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Dog on the Cross
A man miraculously survives a fall from the eighth floor of a drilling rig but is ever after plagued by an unwillingness to live. A preacher loses his ability to speak in tongues and begins to fake it. A young man is intent on suppressing his sinful love for his best friend even though he can think of nothing else. A teenage boy struggles with the temptation of a young girl. A grandmother will stop at nothing to make her grandson famous. These are some of the good citizens of Perser, Oklahoma. And in Aaron Gwyn's debut collection, the people of Perser are unpredictable and unforgettable as they struggle with lapses into sin during the week a young faith healer comes to town.
In his careful articulation of faith and doubt, sin and self-delusion, allegiance to the church and self-glorification, Gwyn reveals himself as a writer of great heart and complexity, creating a world that burns with pain, love, and an odd kind of devotion.
In his careful articulation of faith and doubt, sin and self-delusion, allegiance to the church and self-glorification, Gwyn reveals himself as a writer of great heart and complexity, creating a world that burns with pain, love, and an odd kind of devotion.
- GenresFictionShort Stories
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 2004
10 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Gwyn
14 books80 followersAaron Gwyn was raised on a cattle ranch in rural Oklahoma. He is the author of a story collection, Dog on the Cross (finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award), and two novels, The World Beneath (W.W. Norton), and Wynne’s War (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). His short stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in Esquire, McSweeney’s, Glimmer Train, The Missouri Review, Gettysburg Review, and New Stories from the South. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina where he is an associate professor of English at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 25, 2023
These stories will crush you. Each one focuses on different citizens of a small Oklahoma town, each one building on the other until you reach the final tale, the titular Dog on the Cross. Each one is a heartbreaking and often times horrifying look at a Christ-haunted town. A fantastic read, one I highly recommend.
July 23, 2018
4.5 Stars. I was blown away by this collection of short stories. I'm not sure how I ended up checking it out as it isn't the kind of book I go looking for but I'm sure glad I did. Each story stands on its own and yet is enriched by having read the other stories in the collection. All of the stories take place in and around the same Pentecostal church in rural Kansas with several characters making more than one appearance. I think the way the stories are ordered is just about perfect. All of the stories invite discussion.
My favorite story in the collection is "The Offering" about what happens when a woman looses the one thing that she feels connects her most to her faith. Standing on its own, it is easy to see this as a story warning against pride. Not being familiar with the Penticostal faith I didn't really appreciate the ending until I read "In Tongues" which is almost a companion piece as it too deals with loosing one's special connection to god and suddenly the ending of "The Offering" took on a much more sinister note.
The blurb is suitably vague enough that it is not easy to tell if this is a collection for a believer but by the end it is pretty clear that the author hasn't set out to put their faith in the best possible light, which in its self is probably something of an understatement. As an Atheist I found the characters not entirely unsympathetic and the themes thought provoking.
I definitely want to read more by this author.
My favorite story in the collection is "The Offering" about what happens when a woman looses the one thing that she feels connects her most to her faith. Standing on its own, it is easy to see this as a story warning against pride. Not being familiar with the Penticostal faith I didn't really appreciate the ending until I read "In Tongues" which is almost a companion piece as it too deals with loosing one's special connection to god and suddenly the ending of "The Offering" took on a much more sinister note.
The blurb is suitably vague enough that it is not easy to tell if this is a collection for a believer but by the end it is pretty clear that the author hasn't set out to put their faith in the best possible light, which in its self is probably something of an understatement. As an Atheist I found the characters not entirely unsympathetic and the themes thought provoking.
I definitely want to read more by this author.
December 12, 2014
Stories that stick with you. Lauded with Tom Franklin praise on the front cover. I picked this one up and found the stories to be sophisticated and true. It's the best collection I read in 2014!
January 15, 2025
Really strong writing in this loosely interconnected set of stories about characters struggling for some sort of revival, making their way in a world awash in heat, duty (to others, to their God, to the limits of their own bodies) and Pentecostal fervor. I’ll admit to wishing I had a better immediate connection of what happened when, to the point where I wondered if this wouldn’t be even better as a novel, but there are still several enjoyable pieces here. Personal favorites: Of Falling, The Offering, Against the Pricks and Truck.
February 28, 2020
Short stories aren’t always my favorite but I really loved this book and how the characters intertwined. There were some chapters I wanted the story to continue. It was easy to get into the characters and relate to them.
July 11, 2014
Perhaps the most delightful thing about a book like this is the opportunity to read material formerly scattered all over the country in wonderful literary magazines. Published, but not really available because who can subscribe to, much less read, all those periodicals? Add in the fact that while large amounts of fine writing appears in these forums, so does a whole raft of dreck.
