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Bear and His Daughter: Stories
The stories collected in Bear and His Daughter span nearly thirty years - 1969 to the present - and they explore, acutely and powerfully, the humanity that unites us. In "Miserere," a widowed librarian with an unspeakable secret undertakes an unusual and grisly role in the anti-abortion crusade. "Under the Pitons" is the harrowing story of a reluctant participant in a drug-running scheme and the grim and unexpected consequences of his involvement. The title story is a riveting account of the tangled lines that weave together the relationship of a father and his grown daughter.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
18 people are currently reading
1042 people want to read
About the author
Robert Stone
30 books250 followersROBERT STONE was the author of seven novels: A Hall of Mirrors, Dog Soldiers (winner of the National Book Award), A Flag for Sunrise, Children of Light, Outerbridge Reach, Damascus Gate, and Bay of Souls. His story collection, Bear and His Daughter, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and his memoir, Prime Green, was published in 2006.
His work was typically characterized by psychological complexity, political concerns, and dark humor.
A lifelong adventurer who in his 20s befriended Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, and what he called ‘‘all those crazies’’ of the counterculture, Mr. Stone had a fateful affinity for outsiders, especially those who brought hard times on themselves. Starting with the 1966 novel ‘‘A Hall of Mirrors,’’ Mr. Stone set his stories everywhere from the American South to the Far East. He was a master of making art out of his character’s follies, whether the adulterous teacher in ‘‘Death of the Black-Haired Girl,’’ the fraudulent seafarer in ‘‘Outerbridge Reach,’’ or the besieged journalist in ‘‘Dog Soldiers,’’ winner of the National Book Award in 1975.
His work was typically characterized by psychological complexity, political concerns, and dark humor.
A lifelong adventurer who in his 20s befriended Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, and what he called ‘‘all those crazies’’ of the counterculture, Mr. Stone had a fateful affinity for outsiders, especially those who brought hard times on themselves. Starting with the 1966 novel ‘‘A Hall of Mirrors,’’ Mr. Stone set his stories everywhere from the American South to the Far East. He was a master of making art out of his character’s follies, whether the adulterous teacher in ‘‘Death of the Black-Haired Girl,’’ the fraudulent seafarer in ‘‘Outerbridge Reach,’’ or the besieged journalist in ‘‘Dog Soldiers,’’ winner of the National Book Award in 1975.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
September 16, 2022
Well. THAT happened.
Robert Stone, my god. This has got to be the most brutal collection of stories I've ever read. Each one starts off in a dark place, and somehow manages to descend from there. I mean, I thought that the first story, 'Miserere', a shocking tale of how a woman in her twisted way pushes the pro-life cause, was as dark as it could get. Then I read the next story. And the next. Finishing up with the titular story, from which I may need therapy to help make a full recovery.
Stone's characters are both self aware and self destructive. Most of them in the throes of addiction, setting fire to their lives. Swallowing a handful of pills, dry. Taking that first drink after 15 months of hard earned sobriety. A father/daughter meth trip.
Speaking of meth, I'd describe these stories as Flannery O'Connor on meth. Behind all the drugs lurks a warped, dangerous Catholicism. Characters going down the wrong track and heading to their judgment and doom. Characters who have symbolic names, like "Grace" and "Blessingway".
There's also humour lurking, of the darkest kind. In 'Aquarius Obscured' a woman, blitzed on one substance or another, spends an afternoon at the aquarium, talking with a fascist porpoise.
And, surprisingly, in all this, there's beauty. These stories are gorgeously written. Masterfully constructed. They are masterpieces, in the same way that the painter Francis Bacon painted masterpieces. Their vision isn't pretty - not something you'd hang in your living room, but they capture an unsettling truth from which you can't look away.
Robert Stone (who was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for this collection) should be just as widely read as Raymond Carver, Richard Yates, Flannery O'Connor and any other writer known for top-notch short fiction. I'm not sure why he has a more obscure place in literature. His work deserves attention. I promise, it will leave you breathless.
Robert Stone, my god. This has got to be the most brutal collection of stories I've ever read. Each one starts off in a dark place, and somehow manages to descend from there. I mean, I thought that the first story, 'Miserere', a shocking tale of how a woman in her twisted way pushes the pro-life cause, was as dark as it could get. Then I read the next story. And the next. Finishing up with the titular story, from which I may need therapy to help make a full recovery.
Stone's characters are both self aware and self destructive. Most of them in the throes of addiction, setting fire to their lives. Swallowing a handful of pills, dry. Taking that first drink after 15 months of hard earned sobriety. A father/daughter meth trip.
Speaking of meth, I'd describe these stories as Flannery O'Connor on meth. Behind all the drugs lurks a warped, dangerous Catholicism. Characters going down the wrong track and heading to their judgment and doom. Characters who have symbolic names, like "Grace" and "Blessingway".
There's also humour lurking, of the darkest kind. In 'Aquarius Obscured' a woman, blitzed on one substance or another, spends an afternoon at the aquarium, talking with a fascist porpoise.
And, surprisingly, in all this, there's beauty. These stories are gorgeously written. Masterfully constructed. They are masterpieces, in the same way that the painter Francis Bacon painted masterpieces. Their vision isn't pretty - not something you'd hang in your living room, but they capture an unsettling truth from which you can't look away.
Robert Stone (who was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for this collection) should be just as widely read as Raymond Carver, Richard Yates, Flannery O'Connor and any other writer known for top-notch short fiction. I'm not sure why he has a more obscure place in literature. His work deserves attention. I promise, it will leave you breathless.
May 14, 2008
It's a miracle, a book actually worth owning. After following a worthy discussion of "Helping" on Constant Reader, I borrowed this collection in which it's included from the library and read it. I don't think I'll be able to read all his stories just now because they do contain more than many novels even attempt to, so I'll get my own copy and keep it on hand for when I'm ready again. Bless Stone for appreciating and respecting the short story. No, it is not a means to an end, to pay the bills as you write your next novel. It is worthy in and of itself and deserves to be taken more seriously. What Stone also does is put other much-hailed short story writers, like Lahiri and Munro, to shame.
As I note in the comments below, Stone has a wickedly dark sense of humor. He doesn't shy away from uncomfortable subjects or emotions. And his writing is clean but not overly spare. But I've yet to finish this collection.
