A wonderful collection, full of barreling energy and vitality. A brave and precise writer, Ruland explores violence without flinching, and even locates the genuine humor sometimes latent in it. A range of styles keeps this collection feeling fresh and witty. "Kessler Has No Lucky Pants" uses a Q & A format to marvelous effect, while the concise "The Hitman's Handbook" features a mob rub-out from several different points of view. Several stories take genre material -- mobsters, fairy tales, Western desperadoes -- and spin literature out of it. The most striking example is "Red Cap", a pitiless descent into a young girl's experience of war. The writing is inspiring; Ruland never commits a cliche.
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Big Lonesome by Jim Ruland
Pamela Erens, June 18, 2007
A wonderful collection, full of barreling energy and vitality. A brave and precise writer, Ruland explores violence without flinching, and even locates the genuine humor sometimes latent in it. A range of styles keeps this collection feeling fresh and witty. "Kessler Has No Lucky Pants" uses a Q & A format to marvelous effect, while the concise "The Hitman's Handbook" features a mob rub-out from several different points of view. Several stories take genre material -- mobsters, fairy tales, Western desperadoes -- and spin literature out of it. The most striking example is "Red Cap", a pitiless descent into a young girl's experience of war. The writing is inspiring; Ruland never commits a cliche.(2 of 5 readers found this comment helpful)