Heart Songs and Other Stories
by Annie Proulx
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Book Summary Information
Author: Annie ProulxEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1995-03-17
ISBN: 0020360754
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Scribner
Book Reviews of Heart Songs and Other Stories
Book Review: Beautiful Beyond Description
Summary: 5 Stars
Annie Proulx might just be one of the best short story writers living today. "Heart Songs", which was published in 1995. is a jarring and heartfelt forecast of what was to come. For in these eleven stories, Annie Proulx polished her unique talent for storytelling that involves creating oddly familiar worlds and setting expectations on end.
The eleven stories that make up "Heart Songs" are concentrated around blue-collar New England landscapes, but their subjects are universal in nature, extending far beyond that limited scope. They are stories of revenge and greed, love and hate, pride and passion. One of the standouts in the collection is "Bedrock", the tale of an aging farmer who marries an abusive younger wife. Just when the reader thinks they know how to feel about the main character, Proulx turns their world upside down. The title piece, "Heart Songs" is about a do-nothing drifter named Snipe whose newest passion is playing the guitar. He stumbles upon a family of musicians who play songs he has never heard before, awakening music within in but with the possible cost of harming the family ties. "A Country Killing" has a gruesome beginning, with two Jehovah's witnesses discovering a grisly murder, but offers readers a subtly shocking ending. In a collection of eleven outstanding stories it is truly difficult to pick out a few that stand out from everything else.
There are moments in these stories that are laugh-out-loud funny and others where Proulx has poetically captured the bleak misery of poverty and loss that readers must pause before being able to read on. Her characters are familiar yet enigmatic, and her writing is effortless, sprinkled with vivid images; words come to life in her hands. "Heart Songs" is a truly remarkable collection of short stories, a primer not only on how stories should be written but also an exploration of the darkest recesses of the human heart.
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