My one quibble so far is with Stone's embarrassing tendency to give his character's meaningful names which he then comments upon in the stories: Grace whose husband needs her as his own saving grace, Smart th e poet, Rowan the forest ranger. Makes me wonder what my own name would be if Stone were to fictionalize me. No, what he would do is make a pun on Frank's last name, Bogues, as everyone does. Bogues? Don't you mean bogus? Yes, that's what he would do. And I, by relation, am Ms. Bogus.
(spoiler warning)
The title story is beautiful. I felt a bit awkward at first (to my own surprise) reading it, since I usually think I'm immune to being shocked by good old taboo subjects, but the end was so fitting. Makes me think of Kathryn Harrison and how she can move on as a seemingly healthy and productive member of society. Another beautiful story about incest is Somerset Maugham's "The Bookbag." While in high school, I told my English teacher how much I liked the story and quite shocked him. What can I say? Don't judge a story by its subject matter.
I cheated, I read on. But I promise to buy another book of his.
As I note in the comments below, Stone has a wickedly dark sense of humor. He doesn't shy away from uncomfortable subjects or emotions. And his writing is clean but not overly spare. But I've yet to finish this collection.
My one quibble so far is with Stone's embarrassing tendency to give his character's meaningful names which he then comments upon in the stories: Grace whose husband needs her as his own saving grace, Smart th e poet, Rowan the forest ranger. Makes me wonder what my own name would be if Stone were to fictionalize me. No, what he would do is make a pun on Frank's last name, Bogues, as everyone does. Bogues? Don't you mean bogus? Yes, that's what he would do. And I, by relation, am Ms. Bogus.
(spoiler warning)
The title story is beautiful. I felt a bit awkward at first (to my own surprise) reading it, since I usually think I'm immune to being shocked by good old taboo subjects, but the end was so fitting. Makes me think of Kathryn Harrison and how she can move on as a seemingly healthy and productive member of society. Another beautiful story about incest is Somerset Maugham's "The Bookbag." While in high school, I told my English teacher how much I liked the story and quite shocked him. What can I say? Don't judge a story by its subject matter.
I cheated, I read on. But I promise to buy another book of his.
February 8, 2009
I took my time reading these, which kind of suggests that I never felt driven to finish the collection right away. I didn’t always like how some of the stories were resolved (for example, “Aquarius Obscured”), but compensation is always available with Stone, since his writing is as crafted as anyone in the business. He’s one of those writers who I’ll read just for the language. There were two stories in particular that stood out, and could easily be slotted into any “Best of” anthologies. The first, the title story, “Bear and his Daughter,” which is about a boozing and aging poet, his meth cooked daughter, and a reunion that is also a reckoning. What they share amounts to an incredibly sad indictment of the excesses of the sixties and seventies (and Stone would know). Talk about hearts of darkness. Whew. The second, and a masterpiece to my mind, is “Under the Pitons,” a sea story that mixes a deadly cocktail of booze, drugs, hatred, and Nature. This story is right up there with the best efforts of Conrad, Melville, London, or Crane.
July 25, 2014
For many years, Stone's only collection of short stories. Intense! He is especially the master of the multi-character dialogue scene. Nobody does it like him--If I had to pick one writer to call the best living American author? Stone, Stone Stone. These short stories give you the essence. Then read Dog Soldiers. Then Children of Light (love that book). I've just learned there's a 2010 collection which I can't wait to try.
July 17, 2024
Brilliant collection of stories. Only the title story has no date that I can locate.
“Bear and his Daughter” (no date) (5) - [novella]
“Absence of Mercy” (1987) (5)
“Helping” (1993) (5)
“Under the Pitons” (1996) (4.5)
“Miserere” (1996) (4)
“Porque No Tiene” (1969) (3)
“Aquarius Obscured” (1982) (3)
No accident, I think, that the two weakest stories are the earliest.
“Bear and his Daughter” (no date) (5) - [novella]
“Absence of Mercy” (1987) (5)
“Helping” (1993) (5)
“Under the Pitons” (1996) (4.5)
“Miserere” (1996) (4)
“Porque No Tiene” (1969) (3)
“Aquarius Obscured” (1982) (3)
No accident, I think, that the two weakest stories are the earliest.
Read
March 14, 2019ok so it may not rival hall of mirrors (which, if you're seeing this and haven't read hall of mirrors, drop what you're doing and read hall of mirrors) but it's got ample robert stoniness. he's got this quality of, like, caustic plainspokenness that i admire a lot: a sentence like "she felt afraid" or "he began to cry" dropped in at the absolute perfect moment to make your stomach lurch w/ empathy. the sequencing here owns as well, the borderline goofy story about the fascist dolphin knocking you offguard immediately before the title story (which i think i'd call "scarifying" if i wrote fancy jacket copy). n.b., you're gonna wanna read something light & fluffy concurrently
July 12, 2008
Noteworthy/memorable:
Under the Pitons is still possibly the best short story I've ever read. Stone has said that he learned not to throw the conflict in the plot in too early or too late, but in this work he weaves it in masterfully until, like the characters, paranoia sets in and you don't know where the true threat is until it's too late. The emotion is palpable, as is the pessimistic and wry despair of the main character, whose ultimate resignation to his fate smacks of the black humor which comes of events too stark and terrible to be fathomed rationally. Whew.
Helping pretty much exemplifies the entire collection, as the characters' mistakes keep compounding, and they struggle against themselves inescapably. At first you feel a sense of confusion at their self-destructive behavior, then you realize that maybe the characters are just as confused as you are. This one has an evocative ending which I liked.
Honorable mentions:
Bear and His Daughter, 'Porque No Tiene, Porque
Le Falta'
Take-home message:
Wow. Drugs mess you up. And actually most of the stories in this book are worth reading just for the pitying and aghast look your face will take on without you noticing.
Under the Pitons is still possibly the best short story I've ever read. Stone has said that he learned not to throw the conflict in the plot in too early or too late, but in this work he weaves it in masterfully until, like the characters, paranoia sets in and you don't know where the true threat is until it's too late. The emotion is palpable, as is the pessimistic and wry despair of the main character, whose ultimate resignation to his fate smacks of the black humor which comes of events too stark and terrible to be fathomed rationally. Whew.
