Imprint
- Sceptre
- Sceptre
Fiction, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Short stories
From the author of WINTER'S BONE, twelve timeless Ozarkian tales of those on the fringes of society, by the 'least known major writer in the country today' (Denis Lehane, USA Today)
Daniel Woodrell is able to lend uncanny logic to harsh, even criminal, behaviour in his wrenching first collection of short fiction. Desperation - both material and psychological - motivates his characters. A husband cruelly avenges the murder of his wife's pet; an injured rapist is cared for by a young girl, until she reaches breaking point; a disturbed veteran of Iraq is murdered for his erratic behaviour; an outsider's house is set on fire by an angry neighbour.
There is also the tenderness and loyalty of the vulnerable in these stories - between spouses, parents and children, siblings and comrades in arms - which brings the troubled, sorely tested cast of characters to vivid, relatable life.
More books by Daniel Woodrell
Praise for The Outlaw Album
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His language is complex, poetic, strange and beautiful, conjuring up the misty fields and woods of the Ozarks, and the fiercely independent people who live there. - Josh Lacey, Guardian
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wonderful, savage narratives...remarkable even by Woodrell's soaring standards - Irish Times
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tales of horror and desperation that'll leave you reeling. In a good way. - Shortlist
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'Woodrell is a marvellous writer' - Roddy Doyle
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In a tight navigation of narrative voice, Woodrell manages to turn candid detachment into a form of rough poetic truth, even though the lives of his characters remain far removed from the world of literary sentiment. - TLS
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'Woodrell writes in an almost biblical idiom, which makes the brutality of his stories shocking... These are timeless tales of humans capable of compassion but also monumental violence.' - Leyla Sanai, Independent
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'gripping...Woodrell's folk are as separate in their rituals and customs as any of Tolkein's mythical creations...Woodrell whittles his stories into shape with a serrated knife, and while the language of his characters is a constant surprise with those oblique turns-of-phrase...the curious sideways progression of his plots is what I find most enrapturing.' - George Pendle, Financial Times
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Woodrell writes about violence and dark deeds better than almost anyone in America today, in compact, musical prose that doesn't dwell on visceral detail. An unerring craftsman...Every story is loaded with gems...Most of the stories deal with the darkest recesses of the human heart, and once you start reading them you can't stop. - Donald Ray Pollock, New York Times
Daniel Woodrell
Daniel Woodrell was born in the Missouri Ozarks, where he still lives. He left school and enlisted in the Marines the week he turned seventeen, and received his BA at the age of twenty-seven. He also has an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He is the author of eight novels including Winter's Bone, the film of which was nominated for four Oscars in 2011, Woe to Live On, the basis for the film Ride with the Devil directed by Ang Lee, and Tomato Red, which won the PEN West Award for fiction in 1999. Five of his novels have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the year. His most recent novel was The Maid's Version, published by Sceptre in 2013.
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