The hey day of American short story writing has long since passed in terms of availability and popularity. Fortunately, the quality of short fiction being written has blossomed, and the variety is as great as that on a mountain side covered with wild flowers.
Aaron Gwyn has given us eight glimpses into the heart of Pentecostal America. Whether intended or not, we also see into the hearts and minds of religious fanatics everywhere. For in all these stories the religion runs strong and deep, forging distances and chains unseen by most, like the worms that eat the hearts and colonize the brains of the intolerant but blissful everywhere.
From the day George Crider's brother dies, on page one, to the night Gerald Martin can not find something to shoot on the last page, Gwyn and his people keep us enthralled.
Highly Recommended.
The hey day of American short story writing has long since passed in terms of availability and popularity. Fortunately, the quality of short fiction being written has blossomed, and the variety is as great as that on a mountain side covered with wild flowers.
Aaron Gwyn has given us eight glimpses into the heart of Pentecostal America. Whether intended or not, we also see into the hearts and minds of religious fanatics everywhere. For in all these stories the religion runs strong and deep, forging distances and chains unseen by most, like the worms that eat the hearts and colonize the brains of the intolerant but blissful everywhere.
From the day George Crider's brother dies, on page one, to the night Gerald Martin can not find something to shoot on the last page, Gwyn and his people keep us enthralled.
Highly Recommended.
July 22, 2015
A 4.5
I have never heard Aaron Gwyn speak, but I can hear his voice when I read. His narration is so strong, I can hear the book being read to me. His prose is simple, but driving. His stories flash into existence. His characters instantly seem like real people.
I recently read Annie Proulx’s “The Shipping News,” and I was reminded of a similar theme in this book. Outsiders are easy to blame for anything that goes wrong, but often the evils inside are greater. Whether the inside is a small community, or in a person’s heart. The more we focus on the sliver in someone else’s eye, the easier it is to ignore the plank in our own.
All of the stories included in the book were very good. No weak links. I think Courtship and Truck were my favorites.
I am a little sad that Gwyn only has one other book that I have not read. The power of his writing stays with me, long after I am done reading his books.
I have never heard Aaron Gwyn speak, but I can hear his voice when I read. His narration is so strong, I can hear the book being read to me. His prose is simple, but driving. His stories flash into existence. His characters instantly seem like real people.
I recently read Annie Proulx’s “The Shipping News,” and I was reminded of a similar theme in this book. Outsiders are easy to blame for anything that goes wrong, but often the evils inside are greater. Whether the inside is a small community, or in a person’s heart. The more we focus on the sliver in someone else’s eye, the easier it is to ignore the plank in our own.
All of the stories included in the book were very good. No weak links. I think Courtship and Truck were my favorites.
I am a little sad that Gwyn only has one other book that I have not read. The power of his writing stays with me, long after I am done reading his books.
September 8, 2013
I would place these stories within the Southern grotesque tradition, and as others have pointed out, Gwyn's style is reminiscent of Hemingway. Fans of Flannery O'Conner will certainly enjoy this collection because it examines faith within a Southern Protestant setting, a setting rather familiar to the author.
Several of the stories are quite memorable for their bizarre content and haunting feel. My favorite story was "The Backsliders," which was one of the few that took place outside the confines of the First Pentecostal Church, but involved several church members. The stories are loosely connected, and major characters in one story make minor appearances in others. When I finished reading the book, I continued to imagine the ways in which these lives intersected in the small town of Perser, Oklahoma.
Several of the stories are quite memorable for their bizarre content and haunting feel. My favorite story was "The Backsliders," which was one of the few that took place outside the confines of the First Pentecostal Church, but involved several church members. The stories are loosely connected, and major characters in one story make minor appearances in others. When I finished reading the book, I continued to imagine the ways in which these lives intersected in the small town of Perser, Oklahoma.
February 14, 2008
Gwyn's style is very macho, sparse - think Hemingway in Oklahoma. This collection of linked stories centers around a small town and, even more so, on the members of the local pentacostal church and the week a teenage preacher comes to town for the church's revival, his creepy grandmother guardian ever-present. Think Flannery O'Connor's southern gothic, William Faulkner without the booze. And apparently his Gone: A Novel is forthcoming from W.W. Norton.
August 8, 2013
The author really nails the gothic nature of small town Oklahoma centered around the odd little Pentecostal Church. From the pastor who loses the "gift" to the odd stilted relation with sex the sparse and darkly viewed insights are fascinating.
March 21, 2012
Great semi-interconnected stories. Sparse but precise prose, and the unique strangeness of the American south.
June 10, 2013
Gwyn gives insight to a world and a lifestyle that is totally different from what the majority of people experience.
February 26, 2014
Each short story is excellent alone. Collectively, they devastate.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews