Brokeback Mountain Forum @ ennisjack.com
The Movie & Story => AP Short Story & Screenplay => Topic started by: natalia on Jan 17, 2006, 10:16 PM
-
Having bought a copy of Close Range: Wyoming Stories about a week ago, I finally started reading it today and have so far gotten through the first two stories. I have to say, she just might be my new favourite authour. Annie's style of writing "works" for me and what I've read so far shares the same undercurrent of barren, stark lonliness that drew me to BBM in the first place. The second story, "The Mud Below" was particularly moving.
My question to youuu is: has anyone here read any other work by Proulx and what did you think of it?
:-* Nat
PS: this might be better suited for Mountain Cafe, i couldn't tell (and i'm a mod. sad, i know!). please move it if need be
-
So far I have only read Brokeback Mountain but, I have reserved a couple of her other books at the library and I'm looking forward to reading them.
O.K ? :D
Luv Greenfrog ;)
-
Having bought a copy of Close Range: Wyoming Stories about a week ago, I finally started reading it today and have so far gotten through the first two stories. I have to say, she just might be my new favourite authour. Annie's style of writing "works" for me and what I've read so far shares the same undercurrent of barren, stark lonliness that drew me to BBM in the first place. The second story, "The Mud Below" was particularly moving.
My question to youuu is: has anyone here read any other work by Proulx and what did you think of it?
:-* Nat
PS: this might be better suited for Mountain Cafe, i couldn't tell (and i'm a mod. sad, i know!). please move it if need be
natalia. glad to hear that you are reading the stories in 'Close Range'. I had read this collection when it first came out (I was impressed by an initial reading of Brokeback Mountain in the New Yorker). I am most partial to this collection (more so than, say,The Shipping News), perhaps because I am partial to miniatures. I am most curious to hear your reaction to the other stories.
Proulx does have a 'range' when it comes to these stories. But you are right in commenting of an underlying and uncompromising starkness/loneliness.
I had meant to ask this sooner or later: I recall that the story that comes right before Brokeback in the collection is most interesting. It is about a page in length, I believe. The language is superb, and the images are most brutal and macabre. I have always wondered if Proulx had a kind of thematic development in mind in the arrangement of these stories -- not so sure, though.
I think that Brokeback is a fitting end to the entire collection. It stands by itself among these wonderful stories.
-
Having bought a copy of Close Range: Wyoming Stories about a week ago, I finally started reading it today and have so far gotten through the first two stories. I have to say, she just might be my new favourite authour. Annie's style of writing "works" for me and what I've read so far shares the same undercurrent of barren, stark lonliness that drew me to BBM in the first place. The second story, "The Mud Below" was particularly moving.
My question to youuu is: has anyone here read any other work by Proulx and what did you think of it?
:-* Nat
PS: this might be better suited for Mountain Cafe, i couldn't tell (and i'm a mod. sad, i know!). please move it if need be
natalia. glad to hear that you are reading the stories in 'Close Range'. I had read this collection when it first came out (I was impressed by an initial reading of Brokeback Mountain in the New Yorker). I am most partial to this collection (more so than, say,The Shipping News), perhaps because I am partial to miniatures. I am most curious to hear your reaction to the other stories.
Proulx does have a 'range' when it comes to these stories. But you are right in commenting of an underlying and uncompromising starkness/loneliness.
I had meant to ask this sooner or later: I recall that the story that comes right before Brokeback in the collection is most interesting. It is about a page in length, I believe. The language is superb, and the images are most brutal and macabre. I have always wondered if Proulx had a kind of thematic development in mind in the arrangement of these stories -- not so sure, though.
I think that Brokeback is a fitting end to the entire collection. It stands by itself among these wonderful stories.
Almost at that story right now, I'll probably have the book finished by the night (am almost dreading reading BBM as I don't know how emotionally impaired I can be tonight as I have a test to study for :-\).
It's interesting that you pointed out Proulx's arrangement of the stories; as the book goes on they seem to get more jarring, more desperate and more filled with out and out tragedy (as opposed to a vague cloud of lonliness hanging over the entire story) Also, did you notice that almost all of her main characters tend to be males?
-
Almost at that story right now, I'll probably have the book finished by the night (am almost dreading reading BBM as I don't know how emotionally impaired I can be tonight as I have a test to study for :-\).
