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Rust and Bone: Stories
by Craig Davidson
Stories from the Standing Eight Count
A review by Anya C. Yurchyshyn
Every story in Rust and Bone, the debut collection by Canadian author Craig Davidson, is about fighting. His characters are beat up, beat down, attacked by dogs, abandoned by their parents, ignored by their children. Even the stories that don't feature deadly boxing matches are still filled with loss. A toddler falls through an icy lake, a prize dog is ripped to pieces.
Davidson's prose, a gritty staccato of brutal language, is at home in the world of tough guy fight literature. He's great for blood and hopelessness. But he doesn't have the depth of Thom Jones or the humor and social commentary of Chuck Palahniuk, and he flounders a bit when dealing with intimate relationships or emotional complexities.
So don't read Davidson for the warm fuzzy stuff, read him for the pain. His best stories blindside you and leave you gasping for breath. But you read on, peeking through your fingers, because despite all carnage, you kinda like hanging out with his band of losers, and you want to know what happens to them next.
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