Anthony’s Reviews > Pump Six and Other Stories > Status Update

Read “Pump Six,” which is the only piece of Bacigalupi’s I’ve read that is written in the first person. It’s also by far his zippiest story, with a welcome goofball energy.

Read “Softer,” a dark, brief portrait of a man in a particularly nasty moment.

Read “Yellow Card Man” a second time, and was once again knocked out by it. Bacigalupi at his brutally clear-eyed best.

Bacigalupi’s writing is almost always pretty grim, but “Pop Squad” is VERY grim. Hauntingly effective.

Read “The Tamarisk Hunter,” a disturbingly plausible portrait of folks caught in a water rights battle during a huge drought in a near-future American West.

Read “The Calorie Man,” which I’d read 5 years ago, and which remains a fantastic introduction to Bacigalupi’s Windup universe.

Read “Pasho,” a very satisfying tale of what happens when new knowledge goes face to face with tradition.

Read “The Fluted Girl,” which, though it’s not set in the same universe at The Windup Girl, feels like it’s got seeds of some of the ideas Bacigalupi brought forth in that wonderful novel.

Read “Pocketful of Dharma,” set in a convincingly drawn future Chengdu, and featuring a wonderfully compelling protagonist