Helping pretty much exemplifies the entire collection, as the characters' mistakes keep compounding, and they struggle against themselves inescapably. At first you feel a sense of confusion at their self-destructive behavior, then you realize that maybe the characters are just as confused as you are. This one has an evocative ending which I liked.
Honorable mentions:
Bear and His Daughter, 'Porque No Tiene, Porque
Le Falta'
Take-home message:
Wow. Drugs mess you up. And actually most of the stories in this book are worth reading just for the pitying and aghast look your face will take on without you noticing.
May 30, 2024
Bob Stone doesn’t waste your time. Each story is substantive, high stakes, and loaded with beautiful language. He has a way with character - people are inscrutable, act according to whims, do drugs, drink, fuck up and search knowingly or not for the sublime. Some of them find it.
September 28, 2023
A 1998 Pulitzer Finalist. All but the titular story of the seven included here were previously published in reputable magazines.
Stone writes good dialogues and landscape descriptions. His characters are not meant to be likeable (though unlikeableness doesn't bother me). He’s able to spout an occasional insightful phrase that sets him above mere pulp fiction.
Nevertheless, reading these stories was an exercise in examining an author’s verbal style, because their substance and content for the most part eluded me. At each conclusion, I wondered, “So what?” Was I supposed to have had a transformative experience?
It isn’t Stone’s fault, I suppose. Admittedly there’s something about the short story form that I fail to appreciate, unlike the form of even the most bizarre novels.
Stone writes good dialogues and landscape descriptions. His characters are not meant to be likeable (though unlikeableness doesn't bother me). He’s able to spout an occasional insightful phrase that sets him above mere pulp fiction.
Nevertheless, reading these stories was an exercise in examining an author’s verbal style, because their substance and content for the most part eluded me. At each conclusion, I wondered, “So what?” Was I supposed to have had a transformative experience?
It isn’t Stone’s fault, I suppose. Admittedly there’s something about the short story form that I fail to appreciate, unlike the form of even the most bizarre novels.
February 28, 2023
I wondered why it took me so long to write this review. Maybe because I felt dazed when I finished it. The book is very powerful but the messages one gets from the book are very mixed. You sort of feel like you've been beaten up after finishing it. This collection of short stories involves a mixture of people who some might say are ordinary everyday folk, generally intelligent, but not well-behaved and far from appealing. Psychologically, they are seriously injured in some way. In many cases, their lives involves the heavy use of drugs and booze (almost as if this were perfectly natural for most people). In addition, the stories are rather grim and not designed to make you feel good. However, I believe there is a moral message and meaning to most. These people are ones we may, to some degree, recognize ourselves in, and we can empathize with their defects, their fall from grace, and sometimes their redemption. As Stone said in one of his interviews, they might not put a bounce in your step, but they should not ruin your day. I think these stories depict realistic scenarios where ordinary, but morally flawed people are brought down by a hostile world. Stone talks about his rather bleak view of the word in his book of essays The Eye You See With. In the essay "The Way the World Is," he paints the world as savage and brutal, where "anything you get, you get the hard way." Some critics have likened Stone's work to that of Cormac McCarthy or Flannery O'Connor (who happen to be two of my favorite authors). In addition, Stone writes beautifully and has a particular knack for dialogue. I thought the stories flowed seamlessly and were very easy to read. Of the stories in Bear and His Daughter, some of the best were: Miserere, in which a pro-life woman acts in a religiously obsessive way while confronting her inner demon: the recollection of her husband and her children accidentally drowning. In Under the Pitons, set in the Caribbean, a disparate group of people embark on a sailing voyage to complete a drug deal, until disaster strikes. The title story, Bear and His Daughter, describe a college professor and poet on his way to give readings, who stops to meet his illegitimate daughter who works as a park ranger. Both are hooked on drugs, and share a dreadful secret which ends in tragedy. Overall, this book was quite impressive and I highly recommend it. One might also want to check out Stone's second collection of stories: Fun with Problems.
August 22, 2018
Robert Stone writes stories that don't rely on gimmicks or cheap tricks.
The stories contain power that builds quietly, behind interesting, even aggravating characters. They are very flawed.
The content of these stories is nothing new: life, death, love, and alcohol, but you can't help but be moved by their immense pressure. They are intense, completely absorbing experiences that absolutely must be read in one sitting. 7 Stories in the collection, 7 sittings. You should take a break between them, to catch your breath.
These stories sit nicely alongside Flannery O'Connor and Carver. If you like stories told from one point of view, these can be miniature lessons, all memorable, on the impact of violence. Start with "Under the Pitons," and chase with "Helping."
The stories contain power that builds quietly, behind interesting, even aggravating characters. They are very flawed.
The content of these stories is nothing new: life, death, love, and alcohol, but you can't help but be moved by their immense pressure. They are intense, completely absorbing experiences that absolutely must be read in one sitting. 7 Stories in the collection, 7 sittings. You should take a break between them, to catch your breath.
These stories sit nicely alongside Flannery O'Connor and Carver. If you like stories told from one point of view, these can be miniature lessons, all memorable, on the impact of violence. Start with "Under the Pitons," and chase with "Helping."
November 14, 2015
'Under the Pitons' is a great story and the others aren't bad either.
Ah, just come across this in my 1999 notebook, and it triggers a spoiler alert I think:
Stoned, paranoid and violent people. The atrocious beating given out by the hero of 'Absence of Mercy'; the man shooting the skier and perhaps his partner; the anti-abortionists collecting fetuses (sic) as evidence. Strong stuff.
...later in the notebook.. Home on the last bus to Birmingham, readIng 'Under the Pitons' half drunk and happy as hell. Lovely, lovely night. (Man U had just beaten Juventus in the European Cup semi final).
Ah, just come across this in my 1999 notebook, and it triggers a spoiler alert I think:
Stoned, paranoid and violent people. The atrocious beating given out by the hero of 'Absence of Mercy'; the man shooting the skier and perhaps his partner; the anti-abortionists collecting fetuses (sic) as evidence. Strong stuff.
...later in the notebook.. Home on the last bus to Birmingham, readIng 'Under the Pitons' half drunk and happy as hell. Lovely, lovely night. (Man U had just beaten Juventus in the European Cup semi final).
