[.ca] Still Wild: Short Fiction of the American West 1950 to ... (ISBN 0684868830)

From Amazon.com:
In Still Wild: Short Fiction of the American West, 1950 to the Present, Larry McMurtry gives us a depleted West. The West of McMurtry's own writing is wildly various, filled with dead ends and bright ideas, lonesome cowboys and garrulous socialites. In the 20 stories he's chosen for this anthology, it is instead an undifferentiated territory of losers: you've got your sad sacks, your screwups, your lost souls. The lucky have all gone to live somewhere else. In any anthology, there is usually one story that rolls up its sleeves and clobbers all the others. Here it is Annie Proulx's haunting "Brokeback Mountain," the secret history of two male ranch workers who fall in love and carry on a life-long affair. Her opener also happens to give a perfect view of the landscape found in this collection: "They were raised on small, poor ranches in opposite corners of the state, Jack Twist in Lightning Flat, up on the Montana border, Ennis del Mar from around Sage, near the Utah line, both high-school drop-out country boys with no prospects, brought up to hard work and privation, both rough-mannered, rough-spoken, inured to the stoic life." Sometimes the poverty is slicked up with romance, as in Jack Kerouac's "The Mexican Girl," a lightning-hot excerpt from On the Road: "Terry and Raymond sat in the grass; we had grapes. In California you chew the juice out of the grapes and spit the skin and pits away, the gist of the grape is always wine. Nightfall came. Terry went home for supper and came to the barn at nine o'clock with my secret supper of delicious tortillas and mashed beans. I lit a wood fire on the cement floor of the barn to make light. We made love on the crates." We read of Wallace Stegner's Saskatchewan, Richard Ford's Wyoming, Mark Jude Poirier's suburban Tucson. Each story thoughtfully renders disappointment. Proulx's Jack Twist says it best: "Nothin never come to my hand the right way." The writing is above reproach, the stories are compelling, but by the end of the book they seem to be all the same story. Surely the West is bigger than this. --Claire Dederer

the west is the best!:
"Still Wild" kicks ass. Those of us from the west think McMurty did an amazing job culling through countless stories to bring us the best in the west. From Poirier's Cul-de-sacs to Proulx's Brokeback Mountain, this collection of short fiction is a pleasure to read and well worth the cover price!

This collection has the best variety of styles I've seen!:
I thought this collection had such a wonderful range of writing styles. Most collections are too much in the style of one person's taste, but this book is able to rise above that. McMurtry really knows how to cover all of the artistic styles out there. My favorite in here was the story by Mark Jude Poirier. He has a novel called Goats that just came out, which is definitely worth checking out. I also liked Diana Ossana's story in here.

Never been west, but now I want to go....:
I bought this book mainly because I'm curious about what's west of where I grew up: Wisconsin. What amazing writers are in this collection!!! All different points of view, but compelling and interesting. I especially liked Jon Billman and Diana Ossana's stories, two writers I'd not heard of. I hope to see more of their work. Who knows the west better than Mr. Lonesome Dove?! Buy it, read it, you won't be sorry.

Excellent read for those who have been or never been west:
I bought this book hoping to find two or three stories to pique my interest, but read it cover to cover and was not at all disappointed. Intelligent, inspired, lively, entertaining, funny, sad--just like life. If you read McMurtry's own fiction and enjoy it, this is a must-read for you!!! At least five stars. Take a chance, you won't be disappointed....

A great read for anyone who's ever or never been west...:
I bought this book hoping to find three or four stories to pique my imagination; instead, I started reading from beginning and didn't stop until I finished with Annie Proulx's BROKEBACK. These stories were reminiscent of McMurtry's own writing: profound, simple, funny, heartbreaking and totally engaging. Right on the money. The only thing I agree with Kirists about is that I wish some of them had been longer....A GREAT COLLECTION!!!