- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Picador; New Ed edition (15 Jun 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330441817
- ISBN-13: 978-0330441810
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 848,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
In prose so clean it has been stripped down to the bone, Craig Davidson gives us the demimonde of dogfights, bar brawls, and washed-up boxers that Hemingway first brought into our literature. . . . Davidson . . . is a writer of immense power and surprising, accurate insights. -- Peter Straub
Sunday Times
‘Craig Davidson is a young writer who already displays the sure-footedness of a pro'
--This text refers to an alternate
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When you see a book by a young new author has received acclaim from literary heavyweights like Thom Jones, Chuck Palahniuk, and Bret Easton Ellis (and Clive Barker, and Peter Straub, and…well, you get my point), you may tend, like me, to be initially excited but then approach the work with an air of guarded skepticism. After all, we live in an era of disproportionate hype where talk show hosts sell us fraudulent memoirs and publishers care more about marketing platforms than a book’s content.
But please, drop your guard this time. Forget the hype. Just buy this book and read the whirlwind opener (also titled “Rust and Bone”) and try to tell me this Davidson guy isn’t the real deal. And realize that the “hype” is anything but- people are excited because Craig Davidson has delivered an utter knockout of a first book.
The cover might indicate that this is a collection of hard-edged pugilistic tales, but Davidson’s range goes far beyond the confines of the ring. In fact, only three of the stories deal centrally with organized combat (boxing, dog fighting, kickboxing) and Davidson proves adept at putting you right in the middle of the sweat and fatigue, the blood and the shattered bones. His delivery of the fight material is a wonderful mesh of passion and sharp technical description that had me cringing one moment, thrilled the next. And in each of those stories there are emotional conflicts that make those battles in the ring mean so much more than the pounding of flesh on flesh.
The other stories deal out different shades of conflict- a man’s desire to live vicariously through his son while battling alcoholism, a man coping with losing a limb to a killer whale, magician’s children dealing with an absent father, a sex addict coming to terms with his desires, and a repo man trying to reclaim the wife he’s losing to a degenerative illness. Each deals with its characters in a way that renders them surprisingly sympathetic. Two of the stories, “Rust and Bone” and “On Sleepless Roads,” were so emotionally effective that they lingered in my mind days after reading them.
Davidson’s prose is lean and efficient with the occasional stylistic flourish (in particular when describing settings) and his story setups are intriguing. His characters-the husbands and wives and brawlers and strugglers- have heart. And the sense of hope in defiance of all struggle that Davidson leaves you with make this a Must Read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I didn't know what to expect from this book, having not heard of the author prior to reading it. I also wasn't (at the time) a huge fan of short story collections. However, Craig Davidson's prose is mindblowingly crisp and evocative, and the stories themselves are gripping and well-told. From the first story onwards, the book is simply a joy to read. Buy this alongside "Natasha: And Other Stories" by David Bezmozgis and discover exactly how good the short story can be.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
i got this book because it was recommended by bret easton ellis. It was cheap and to be honest i wasn't expecting much as I'd never even heard of Craig Davidson before. I was very pleasantly surprised. The book is a collection of short stories, some of which are connected by characters.
The stories are often bleak and always gritty with desperate realism but the prose used is beautiful which in contrast makes the horrible things that happen even worse. Topics including dog fighting, boxing and basketball are used as a backdrop to the characters disintergrating relationships and minds, obsessions to the point of madness and violence.
The book is brilliant. If you like Chuck Palahniuk or Easton Ellis, you'll probably like this. The stories are relatively short but deep in detail so I never felt short-changed or bored. I look forward to reading other stories by this author. Take a chance and get this book. It's a gem. Thank you.
The stories are often bleak and always gritty with desperate realism but the prose used is beautiful which in contrast makes the horrible things that happen even worse. Topics including dog fighting, boxing and basketball are used as a backdrop to the characters disintergrating relationships and minds, obsessions to the point of madness and violence.
The book is brilliant. If you like Chuck Palahniuk or Easton Ellis, you'll probably like this. The stories are relatively short but deep in detail so I never felt short-changed or bored. I look forward to reading other stories by this author. Take a chance and get this book. It's a gem. Thank you.
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