May 13, 2007
I learned that sorrow, felt without mercy to one's illusions about one's character, is a soul cleanser. "Helping" and "Among the Pitons" are two amazing stories that any and every writer should read.
January 21, 2009
Read these stores by Stone years ago and upon revisiting found them as terrifying as the first time.
June 17, 2010
there comes a point where one may tire of reading harrowing tales of tortured geniuses dabbing crystal on their gums and taking aim at the world
January 27, 2011
Good depravity here - I like his work - couple of these stories grab hold of you and tear at you
September 7, 2020
“She had begun by addressing them all as “sir,” but she had soon perceived that this offended them as patronizing and was not appropriate to street banter.” P. 6
“Did she say that a world with God was easier than one without him?”
She gave Father Hooke a last friendly pat and turned to Camille. “Because that would be mistaken, wouldn’t it, Camille?” p. 21
“Innocent as he might be, she thought, he was the reeking model of every Jew-baiting, clerical fascist murderer who ever took orders east of the Danube. His merry countenance was crass hypocrisy…. His face was the face of a smiling Cain.” P. 23
“St. Michael was a warrior angel and St. Michael’s Institute had the social dynamics of a coral reef.” P. 28
“Death was particularly sublime, the highest form of existence and a condition to be acquired as soon as responsibility permitted. The virtuous dead were the Church triumphant” P. 30
“Children can never imagine a suffering greater than their own.” P. 32
“It was a drag the way everyone had come to talk like a cowboy.” P. 51
“He felt curiously cold in the sunlight.” P. 57
“He bent himself double over the back to shout in Fletch’s ear. “In spite of you, man, the world is rich!”” p. 62
“Fletch cried out joyfully from his Promethean rock.” P. 71
“Blankenship had joined the army after his first burglary but had never served east of the Rhine.” P. 84
“It was all arbitrary and some people simply got elected. Everyone knew that who had been where Blankenship had not.” P. 67
“The drinking life, he thought, was lived moment by moment.” P. 96
“It was such a waste; eighteen months of struggle thrown away. But there was no way to get the stuff back in the bottle.” P. 98
“But there are times when I don’t think I will ever be dead enough – or dead long enough – to get the taste of this life off my teeth.” P. 100
““What you have to understand, Grace, is that this drink I’m having” – he raised the glass toward her in a gesture of salute – “is the only worthwhile thing I’ve down in the last year and a half. It’s the only thing in my life that means jack shit, the closest thing to satisfaction I’ve had. Now how can you begrudge me that? It’s the best I’m capable of.”” p. 100
““You’re really good at this,” she told him. “You make me feel ashamed of my own name.” p. 105
“Drunkenness and the silent rhythm of the falling snow combined to make him feel outside of time and syntax.” P. 109
“I thought it would be a kick. I thought it would be radical. But it’s just another exercise in how everything sucks.” P. 129
“Life is a dream, he thought. Something she knew and I didn’t. p. 133
“In the morning, when the sun rose fresh and full of promise, he set out for the Irish bar in Soufriere. He thought that they might overstand him there.” P. 150
“Were I to answer yes or no I would deceive you either way. Let’s say only that we don’t make the same distinctions.” P. 163
“It’s in the nature of your species to conceive enthusiasms and then to weary of them. Your souls are self-indulgent and your concentration feeble. P. 163
“That which is strong and sound shall dominate. That which is weak and decadent shall perish and disappear.” P. 165
“If you’re not ready to destroy someone, then you’re not ready to love them.” P. 166
“The sun had been low on the horizon, and on the distant tundra a herd of bison were grazing the bitter subarctic bush.” P. 174
“But all that had happened concerned him less than the words of his lost poem.” P. 180
“Above the mists over the still water, an osprey circled like some omen in a shaman’s dream.” P. 181
“”I’m on a fast,” she said. “I require a vision.”” P. 185
“Someone somewhere had said of Rilke that if he had cut his chin shaving in the morning he would have bled poetry. Smart had once secretly though that was equally true of himself. P. 194
“”I admired these fish. Being finished, coming home. They had done what they were meant to do. Whereas I never had.” P. 213
“It made her impatient to be gone.” P. 218
“They were standing in the ladies’ room where dead Rowan sat, her father’s eyes preserved in blank surprise, slowly losing their luster.” P. 219
“”He wasn’t a bad guy,” John said. “He was a good poet.” …. “He wrote a poem about salmon I liked,” John said.” P. 220
“They became ghosts and their songs ghost songs. Teenagers in the Indian high school got drunk and died, disappeared forever, knowing hardly anything to sustain them in the ghost world.” P. 221
“Did she say that a world with God was easier than one without him?”
