Cruising Paradise

by Sam Shepard

Cruising Paradise contains 40 short stories by the renowned playwright and actor Sam Shepard. Exploring themes of solitude and loss, Shepard revisits the innocence of boyhood, traverses the confines of loneliness, gives accounts of the farcical exclusiveness of show business and offers an obstinate perspective on death. As in his stage and screen work, Shepard ties these musings to the wilds and open spaces of Mexico and the United States, utilizing the allure and tempo of the open road to bring his writing and self-actualization full circle.

From the intensely admired Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright-actor-musician-writer-ex-cowboy, a burst of pure storytelling: forty swiftly told tales in the unmistakable voice of Sam Shepard.

A boy travels to a desolate roadside inn to retrieve the charred mattress on which his drunken father burned to death. A mortified actor is stonewalled by a female bureaucrat in a Mexican border town - until he identifies himself as Spencer Tracy. A man and a woman quarrel desperately in a South Dakota motel room and part company for reasons that remain mysterious to them both. Two kids raise a wolf pup ordered from a mail-order catalog, then set it free on the railroad tracks. A movie crew conducts its business beneath the baking Mexican sun, oblivious to the Indian voladores (flying men) who sail above their heads in a magic ritual older than Cortez.

Terse, lyric, alive, these tales range in key from the sad to the hilarious. Some are rounded stories, some are miniatures, some are dialogues at once cryptic and mesmerizing, some are excerpts from an actor's diary. Together they present their author's singular vision of ancestry and childhood, sexual passion and betrayal, family and fame, in a voice as spare as an Arizona mesa, as quintessentially American as a forties jazz song. Cruising Paradise is a book that locates places where our culture is defined - and at the same time brings us closer than we have yet been to a writer who has become synonymous with the recklessness, stoicism, and solitude of American manhood.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Westerns, The United States Of America, Plays, Classics, Literary Fiction

239 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Sam Shepard was an American artist who worked as an award-winning playwright, writer and actor. His many written works are known for being frank and often absurd, as well as for having an authentic sense of the style and sensibility of the gritty modern American west. He was an actor of the stage and motion pictures; a director of stage and film; author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs; and a musician.

Reviews

[Makis Dionis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο Κολοράντο δεν είναι για δειλούς ...
..και ο Σέπαρντ δεν γράφει για όλους.

Υμνεί την πραγματική Αμερική της ενδοχώρας, πολύ μακριά από τις βιτρίνες των μεγαλουπόλεων.

Ένας πραγματικός παράδεισος για να ανακαλύψεις/ διασχίσεις/ αναγνωρίσεις

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

saw/heard sam shepard read many of these stories in a staged reading at the geffen. he was so brilliant. looked like he was going to jump out of his skin - it was l.a., and the level of pretentious idiocy was predictibably high. he stood in front of us, and sucked a sip of water and began to read from a series of papers stapled together. one would think an actor would relish in the chance to perform his work...but he really appeared to be in physical misery. but as sam read the stories, his work came alive (and his brilliance was apparent). and i can't help but love him all the more for remaining uncomfortable in the midst of the (as Holden would call them) phonies.

[AC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the writing and some of the material, but found it a bit tiring after awhile. Probaby because I really don’t relate well to Americana. I never have, but it has gotten much, much worse over the past couple of years. And at this point, the very thought of it nearly brings me to my knees. In fact, when walking down the street, when I see an American of a certain cultural sort go by, I clutch my kids and hide them behind the folds of my jacket. I was scheduled to go to Dallas two months ago and..., I just couldn’t.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like stories with lots of hotels, motels and long-distance driving, this is the book for you.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο Σαμ Σέπαρντ εκτός από πολύ καλός ηθοποιός είναι και συγγραφέας δεκάδων θεατρικών έργων, σεναρίων και διηγημάτων. Η συλλογή που μόλις τελείωσα αποτελείται από σαράντα μικρά διηγήματα, τα οποία ασχολούνται με την μοναξιά, την απομόνωση, την απώλεια και άλλα συναφή ανθρώπινα θέματα, με φόντο κυρίως την Αμερικάνικη ερημιά και τα σύνορα με το Μεξικό. Βλέπουμε στιγμές ανθρώπων που είτε οδηγούν στους ατελείωτους, μοναχικούς αυτοκινητόδρομους, είτε ξεκουράζονται σε κάποιο μοτέλ στου διαόλου την μάνα, είτε πίνουν το ποτό τους σ'ένα μπαρ σε μια μικρή πόλη που δεν την ξέρει κανείς, είτε τριγυρνάνε με άλογο στην έρημο. Και πάει λέγοντας. Διαβάζουμε τις σκέψεις τους και φανταζόμαστε τα τοπία που βλέπουν.

