I had heard that the author had written some good stories, so gave this a try, the author’s first book. I read the first three including the title story. They are straightforward in their telling, but I didn’t find much meaning in them. I guess his more famous stories came later. ( )

This is my first time reading Rick Bass and I’m pretty glad to have found him. Bass writes really well about people, and nature. Both are difficult to do. There is magic in the stories, a hint of the tall tale, a touch of myth. A giant bass that lives in a sunken Volkswagen in a deep backyard pool. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how deep.” A man with a bad heart that decides to ride a moose. Things like that.

His characters are sometimes young men needing a friend and looking up to older men. Or older men needing a friend. Or men in love with unobtainable women. He even touches on the difficulty of attaining success as a writer. “Most people stop wanting to be a writer around the age of 16.”

There’s a sense of sweetness and the wonder of life. Here’s a sentence from Mississippi, a story of love of a state, and a fat girl: “When she kissed you it was like going swimming in the ocean on a hot day with a bunch of people standing around applauding.” ( )