She gave Father Hooke a last friendly pat and turned to Camille. “Because that would be mistaken, wouldn’t it, Camille?” p. 21
“Innocent as he might be, she thought, he was the reeking model of every Jew-baiting, clerical fascist murderer who ever took orders east of the Danube. His merry countenance was crass hypocrisy…. His face was the face of a smiling Cain.” P. 23
“St. Michael was a warrior angel and St. Michael’s Institute had the social dynamics of a coral reef.” P. 28
“Death was particularly sublime, the highest form of existence and a condition to be acquired as soon as responsibility permitted. The virtuous dead were the Church triumphant” P. 30
“Children can never imagine a suffering greater than their own.” P. 32
“It was a drag the way everyone had come to talk like a cowboy.” P. 51
“He felt curiously cold in the sunlight.” P. 57
“He bent himself double over the back to shout in Fletch’s ear. “In spite of you, man, the world is rich!”” p. 62
“Fletch cried out joyfully from his Promethean rock.” P. 71
“Blankenship had joined the army after his first burglary but had never served east of the Rhine.” P. 84
“It was all arbitrary and some people simply got elected. Everyone knew that who had been where Blankenship had not.” P. 67
“The drinking life, he thought, was lived moment by moment.” P. 96
“It was such a waste; eighteen months of struggle thrown away. But there was no way to get the stuff back in the bottle.” P. 98
“But there are times when I don’t think I will ever be dead enough – or dead long enough – to get the taste of this life off my teeth.” P. 100
““What you have to understand, Grace, is that this drink I’m having” – he raised the glass toward her in a gesture of salute – “is the only worthwhile thing I’ve down in the last year and a half. It’s the only thing in my life that means jack shit, the closest thing to satisfaction I’ve had. Now how can you begrudge me that? It’s the best I’m capable of.”” p. 100
““You’re really good at this,” she told him. “You make me feel ashamed of my own name.” p. 105
“Drunkenness and the silent rhythm of the falling snow combined to make him feel outside of time and syntax.” P. 109
“I thought it would be a kick. I thought it would be radical. But it’s just another exercise in how everything sucks.” P. 129
“Life is a dream, he thought. Something she knew and I didn’t. p. 133
“In the morning, when the sun rose fresh and full of promise, he set out for the Irish bar in Soufriere. He thought that they might overstand him there.” P. 150
“Were I to answer yes or no I would deceive you either way. Let’s say only that we don’t make the same distinctions.” P. 163
“It’s in the nature of your species to conceive enthusiasms and then to weary of them. Your souls are self-indulgent and your concentration feeble. P. 163
“That which is strong and sound shall dominate. That which is weak and decadent shall perish and disappear.” P. 165
“If you’re not ready to destroy someone, then you’re not ready to love them.” P. 166
“The sun had been low on the horizon, and on the distant tundra a herd of bison were grazing the bitter subarctic bush.” P. 174
“But all that had happened concerned him less than the words of his lost poem.” P. 180
“Above the mists over the still water, an osprey circled like some omen in a shaman’s dream.” P. 181
“”I’m on a fast,” she said. “I require a vision.”” P. 185
“Someone somewhere had said of Rilke that if he had cut his chin shaving in the morning he would have bled poetry. Smart had once secretly though that was equally true of himself. P. 194
“”I admired these fish. Being finished, coming home. They had done what they were meant to do. Whereas I never had.” P. 213
“It made her impatient to be gone.” P. 218
“They were standing in the ladies’ room where dead Rowan sat, her father’s eyes preserved in blank surprise, slowly losing their luster.” P. 219
“”He wasn’t a bad guy,” John said. “He was a good poet.” …. “He wrote a poem about salmon I liked,” John said.” P. 220
“They became ghosts and their songs ghost songs. Teenagers in the Indian high school got drunk and died, disappeared forever, knowing hardly anything to sustain them in the ghost world.” P. 221
July 8, 2024
When I was a kid, I watched The Age of Innocence with my sweet Midwestern grandfather. We watched the ending scene in silence, a scene that is, perhaps, one of the most tragic moments realized on film. When the screen faded to black, my grandfather stood up. “Well!” he said, with his South Dakota twang, and left the room.
That was how I felt finishing Bear and His Daughter. “Well!” felt like the only appropriate reaction, somehow, as I shut the book and proceeded to stare into space.
This short story collection is dark and funny and twisted and depraved and poetic and poignant. Wrestling with themes of religion and masculinity and addiction, Bear and His Daughter is like if Jesus’ Son and A Good Man is Hard to Find had a baby, and that baby was raised by Charles Bukowski.
“Miserere” follows an uber-devout woman with a horrific past who recovers aborted fetuses and finds priests to bury them. This story is about as close to perfect as it gets, with a description of a dead family emerging from the ice like a “rat king,” one of the best paragraphs I’ve ever read.
“Absence of Mercy” follows a young man, raised by the system, who gets caught up in a perilous confrontation on the Subway. This one failed to grab me as much, perhaps because it felt unfocused, as though it was trying to cover too much. Stone is at his best when he captures small, breathtaking moments in time. He flails, just a bit, when he tries to grab onto sweeping personal narratives.
“Porque no Tiene, Porque le Falta” follows a loser poet in Mexico as he goes to explore a volcano with his degenerate friends. This one is a heart-stopping romp at times, but became a bit too esoteric for me. Still, this story cemented for me just how good Stone is with place with his gorgeous and self-assured descriptions of the Mexican landscape.
“Helping” follows a sober therapist as he tumbles into an epic relapse. This story rivals “Miserere” for me, bleak and heart-stopping with a vicious and powerful confrontation scene toward the end. When Stone gets two miserable people together for a fight, delightfully awful things happen.
“Under the Pitons” follows a chef piloting a ship for a drug scheme. This story is supposed to be Stone’s magnum opus, but it failed to grab me the way it did some people. The ending, of course, is pure magic, but it takes a while to get there. There’s a great villain, a wonderfully idiosyncratic love-interest. It simply meanders too long along the waves before things really get going.
“Aquarius Obscured” follows a drug-addicted mother as she goes to an aquarium and talks to a Nazi dolphin. By far the funniest story in the collection, this one is surreal while simultaneously managing to ground itself in an oddly terrifying sort of reality.
“Bear and His Daughter” takes us through the horrible reunion of a father and daughter. This could be the best story of the bunch. It’s meaningful, tense, heart-breaking, packed with poetry (literal and figurative), and enough history to fill a four-hundred page novel. I loved the characters. My heart broke at the end. Indeed, the final moment of “Bear and His Daughter” is breathtaking enough that all you can really do when you read the last line is say… “Well!”
That was how I felt finishing Bear and His Daughter. “Well!” felt like the only appropriate reaction, somehow, as I shut the book and proceeded to stare into space.
This short story collection is dark and funny and twisted and depraved and poetic and poignant. Wrestling with themes of religion and masculinity and addiction, Bear and His Daughter is like if Jesus’ Son and A Good Man is Hard to Find had a baby, and that baby was raised by Charles Bukowski.
“Miserere” follows an uber-devout woman with a horrific past who recovers aborted fetuses and finds priests to bury them. This story is about as close to perfect as it gets, with a description of a dead family emerging from the ice like a “rat king,” one of the best paragraphs I’ve ever read.
“Absence of Mercy” follows a young man, raised by the system, who gets caught up in a perilous confrontation on the Subway. This one failed to grab me as much, perhaps because it felt unfocused, as though it was trying to cover too much. Stone is at his best when he captures small, breathtaking moments in time. He flails, just a bit, when he tries to grab onto sweeping personal narratives.
“Porque no Tiene, Porque le Falta” follows a loser poet in Mexico as he goes to explore a volcano with his degenerate friends. This one is a heart-stopping romp at times, but became a bit too esoteric for me. Still, this story cemented for me just how good Stone is with place with his gorgeous and self-assured descriptions of the Mexican landscape.
“Helping” follows a sober therapist as he tumbles into an epic relapse. This story rivals “Miserere” for me, bleak and heart-stopping with a vicious and powerful confrontation scene toward the end. When Stone gets two miserable people together for a fight, delightfully awful things happen.
“Under the Pitons” follows a chef piloting a ship for a drug scheme. This story is supposed to be Stone’s magnum opus, but it failed to grab me the way it did some people. The ending, of course, is pure magic, but it takes a while to get there. There’s a great villain, a wonderfully idiosyncratic love-interest. It simply meanders too long along the waves before things really get going.
“Aquarius Obscured” follows a drug-addicted mother as she goes to an aquarium and talks to a Nazi dolphin. By far the funniest story in the collection, this one is surreal while simultaneously managing to ground itself in an oddly terrifying sort of reality.
“Bear and His Daughter” takes us through the horrible reunion of a father and daughter. This could be the best story of the bunch. It’s meaningful, tense, heart-breaking, packed with poetry (literal and figurative), and enough history to fill a four-hundred page novel. I loved the characters. My heart broke at the end. Indeed, the final moment of “Bear and His Daughter” is breathtaking enough that all you can really do when you read the last line is say… “Well!”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2019
Robert Stone was a brilliant author who delved into the dark side of human issues and had a particularly fine sense of men on the edge who were about to go off of the rails. This book of stories from his early days up until the late Nineties. For me, the stories which most hit home were two pieces which extended to novella length.
"Under the Pitons" is reminiscent of his wonderful novel Outerbridge Reach, owing to its setting on the ocean astride small, but deadly islands. The characters here on are a boat called Sans Regret and as the story begins, just narrowly dodge being crushed by a much bigger barge passing through dark in the night. The incident sets the tone as the 3rd person narration from the young Irish American, Blessington, exudes the feeling that he's on a cursed ship and doesn't particularly like any of his companions. A glimmer of hope emerges as they pass stunning island peaks called "the Pitons," but further complications ensue as they pass close to reefs and the locals want to come out and charge them for staying overnight by the isle. The stakes continue to rise and simple mistakes compound into an outcome none of them will want to face.
The title story is saved for last and is also powerful. The Bear is a man named Smart, who is a one time hot poet who is now on a tour of poetry readings through college towns. His daughter lives near the area of the tour and he is drawn to see her. She is Rowan. Of their family, she is the most like him and has the same look in her eyes. Throughout the story, Smart, the poet, tries to remembers lines from a poem he wrote about salmon, but he'd lost it somewhere, perhaps on a night when he'd been drunk. Now he can only recall snippets of words before they fade away. Like her father, Rowan is also drawn to edgy behaviors and isn't the sort of woman who easily settles down. She's a forest ranger, but that work is going away. Her companion, a Shoshone Indian named John, senses that the visit from the elder Smart will bring out the worst in both father and daughter. And so the stage is set for an encounter between Bear and his daughter. She finishes her work for the day, telling a metaphorical tale that scares the bejesus out of some visitors to the temple where she entertains visitors with a mix of history and tribal legends. Smart, the father, finally makes his way to the trailer where they lived. John senses that the mix of drinking and drugs between the two Smarts isn't a place he wants to be and leaves them. And the story continues as a combination of nightmares, love and poetry mix darkly as they push themselves via an unruly mix of wine and Rowan's speed into places they might both as soon forget.
"Under the Pitons" is reminiscent of his wonderful novel Outerbridge Reach, owing to its setting on the ocean astride small, but deadly islands. The characters here on are a boat called Sans Regret and as the story begins, just narrowly dodge being crushed by a much bigger barge passing through dark in the night. The incident sets the tone as the 3rd person narration from the young Irish American, Blessington, exudes the feeling that he's on a cursed ship and doesn't particularly like any of his companions. A glimmer of hope emerges as they pass stunning island peaks called "the Pitons," but further complications ensue as they pass close to reefs and the locals want to come out and charge them for staying overnight by the isle. The stakes continue to rise and simple mistakes compound into an outcome none of them will want to face.
The title story is saved for last and is also powerful. The Bear is a man named Smart, who is a one time hot poet who is now on a tour of poetry readings through college towns. His daughter lives near the area of the tour and he is drawn to see her. She is Rowan. Of their family, she is the most like him and has the same look in her eyes. Throughout the story, Smart, the poet, tries to remembers lines from a poem he wrote about salmon, but he'd lost it somewhere, perhaps on a night when he'd been drunk. Now he can only recall snippets of words before they fade away. Like her father, Rowan is also drawn to edgy behaviors and isn't the sort of woman who easily settles down. She's a forest ranger, but that work is going away. Her companion, a Shoshone Indian named John, senses that the visit from the elder Smart will bring out the worst in both father and daughter. And so the stage is set for an encounter between Bear and his daughter. She finishes her work for the day, telling a metaphorical tale that scares the bejesus out of some visitors to the temple where she entertains visitors with a mix of history and tribal legends. Smart, the father, finally makes his way to the trailer where they lived. John senses that the mix of drinking and drugs between the two Smarts isn't a place he wants to be and leaves them. And the story continues as a combination of nightmares, love and poetry mix darkly as they push themselves via an unruly mix of wine and Rowan's speed into places they might both as soon forget.
July 26, 2021
Wow - what a hard, harrowing collection. Several years after reading and re-reading these tales, a fair part of them are still in my mind. Stone shows here that he can shock and thought-provoke just as effectively in short-form fiction as in the novels for which he is better known. The stories that stick with me most are the first and last; the former about a character (can't remember exactly who she is) who provides some dignity to aborted fetuses and the last, the novella-length title story about the harrowing reunion of a father and daughter in a Rocky Mountain state. The title tale reveals Stone to be a more-than-passable poet - I found the fictional father character's poetry as rendered by Stone more readable and evocative than the works of many actual poets! Other highlights of the collection that are still with me are the tragic fate (or did they deserve it?) of a bunch of drug-runners in the Caribbean and the hallucinations of a disturbed young woman at an aquarium where she imagines a dolphin talks to her. Sure there are other parts of the book that aren't with me any more, but the fact that so much of it does stick with me so long after I read it shows how good it is.