It's interesting that you pointed out Proulx's arrangement of the stories; as the book goes on they seem to get more jarring, more desperate and more filled with out and out tragedy (as opposed to a vague cloud of lonliness hanging over the entire story) Also, did you notice that almost all of her main characters tend to be males?
I TOTALLY agree with your observation, natalia! In fact, by the time you get to 'Brokeback Mountain' at the end of the collection, you feel completely helpless and powerless. It comes like a great wave that finally engulfs you after enduring a long and powerful storm.
As for all the main characters being males, perhaps it is her own projection of a male-dominated rural Wyoming. But I must admit that some of the female characters are truly (sometimes gruesomely) unforgettable!
-
Annie wrote a "That Old Ace In The Hole' set in the Texas panhandle and is full of great characters. Although the story is not a gay romance, she does some really beautiful prose. There is even mention of a couple of guys who live together. Maybe the 'tough old birds' from Brokeback Mountain? If you like Annie, you will enjoy this book. Here is a review and plot synopsis. http://www.curledup.com/thatold.htm.
Also, "Heartsongs and Other Stories' from Annie Prouxl shows not only her beautiful and spare and powerful writing style but her wonder sense of humour. You will laugh outloud on some part--I did anyway. I love her.
-
I only got to read a couple of the stories in the beginning of the book before my partner (who is sick of my PBS) took the book away from me. He's totally engrossed and will not give it back until he has finished reading it all. What a hypocrite! Dose she remind anyone else of Flannery O'Conner?
Jim
-
PBS? Post-Brokeback Syndrome? :lol:
I've read that collection of Wyoming stories (Close Range) and the second (Bad Dirt). I loved every one of them. Some, like the one mentioned above (just before BBM), "55 Miles to the Gas Pump" are truly horrifying. "Out there, you make your own fun." :o Of course, I have a friend in rural Tennessee who said it's not that far off the mark, so... And frankly, I've not been as scared as when I was reading "The Wamsutter Wolf" - who could make the open plains feel so claustrophobic and entrapping?
Both collections are full of gems, in particular "The Half-Skinned Deer" and the wonderful cycle of retribution in which a woman is extorted to buy hay, and ends up with little to show for it "The Trickle-Down Effect". Proulx's subtle humor is a wonderful spice to these stories.
btb
-
btb:
I agree with you, she is quite a writer and her stories are scary and engrossing. Do you find her in any way similar to Flannery O'Conner? I have asked this question before by haven't gotten any replies. I'd like to know what you think?
Thanx,
Jim
-
Although I may be articulate ( :P ), I'm not especially well-read, and Flannery O'Connor is missing from my experience. Sorry I can't help with that. On the other hand, I was wondering if her occasional magical touches reminded anyone of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
btb
-
Incredible coincidence?
I had seen BBM 12/26. I spent New Years weekend with my partner in a cabin in the mountains. I was longing for something special to read. As though I was drawn to it, I picked up a collection of Flannery O'Connor at a tiny bookstore. Really. I read a few stories before returning home. First thing I did at home was order CLOSE RANGE from Amazon. Both books are sitting at my bedside. I hope they'll always be there.
-
OK I knew such a thread was started before...
I'm actually reading Close Range and I just love it. I love Annie's concise but descriptive prose, this is vivid, crude, this is about life. Every short story is nothing but excellent, I particularly loved People in Hell Just Want a Drink of Water...
I would like to thank Froggy for offering me this book when we met. :^^)
I couldn't find Shipping Nwes in book stores so I just ordered it on Amazon, hopfully I'll get it before my trip to Paris. :P
Stay tuned!
-
BAD DIRT
If you've fallen in love with Wyomin' and the people there - pickup BAD DIRT Wyoming Stories 2, by Annie, 2004. It's wonderful too. Eleven shorts full of great characters and a great view of the world out west - almost like an extension of the BBM world. You'll think of Ennis and Jack a hundred times when you read the stories of these peoples lives, how difficult and how REAL they are. I got mine via Amazon
jackster
-
Thanks, I'll look for this one too.
-
(Excuse, I badly speak in English. ~))
In Russia book Annie Proulx "Wyoming Stories" in translation into Russian is already published. I now read this book. It very much impresses. I think, these histories touch hearts of many people living in the most different countries of the world.
-
(Excuse, I badly speak in English. ~))
In Russia book Annie Proulx "Wyoming Stories" in translation into Russian is already published. I now read this book. It very much impresses. I think, these histories touch hearts of many people living in the most different countries of the world.