Αυτό που κάνει την διαφορά στο βιβλίο είναι η καταπληκτική, κοντρολαρισμένη γραφή του Σέπαρντ, που πραγματικά τα σπάει. Καταφέρνει και περνάει τα συναισθήματα που θέλει, έχει χιούμορ, είναι άνετη και ευκολοδιάβαστη. Μην περιμένετε διηγήματα με πλοκή ή πρωτότυπες ιδέες, δεν ήταν αυτός ο σκοπός.
Αν σας αρέσουν αυτού του είδους οι ιστορίες, που μιλάνε για καθημερινούς ανθρώπους στις ερημιές της Αμερικής, τότε αξίζει πραγματικά τον χρόνο σας. Σίγουρα θα διαβάσω και άλλα βιβλία του συγγραφέα.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these stories. There's a nice balance between short, fragmented sketches and traditionally-constructed stories you have the urge to read aloud. Being a poet myself, I must admit first-off I like fragmented stories--so there you have it. But what elevates these stories to a 5-star rating for me is not the structure (or lack of structure) in the pieces, but the clear and concise voice and style, the way Shepard has of tilting the head, that weaves itself through these pieces. It's the writing of someone who knows who he is and is in control--and you can't say that about a hoard of writers being published and read today. There's real life epiphanies ("A Man's Man", "Homage to Celine", "See You In My Dreams") and laugh-out-loud hilarity ("Spencer Tracy Is Not Dead") among fairly constant themes of pain and anguish, loneliness, and searching presented to you in a rather stunning array of forms for such a little book. The fact that many of the stories seem to other reviewers as "just" dialogues and character sketches seems to me completely appropriate and highly effective here (he is also an actor, after all). I personally liked how the collection ended with the movie-set stories. I wanted more.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of hard-edged stories of the modern west by the playwright/actor Sam Shepard. I went back to it because of his recently published story in "The New Yorker" (Sept. 2009), which is in itself a great little tale of subrbanites on vacation in Mexico. The prose here is fantastic, giving a real gut feeling of individuals reflected by their expansive, awesome and desolate environment.

[Bert Hirsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of short pieces by Sam Shepard. Shepard is best known as a Pulitzer Prize playwright who had a long career writing plays for both Off-Broadway and, once discovered, the Great White Way. Additionally he became a movie actor of star proportions and earlier in his career was an active member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue.

Cruising Paradise offers readers insight into Shepard's beginnings and life stories. California deserts, families pulled apart, working life bailing hay, security guards and busboys all populate these stories. For Shepard fans this is a sure winner and for others it can be quite enjoyable.

In many ways Shepard chronicles the American West. The rugged individual overcoming hardship is a common theme.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something for everyone from this Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and actor -- short stories, nonfiction, and play script. Shepard has a fine ear for dialogue and keen eyes for observation as well a wry sense of humor. I enjoyed the latter part of the book as he makes his way from California to Mexico to shoot a movie.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is really good. If you want to read it, read it. I wish I could give it 3.5 stars. The best story is this one about this actor, it's called Winging It. It's awesome. It's funny and sort of postmodern in a way. God I wish I could give this book 3.5 stars. I can't though.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

INSPIRING!

[Michał Stanek · Rating 5 out of 5]

BADLANDS' MELANCHOLY

These 40 short stories are rough and sparse prose about people at life's turning points - sometimes violent, but more often resulting from quiet, internal dramas. Their content plays out between the lines - in understatements, in gestures and actions shown only sketchily. At times, Shepard writes like a screenwriter (who, in fact, he was): he records images, fragments of dialogues, leaving the background in shadow. Some texts consist only of conversations, which thickens the understatements and brings to mind Hemingway. The difference is that Shepard - two generations younger - more openly struggles with the crisis of masculinity: he writes about men confronted with loss, loneliness, guilt, experiencing longing for something elusive. The subcutaneous tenderness present in his texts (but never falling into sentimentality) brings him closer to the early prose of Larry McMurtry (from the period: "Horseman, Pass By" / "Leaving Cheyenne" / "The Last Picture Show"). The author will also explore these moods later in "The Big Dream of Heaven".

The scenery is similar, although contemporary – the harsh landscape of American wastelands and small towns, here often shrouded in a dreamlike haze of unreality, corresponding to the alienation of the characters. The author of "Cruising Paradise" tends to avoid big cities, which distinguishes him from Carver, for example, and is not as bitterly sarcastic as Saunders. Although the second half of the collection features a series of humorous short stories, probably inspired by Shepard's experiences on the film set, which gives the whole thing a more cheerful and ironic (and also self-deprecating) tone, at least for a moment.

For 22 years (from polish editon of "The Big Dream..." I have missed this prose – seemingly simple and ineffective, not objectively a masterpiece, but reaching me with its mood far more than other short story writers from overseas. It's kind of like Springsteen's "Nebraska" to me, which is an album that Boss recorded alone with his guitar, as you know. It's got everything, and there's nothing to add.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading the works of Sam Shepard because his style reminds me of that uncle who would smoke and drink a little and tell the best stories.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of short tales, biographical and otherwise, mostly set in the southwest and Mexico.

[Juliana Garbayo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contos autobiográficos bem curtos que retratam sobretudo os estados unidos profundo, aquelas pessoas que fracassaram miseravelmente na busca do american dream, aqueles projetos de self made man solitários e nostálgicos e quase sempre afundados em álcool/drogas para quem o árido deserto serve como metáfora de um irremediável isolamento.

O livro tem tom confessional (o que adoro). O fato dele datar e anotar o lugar onde cada conto foi escrito reforça essa sensação.

Há contos maravilhosos, que certamente vou reler (O sel-made man, O verdadeiro Gabby Hayes, Pó, Vejo-te nos meus sonhos).

Talvez pra quem não goste do tema, possa ficar um pouco cansativo visto que a tônica não muda muito; eu amei.

[Agnieszka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a definite sense of somehow being a passenger in an evil vehicle cruising through Paradise. I had no idea how I’d come to be there.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that made me want to become a writer. It is also the book that made me adore Sam Shepard, but that is a completely different story.

These stories are breathtakingly perfect. I don't mean they are the polished gems of a technically brilliant wordsmith. I mean they are perfect in their pure, raw, gut-wrenching beauty. The characters in the story may be the most hideous creatures you have ever encountered, and yet you can be moved to tears when you travel with them through their hardships.

Sam Shepard is an underrated genius.

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a big disappointment. Most of it seems like polished up writing exercises—character sketches and descriptions of settings—hardly anything that fits into the category of a story, let alone as a “tale.” The prose is clean, but not memorable. There are some interesting characters and situations, but nothing forms itself into a memorable combination. No real insights into the characters either. There are also pages and pages of sample dialog, as if he just made two characters talk back and forth and hoped something would come of it; perhaps it is excerpts from his notebooks for plays in development? I’m tempted to think this is a collection of stuff he couldn’t use in his plays, stuff he probably couldn’t have published if he wasn’t already a famous writer, actor, and director. Perhaps that’s too harsh, but I’m not going to waste any time rereading to find out.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me short story collections can be a bit hit and miss, even from writers whose novels I love. I expected the same from Sam Shepard’s collection, particularly since this is more of a collection of sketches, conversations, vignettes and occasional full blown ‘short stories’. Yet surprisingly the hit rate was pretty consistent. Stories such as ‘A Small Circle of Friends’, ‘The Package Man’ and ‘Dust’ are amongst some of the best I’ve read, though most left some resonance. Towards the end of the collection however, a series of slightly self referential stories about an actor travelling down to Mexico to star in a movie take the sheen of the collection a little. Fans of a certain sort of Americana (Springsteen, Tom Waits, Steinbeck, Willy Vlautin, of course Paris Texas) should probably check this out.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Accidental pick-up; the wife took it out of the library, I just picked it up and started reading it at bedtime. Short sketches, stories. Vivid writing. Not as spare as I presumed.

--in the end, I liked the first half best with its painful stories and sketches of that peculiar malady, American loneliness.
I admit to being distracted by his recollections of filming in Mexico--I realized he was making this film version of "Homo Faber"--I had decided to get the book because I kept missing the movie. The book is gone before I had a chance to read it, sold off in one of my purges of the last year or so.

[Judson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not unlike True West, my favorite play ever, if broken into Donald Barthelme-sized bits, and placed on Cormac McCarthy's map and cleared of all the latter author's terrible mythic violence and instead concerned more with what True West already shows Shepard to be concerned about most: American Southwestern destitution; drunken loneliness/lonely drunkeness; lost fathers and being lost; vehicular travel with horses involved and horse travel with vehicles involved; acting and moviemaking.

[Nathan Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic. Such wonderful writing. Even if I didn't particularly care about what was happening in a short story, I still enjoyed reading it. These are very short stories with a chunk of them woven together about a film actor. Honestly, there's a very blurred line here between truth and fiction. I have no idea if all the stories are fiction or if any are autobiographical. I like to think the later, but it's hard to tell. Nevertheless, it's a great read.

[Danny Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always loved Sam Shepard's plays. Just as gritty and real, his short stories give us a slice of life of individuals found in our every day walks of life. Almost all written in 1st person, his stories put is there in the mindset of the characters whether it is a simple actor trying to find his motivation to a vagabond on an unmarked country road. Ive always loved his style, and now I cant wait to read more of his non theatrical work :)

[David Gallin-Parisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal and quick shorts. Recommended for people that like down and out scenes, and short stories to read on the radio. Had I found this when it first came out, many of these stories would've been read out loud on a radio show. Evocative, lonely, romantic, warm, and wind swept writing. Recommended for people that used to read those two-minute mysteries and for people who like reading writers writing.

[Ben Fowlkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam Shepard's stories make it clear that he is a very talented dramatic writer. He's never going to be considered a literary fiction heavyweight, but the guy has got something worth checking out.

Sure, his plays are better and many of his stories are just one act plays masquerading as fiction, but they're still great.

[Graham Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had this on my to-read list forever because I loved the collection of letters between Shepard and Johnny Dark, Two Prospectors, so much. But while his letters were thoughtful and generous and scathing and more, his fiction here is overly familiar, heavy on the performative masculinity and light on any surprise.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

سام شپرد شاید یکی از بهترین نمایش نامه نویسان امروز آمریکاست که با زبانی شعرگونه و سرشار از طنز، با شخصیت هایی غریب اما واقعی، به مسایل ساده و در عین حال تراژیک جامعه ی آمریکا می پردازد. خواندن شپارد، آرامش می دهد.

[Everthere · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are gems in here for sure, stories that find perfect balance between minimalism and poignancy. There is also the seed of a novel or novella in here. Interesting as it is to feel the seeds between your fingers, it's a pity we can't read it in full bloom.

[Rory · Rating 5 out of 5]

The eminent Sam Shepard does a novel thing in giving his stories a date and point of origin. "Nuevo Mondo" was born on July 13, 1994, in Del Rio, Texas. "Wild to the Wild" happened on May 2, 1989 in Scottsvile, Virginia.

[Vincent Eaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some gems herein. "Motel Chronicles" still his best in his short prose pieces collections, pound for pound, but this comes a pretty close 2nd. The last fourth about shooting a movie as a star gets the stars.