December 13, 2025
Bear and His Daughter by Robert Stone has been nominated for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winner...
10 out of 10
Robert Stone is the magician who has written two masterpieces – Dog Soldiers http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/03/d... and A flag for Sunrise http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/02/a... - and a very good opus, Bear and his Daughter, from which a few short stories stand out, Under the Pitons, Miserere and Helping
Bear and His Daughter, the narrative that gives the title to the collection, Will Smart is the main character, a poet struggling with alcohol and to some extent drug addiction, midway (or with hindsight, at the end of a) through a six-college reading tour of the mountain states (now that is the first I hear of this, knowing of southern, bible belt, red states) for each reading he was to be paid two thousand dollars…
One of the major poems, the one John Hears the Sun Come Up loves, is celebrating the salmon that travel two hundred miles from the sea, to return to the place where they were spawned to die, and where an incredible number pf gulls, eagles and other birds and predators wait to feat on them…incidentally, an article in The Economist looked at the energy consumed by bears when fishing, they need to spend less in getting their prey than what they get once they have made their kill, otherwise they collapse…
Some of the ‘events’ are hazy, for instance – it is not clear how and why they take the poet from the gambling room (unless of course it is because he had been winning and they want to end that series) and the two guards are quite violent and vicious, threatening the man with jail and further repercussions (why is that, what did he do…I have no idea)…the anti-hero has had a breakdown and a traffic accident…
However, the most gruesome, ghastly revelation (spoiler alert) refers to the incest he had committed while intoxicated, perhaps under the influence of both drink and drugs (his Daughter, as in Bear and His Daughter, says to John Hears the Sun Come Up that her parent could do a kilo of substance, while others would get down on a gram) the fact is that he does not appear to remember, though this could be because he is high ‘now’
John Hears the Sun Come Up is a Shoshone from the reservation, a colleague of Bear’s Daughter, who shares a trail with her and tries to make her see sense, for she had been in trouble, she has inherited from her father a predilection for substance abuse and drink – studies show that we inherit a lot from our parents and relatives, even the tendency to watch a certain amount of time the television shows is transmitted apparently – and had been in trouble before, once she has been in an incident mentioned by the sheriff
Rowan, Bear’s Daughter, had been riding a pony calf half to death, under the influence…she has her name from a tree and has poetic inclinations, she is known as a woman with a Ph. D. (which she denies having, in front of sheriff Max Peterson, explain she had not finished her thesis) and the smartest around, but her behavior is worse than erratic and extravagant, she is outright dangerous and we are about to see how lost she is…
A simplistic conclusion, reduction ad absurdum, would be that this is a plea for a clean life, since we can learn at least that from the catastrophe that hits two very talented people, Bear and His Daughter, the former a celebrated poet, the latter a promising one, a young, handsome woman…so attractive that she gets a lecture…
Feminist and MeToo supporters (maybe the two groups would be one and the same, though the latter could presumably include men, if they are allowed I guess to participate) would find the speech of the sheriff lamentable and objectionable, ostensibly, for he tells Rowan she should wear something less provocative than the clothing she has on, the boots and that would mean intruding in her right to dress as she likes…
Nonetheless, that would not be a problem for the distant future, seeing as tragedy would strike so soon, perhaps following the Chekhov precept – if you show a gun in act one, be sure you use it by the end of the play…something to that effect – and before closing in on this story, to add just a few words on another in the collection, let me refer to the creationists who visit the park where Rowan had been a ranger, surely Trump voters who feel that they need some presentation which would give the history of the planet as limited to the few thousand years and the week that their Literal god needed to finish all the planet and beings on it…
Under the Pitons reminds the under signed of the sublime A Flag For Sunrise and one very interesting idea to keep from it is the proposal that one Vincentian has, namely that to understand is ‘lame and weak and we should Overstand instead’, then we also have another memorable statement, The Caribbean islands and around them only have sucking stuff, turn-ons and illusions in sugar, cocaine, tobacco, ganja...
Four people travel on the French boat named Sans Regret, after they had all invested twenty thousand dollars in an illegal drug smuggling operation, in which they had transacted with three Vincentians, one of them taking the Texan model Gillian with him to spend the night and share the aforementioned Over-stand philosophy, after which he returned the girl with ‘wan’ have she back, mon’
Liam Blessington is the Irish man who would be the central character and Gillian his designated girlfriend for the trip, and he does not like her for a while, until he is thinking of marrying her, if they survive, which will be a major challenge, seeing as the cargo they have is dangerous, the French man who sails with them is both abhorrent and wild and they have people patrolling the waters, to get the money, drugs and eventually kill those who smuggle it…this is a wonderful short story, which confirms Robert Stone as a stupendous writer
10 out of 10
Robert Stone is the magician who has written two masterpieces – Dog Soldiers http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/03/d... and A flag for Sunrise http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/02/a... - and a very good opus, Bear and his Daughter, from which a few short stories stand out, Under the Pitons, Miserere and Helping
Bear and His Daughter, the narrative that gives the title to the collection, Will Smart is the main character, a poet struggling with alcohol and to some extent drug addiction, midway (or with hindsight, at the end of a) through a six-college reading tour of the mountain states (now that is the first I hear of this, knowing of southern, bible belt, red states) for each reading he was to be paid two thousand dollars…
One of the major poems, the one John Hears the Sun Come Up loves, is celebrating the salmon that travel two hundred miles from the sea, to return to the place where they were spawned to die, and where an incredible number pf gulls, eagles and other birds and predators wait to feat on them…incidentally, an article in The Economist looked at the energy consumed by bears when fishing, they need to spend less in getting their prey than what they get once they have made their kill, otherwise they collapse…
Some of the ‘events’ are hazy, for instance – it is not clear how and why they take the poet from the gambling room (unless of course it is because he had been winning and they want to end that series) and the two guards are quite violent and vicious, threatening the man with jail and further repercussions (why is that, what did he do…I have no idea)…the anti-hero has had a breakdown and a traffic accident…
