here about WRITING. About WANTING and NEEDING to write. About loving books (and beer). Oh Larry, taken far too soon because of goddamn cigarettes and drinking and whatnot... you won in the end—don't you see?
I need to take more chances with my writing. These aren't the kind of stories they'll let you write in college MFA workshops, LOL. Required Grit Lit reading, my contemporary peers. As John Fahey and Henry Vestine used to say on their teenage motorcycle trips into the deep south in search of ancient blues 78s: This is Old Weird America.
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