Welcome to the forum, Sergey!
Your English is fine. It is better than my Russian, to be sure! ;)
I do believe that there is something in her writings that go beyond the settings, strange and curious they may be. THe human heart is the same wherever we may be.
-
One thing that drew me to this movie was the fact that Larry McMurtry had written the screenplay. He is my all-time favorite author. So, having seen the movie, I just had to read Annie's works, which I did. I find them similar in many ways, yet very distinctive at the same time. They both use words sparingly -- every word seems measured to relay the EXACT meaning they want the reader to get. Annie is a bit more poetric in expression; whereas Larry is more trite and tight with his prose. I love them both, and will eventually have read everything they wrote. Just have a few more books to go.
-
While reading "The Lonely Coast" from Close Range, the book of short stories in which Brokeback Mountain is found, I was struck by a sentence that I wanted to point out. I think it is so prophetic of Ennis and Jack's relationship, although it's not part of their story. I quote:"...the little running grass fires of the heart, the kind that usually die out on their own but in some people soar into uncontrollable conflagration".
I just thought that partial sentence was so beautifully worded and so full of meaning, and so descriptive of Ennis and Jack, that others might enjoy reading it. All the stories in the book are excellent on so many levels.
-
Beautiful, LaMusica! An so true!
monicita
-
While reading "The Lonely Coast" from Close Range, the book of short stories in which Brokeback Mountain is found, I was struck by a sentence that I wanted to point out. I think it is so prophetic of Ennis and Jack's relationship, although it's not part of their story. I quote:"...the little running grass fires of the heart, the kind that usually die out on their own but in some people soar into uncontrollable conflagration".
I just thought that partial sentence was so beautifully worded and so full of meaning, and so descriptive of Ennis and Jack, that others might enjoy reading it. All the stories in the book are excellent on so many levels.
Thank you so much, lamusica, for sharing this with us.
There are certainly phrases and descriptions in the various stories that have a strange but undeniable beauty.
-
I'm doing a little follow-up. I just finished The Shipping News, it's brilliant! A must read for sure.
-
I'm doing a little follow-up. I just finished The Shipping News, it's brilliant! A must read for sure.
Yes the attention to detail that she does is amazing.
-
Food in "Close Range"
A great idea for a get-together. Maybe in Seattle? :)
Links to the recipies are in the main articles page: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/flavor/article/0,2792,DRMN_26356_5633496,00.html
------------------------------------
Eats meet West
Readin', ridin' and rustlin' up some grub with Annie Proulx and the Fort chefs
By Marty Meitus & Patti Thorn, Rocky Mountain News
July 17, 2007
(https://ennisjack.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmas.scripps.com%2FDRMN%2F2007%2F07%2F17%2Ffood0718_o.jpg&hash=2d4644fa0f5921aedd048af865f683f66a0594b0)
(Ellen Jaskol © The Rocky) Rocky Mountain News food and books editors bring you food for thought: a recommended book, discussion ideas and recipes worth trying for your next gathering. Above, a triple-cherry cast-iron cobbler.
OK, book-club groupies, Marty and I know what you're thinking: You'd love a breezy summer book, the literary equivalent of a cold, refreshing Popsicle. Something with humor, quirky characters, a plot you can race through faster than a jack rabbit with a fox at its tail.
That would be fun.
But, sorry, that's not the book we have in mind this time around.
Instead of a crazed jack rabbit, think of our new choice as a finely bred quarter horse: a book with muscled prose, tall aims and intense purpose in every stride. In other words, it's a ride you'll remember long after that other summer read disappears behind your own page-turning cloud of dust.
Our latest selection is Annie Proulx's amazing book of short stories Close Range: Wyoming Stories. In this shimmering collection, Proulx offers 11 pieces - including Brokeback Mountain, the story the movie was taken from - each detailing life in the flint-hard West.
You won't find sentimental myths of wholesome cowboys, their teeth sparkling as if in Pepsodent ads, in these pages. This is life as Proulx finds it, often as unyielding and punishing as the land itself. Her modern cowboys drink too much, fight too much and plow the tracks to their own ruin, often dragging their women along with them. If they live on expansive land under sweeping, swirling skies, the insult is that their hedge-fund neighbors, buying up land for the mere convenience of tax shelters, do too.
Happy endings are beside the point as Proulx's characters' fates come upon them with the violence, and often the whimsy, of a midsummer twister.
So why did we choose this for a summer read? Because in a season when many set out to experience the Western outdoors, Proulx meticulously details the view, down to its "indigo jags of mountain, grassy plain everlasting, tumbled stones like fallen cities" and "flaring roll of sky."
Because it provokes us to think about how we, as humans, fit into that landscape.
But more important, because the writing is so crystalline, so clearheaded, so economical in its word choices that it will make your jaw drop. And that's something you won't find in your breezy summer read.
Now cowboy up and get started. We promise you won't regret it.
- Patti Thorn
The book
Close Range: Wyoming Stories
By Annie Proulx (Scribner, 288 pages, $13)
Discussion questions:
How does Prouix use the landscape to further her stories?
What is Prouix's vision of the modern West?
How accurately do you think these stories portray ranch life?
How do these stories differ from past stories you've read about the West, and the West that's often portrayed in movies and TV?
Reality chuck
With the invention ofchuck wagons, the range became a much more hospitable environment for cowboys and cooks. You can get a taste of the West from authentic chuck wagon crews at Cheyenne Frontier Days, which opens Friday and runs through July 29.
What: chuck wagon demonstrations and championship cook-off
When: demos, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 25 to 28; championship cook-off, noon July 28. Championship buckles will be awarded during the finals rodeo July 29.
Where: between the Indian Village and Wild Horse Gulch, south of the museum, at Frontier Park (at the intersection of Interstates 25 and 80)
Info: cfdrodeo.com
Roughin' it
You've probably heard about using an eggshell to clarify the impurities in cowboy coffee, but the cooks had their own special touches. According to Arbuckles: The Coffee That Won the West (Francis Fugate, Texas Western Press), one of them was: "Take twopounds of Arbuckles, put in 'nough water to wet it down, boil fortwo hours, and then throw in a hoss shoe. If the hoss shoe sinks, she ain't ready."
The food
Annie Proulx's short stories yield food nuggets in keeping with her lean, spare prose. In The Governors of Wyoming: "I'll have some a that soup, couple pieces of toast. Whatever you got. We'll be goin out tonight. You want a drink?"In many of the stories, ranchers are fighting decades of loss as the cattle industry withstands the vagaries of weather, the economy and current sensibilities: In Paira Spurs, the ranchers join forces to erect an "Eat Beef" roadside sign "to counteract the anti-meat forces."
Nevertheless, the poetry of life on the range endures. Hollywood or no, there's something nostalgicabout a cowboy tending a crackling campfire, sipping his coffeeagainst the backdrop of the darkening skies.For our Rocky Book Club, we've chosen to keep the romance alive. We enlisted The Fort restaurant in Morrison and executive chef Trevor Dierolf and sous-chef Geoffrey Groditski to help rustle up some grub that will evoke life on the range, without the host or hostess having to tend a hot fire all day.
Menu:
Salsa and Chips
Salad in a Jar
Pumpkin Walnut Muffins
Buffalo Burgers With Roasted Green Chiles
Black Bean and Corn Salad
Cherry Cobbler
Mason jars can be used in a variety of ways. Serve drinks in them or use for salad containers: Layer salad ingredients in each jar; use another jar to shake and hold the dressing.
Check out Western stores like Sheplers for accents, such as Western salt-and-pepper shakers (one set is a guitar and a saddle, another is a pair of boots) and Western-themed plates.
The Trade Lodge at the restaurant sells the blue speckled coffee pot pictured at far left and other memorabilia; purchase price goes to the nonprofitTesoro Foundation. Also look for cowboy-related items at antiques stores.
For centerpieces: Use a cowboy coffeepot to hold flowers for a centerpiece, or place flowers in old-fashioned colored glass medicine bottles. Fill Mason jars with multicolored beans. Line the inside of a cowboy hat and fill it with a potted plant. Label and fill burlap bags with rice, beans and coffee; tie with ribbon and arrange on table. Or fill a burlap bag with multicolored beans and let the contents spill out in the center of the table like a cornucopia.
- Marty Meitus
-
I feel I've got to put a plug in for Accordion Crimes, a novel of Annie's that resembles a series of short stories. It is the tale of a little, green Sicilian pushbutton accordion, how it travels to America and falls into the hands of various people for its whole lifetime of about 100 years. She tells the story of each person who owns it -- their family, where they live, their culture in this new country. All of them die early because the accordion has to keep moving into new hands before it falls apart after about 100 years. Some stories contain a lot of humor, but some are incredibly sad. I have cried over some, and certainly will not forget any of them. Give this book a try if you have any interest in music in the U.S. from about 1890 up to the present. It is a great history of the accordion and the types of music in which it figures so prominently. The book is educational, for sure, but much more than just musical history. It is the story of real people and the struggles they faced assimilating into this country and the contributions they made to the country and to the music of today. I love this book, and hope many of you will give it a try. If you don't cry at the story of Dolor Gagnon, it's because you have no tears left after BBM.
-
How strange. Is it possible to appreciate BBM, and not the rest of the collection which serves as the story's chrysalis?
I think the book clubs who did not find "Close Range" that palatable are a bit too "sheltered", no? The mind boggles to think of their probable reaction upon reading Bukowski...
From: http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2007/08/14/columns/columns39.txt
--------------------------------------------
HICKMAN: Area book clubs give picks, pans
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 12:00 AM EDT
It's always an eye-opener for book clubs to compare their book choices and opinions with those of other groups. Sometimes the same book can provoke an enthusiastic thumbs up and emphatic thumbs down - even within the same book club. Here are some that have survived the scrutiny of impassioned group discussions; perhaps they will spark ideas as you plan your book club's roster for next season.
Most popular
Khaled Hosseini's riveting debut novel, "The Kite Runner," was the undisputed winner for 2007 - a favorite named by every book club that read it. Scoring a high second was Jeanette Walls' unforgettable and outrageous memoir, "The Glass Castle."
The author Jodi Picoult has earned the third spot this year, as quite a few clubs are hooked on her books. "My Sister's Keeper" and "Plain Truth" were particular favorites. Gina Johnson, an Attleboro Public Library Girls Night Out group member, says "Plain Truth" was "one of the few books that everyone seemed to love. The story was interesting and at times intense. Once you thought you had the story figured out, something unexpected would happen to make you start wondering again."
De gustibus non est disputandum
Apart from these unanimous favorites, tastes and tallies vary widely. The Old Faithfuls, originally an American Association of University Women club that has met for 47 years, chose a top three, "though we all can't agree," laughs long-time member Cyndy Horne. The top picks include Carlos Ruiz Zafon's "Shadow of the Wind," Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" (re-read this year), and Matthew Pearl's "Dante Club." (The latter is a book roundly dismissed as a "dud" by a few of the Gourmet Readers!).
Nan Loggains, who leads the discussion group at the Murray Church First Sunday Book and Lunch Bunch, said Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America" was the top choice for both men and women, while Jonathan Krakauer's "Under the Banner of Heaven" "led to a stimulating discussion."
The Murray Teen Book Group listed their favorites this year as "No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine HS" by Brooks Brown and Rob Merritt, and "The Gospel According to Larry" by Janet Tashijan.
For Carol Levis' Morning Book Group, Jaqueline Winspear's "Masie Dobbs" series was a delightful surprise. "'Maisie Dobbs' " is a wonderful and easy way to get into mysteries with a philosophical bent," Levis says. Along with other titles already mentioned, Audrey Niffeneger's "The Time Traveler's Wife" was a hit with St John's Women of Spirit Book Club. And other than "The Glass Castle," the Gourmet Readers were unimpressed with their book choices for 2006.
An Attleboro teachers' book club, The Limoncello Litearati, especially enjoyed two books this year. The first was "Devil in the White City" by author Erik Larson. According to Barbara Hanson, Larson "conducted extensive research to present this non-fiction work in which he tells the compelling parallel stories of good vs. evil: the brilliant men who designed the incredible Chicago World's Fair, and one of the worst serial killers in our country's history. And the group all loved reading 'In An Instant,' the true story of famed newsman Bob Woodruff."
Least popular
Reader, beware. Often the "duds" turn out to be the very books that are so hyped by "experts" and big time publishers. Speaking for The Limoncello Literati, Hanson writes, "In all our years of meeting, the only book we unanimously disliked was 'Corrections,' written by Jonathan Franzen, and an Oprah book of choice."
Trish Ferrara, who facilitates the Attleboro Public Library's Wednesday Morning Book Club, was very disappointed with Charles Rappleye's highly touted "Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade and the American Revolution." "It's so poorly written, the author even got easy stuff wrong, including Brown's height!" she laments.
Similarly, the Attleboro Public Library's Monday Evening Book Club barely weathered "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte. According to discussion leader Margo Arel, "We were not as taken in with the love between Catherine and Heathcliff as we were with the negative nature and selfishness of the individuals whose lives were overtaken by their own character flaws."
The biggest dud for Ellen Sullivan's Seasonal Book Group was "Close Range: Wyoming Stories" by Annie Proulx. "We did discuss Proulx's short story 'Brokeback Mountain' quite a bit," writes Ellen. "Definitely the most interesting and compelling one in the collection. But I think folks in our group would describe most of these stories - and the characters in them - as tragic and depressing, not to mention bizarre!"
The Old Faithfuls "hated" Tim O'Brien's "In the Lake of the Woods," Anne Oldmixon's Book Club disliked "The Ghost at the Table" by Suzanne Berne, and the teenage group at Murray Universalist Church had this to say about "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger: "Despite its classic status, the majority of the kids didn't care for the book, but we had a great discussion. It was great for the kids to experience how good a book discussion can be even when one doesn't particular care for a book."
And that brings up a great point: VERY often, the best book discussions ensue when the group has not liked the book, or when there is a raging disagreement about it. Love it or hate it, there's nothing like a spirited book discussion to keep the mind agile and the heart soaring. Happy reading!
KATHY HICKMAN can be contacted at news@thesunchronicle.com.
-
I've read all of AP's novels and short story collections:
Novels:
- The Shipping News
- Postcards
- Accordion Crimes
- That Old Ace in the Hole
Short Story Collections:
- Heart Songs and Other Stories
- Close Range: Wyoming stories 1
- Bad Dirt: Wyoming stories 2
I've enjoyed them so much that I've read each of them 2 or 3 times over, cover to cover.
I recently acquired her latest short story collection, Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3, which she says will be her last Wyoming stories collection because she does not to be typed as a writer of Wyoming stories.
She may have another novel in the works.
-
As I sat huddled in the corner of the library in English class the other day, curled up with the library's copy of "Close Range: Brokeback Mountain and other stories" by Annie Proulx...my worst fears were realised :O
My english teacher walked down my aisle and saw what I was reading.
I was so embarrassed, and I dn't even know why, but being the wonderful lady Ms Burns is, she didn't bat an eyelid; she simply asked "whatcha reading Maddy?" as politely as acn be! And when I told her it was BBM, she didnt even seem to care - she just said "Ahh, a great work! Annie Proulx is fantastic. The Shipping News is really good too if you haven't already read it. A bit adult in parts, but I'm sure you can cope."
People like my very accepting English teacher, who see the beauty in all things, they give me hope. Hope for the future, and hope for humanity. ^f^
P.S. I did read The Shipping News like she suggested, and I thoroughly ebjoyed it. Annie Proulx, you're a genius!
-
Your English teacher is actually very honest and does a wonderful job, Annie Proulx is a great writer, I just loved The Shipping News and loved more Accordion Crimes. :)
-
Your English teacher is actually very honest and does a wonderful job, Annie Proulx is a great writer, I just loved The Shipping News and loved more Accordion Crimes. :)
yeah, I've been meaning to read postcards. have you read it?
My english teacher is probably the most understanding person i know :P at least she doesnt discriminate. oh well...
-
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?showShareButtons=true&docId=-4243650523953473413%3A3000%3A1291000&hl=en (http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?showShareButtons=true&docId=-4243650523953473413%3A3000%3A1291000&hl=en)
Annie interviewed in 1999, before the success BBM, talks about her works
-
I didn't know this interview...Thanks for sharing it with us,WcI ‘ :)
-
Unfortunately, I returned the copy of Close Range to the library the other day. There was one quote, at the beginning of a story, that really struck, it was not from Brokeback Mountain, but from one of the other stories. It was the opening paragraph of the particular story, and it talked about nature and time and how people's lives happen against this much larger backdrop, that doesn't know and doesn't care. Although it wasn't from the actual short story Brokeback Mountain, it fit it very well. I wish I had the book here with me so I can quote it verbatim. I didn't even know that Ms. Proulx had written another Wyoming Stories collection, called Bad Dirt. I came across it's title on the internet the other day, so today I went to the library to get it, and right next to it, guess what I found? A third Wyoming Stories collection, called Fine Just the Way it Is. I had no idea about that one, so what a pleasant surprise! So now I'm reading those, but damn how I wish she'd written Brokeback Mountain as a novel, and not a short story. It really deserves to be a novel on its own.