However, the most gruesome, ghastly revelation (spoiler alert) refers to the incest he had committed while intoxicated, perhaps under the influence of both drink and drugs (his Daughter, as in Bear and His Daughter, says to John Hears the Sun Come Up that her parent could do a kilo of substance, while others would get down on a gram) the fact is that he does not appear to remember, though this could be because he is high ‘now’
John Hears the Sun Come Up is a Shoshone from the reservation, a colleague of Bear’s Daughter, who shares a trail with her and tries to make her see sense, for she had been in trouble, she has inherited from her father a predilection for substance abuse and drink – studies show that we inherit a lot from our parents and relatives, even the tendency to watch a certain amount of time the television shows is transmitted apparently – and had been in trouble before, once she has been in an incident mentioned by the sheriff
Rowan, Bear’s Daughter, had been riding a pony calf half to death, under the influence…she has her name from a tree and has poetic inclinations, she is known as a woman with a Ph. D. (which she denies having, in front of sheriff Max Peterson, explain she had not finished her thesis) and the smartest around, but her behavior is worse than erratic and extravagant, she is outright dangerous and we are about to see how lost she is…
A simplistic conclusion, reduction ad absurdum, would be that this is a plea for a clean life, since we can learn at least that from the catastrophe that hits two very talented people, Bear and His Daughter, the former a celebrated poet, the latter a promising one, a young, handsome woman…so attractive that she gets a lecture…
Feminist and MeToo supporters (maybe the two groups would be one and the same, though the latter could presumably include men, if they are allowed I guess to participate) would find the speech of the sheriff lamentable and objectionable, ostensibly, for he tells Rowan she should wear something less provocative than the clothing she has on, the boots and that would mean intruding in her right to dress as she likes…
Nonetheless, that would not be a problem for the distant future, seeing as tragedy would strike so soon, perhaps following the Chekhov precept – if you show a gun in act one, be sure you use it by the end of the play…something to that effect – and before closing in on this story, to add just a few words on another in the collection, let me refer to the creationists who visit the park where Rowan had been a ranger, surely Trump voters who feel that they need some presentation which would give the history of the planet as limited to the few thousand years and the week that their Literal god needed to finish all the planet and beings on it…
Under the Pitons reminds the under signed of the sublime A Flag For Sunrise and one very interesting idea to keep from it is the proposal that one Vincentian has, namely that to understand is ‘lame and weak and we should Overstand instead’, then we also have another memorable statement, The Caribbean islands and around them only have sucking stuff, turn-ons and illusions in sugar, cocaine, tobacco, ganja...
Four people travel on the French boat named Sans Regret, after they had all invested twenty thousand dollars in an illegal drug smuggling operation, in which they had transacted with three Vincentians, one of them taking the Texan model Gillian with him to spend the night and share the aforementioned Over-stand philosophy, after which he returned the girl with ‘wan’ have she back, mon’
Liam Blessington is the Irish man who would be the central character and Gillian his designated girlfriend for the trip, and he does not like her for a while, until he is thinking of marrying her, if they survive, which will be a major challenge, seeing as the cargo they have is dangerous, the French man who sails with them is both abhorrent and wild and they have people patrolling the waters, to get the money, drugs and eventually kill those who smuggle it…this is a wonderful short story, which confirms Robert Stone as a stupendous writer
February 6, 2025
I wasn't ready for this book. I secured it after reading flag for sunrise a second time and then read a chapter in the Robert Stone bio about Mexico which hinted that there was more to be read in the short story PORQUE NO TIENE, PORQUE NO FALTA, which was to be found in this collection. That story turns out to be one of the weakest in this group though it does cover drug paranoia pretty well. UNDER THE PITONS is also about Paranoia -- in fact paranoia, moral decay, delusion and physical survival are like stock characters in these stories and Robert Stone in general -- and is very familiar as a sketch for a Flag for Sunrise, I didn't read them in order but the order I did read them in seemed to progress into darker and darker territory, which is odd because the last two I read were first the last and last the first... so it starts super dark. But all these stories are remarkable. I feel like HELPING and PNT, PNF needed stronger endings, but the characters are great. My favorites were PITONS, ABSCENSE OF MERCY, and the oddball AQUARIUS OBSCURED, which is actually funny if you can find humor in mental illness. Overall the stories are pretty dark and fairly depressing but true and compelling. Not light reading, but if you can get past the first story in terms of subject, you will be fine for the experience.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2021
I don't know if twisted is the right word to describe these stories but it's what came to mind as I was reading them. I mean it in a good way though, because these were exceptionally well written stories about people, mostly drug addicted, living on the edges of society. The best stories in the book were: "Porque No Tiene, Porque Le Falta" about a man reluctantly taking a ride with two men to see a volcano and "Under the Pitons" about a group of misfits on a yacht. A great book if you like dark twisted stories.
January 18, 2022
the first robert stone i ever read was “helping” (available here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/19...). i read an interview with david berman where he said he read the story once a year. it’s probably my favorite story in this collection, though all of the stories were very good. i loved “under the pitons” and “aquarius obscured.” stone has become one of my favorite authors over the past couple years and i’ve given copies of “dog soldiers” to a few people. if you’re interested in checking him out, “dog soldiers” and “helping” are good places to start.
November 24, 2023
I like his novels, even though they are flawed to me. This short story collection is disappointing and depressing. Drugs, religion, and crazy druggy people. Stone writes what he knows. He survived the drug scene of the 60's but is not at all happy about it. Reading this in 2023, it seems very dated.
June 19, 2025
I ought to probably rate the book higher for the quality of Stone's prose, but the endless fascination with people ruining their lives through drugs, alcohol, and abuse became wearisome. I wonder whether the poems produced by the main character in the title story were intentionally awful.
August 7, 2017
I hadn't heard of Robert Stone until someone sent me this book. I liked some of the stories. I didn't finish the one about the volcano.
October 30, 2020
Classic Stone. Very visceral; exposes the ragged edges of human behavior.
September 7, 2022
Personal favourites: Absence of Mercy, Under the Pitons, Bear and His Daughter.
Want to read
January 16, 2023Read so far:
Miserere
Absence of mercy
*Porque no tiene, porque le falta
*Helping
*Under the pitons
*Aquarius obscured
Bear and his daughter
Miserere
Absence of mercy
*Porque no tiene, porque le falta
*Helping
*Under the pitons
*Aquarius obscured
Bear and his daughter
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews