Letting Loose The Hounds - Softcover

Udall, B

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0224043005 ISBN 13: 9780224043007

Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd, 1997

Synopsis

Set in the small towns of Utah and Arizona, most of Brady Udall's stories in this collection deal with letting loose - or wanting to -in all its forms. These are sad-sweet tales that move from the familiar to surprising destinations. But even when disaster looms, Udall's fine comic sense keeps bubbling up, sustaining his men and woman in their sometimes extravagant efforts to connect and cope.

About this title

Review:

The West is a pretty grim place to live, judging by the characters who populate Brady Udall's collection of short stories, Letting Loose the Hounds. Misfits, miscreants and outcasts all, his heroes stumble miserably through a desert landscape of "petrified wood and dinosaur bones", of failed marriages, dysfunctional families and their own aching loneliness in search of reconnection to the world they've lost.

What redeems this collection, and often the characters as well, is Mr. Udall's trenchant humour and sharp appreciation for the ridiculous. No one is more aware of the absurdity of his situation than the main character of "Midnight Raid" who is caught red-handed breaking into his ex-wife's house with a pygmy goat under his arm. In "Vernon" the narrator sees the irony in returning to his dead-end hometown after a semester of college: "I liked college ... Just the idea made me ridiculously happy ... But I had this nervous feeling I couldn't get rid of, like something in the bottom of my gut slowly eating at my insides ... I came back to Vernon to stay." The only recourse for these lost souls is small, often funny, yet always sad acts of rebellion. Mr Udall's West might not be a great place to live, but in Letting Loose the Hounds it makes for a compelling visit.

Review:

One of the top writers of his generation . . . Brady Udall's stories, full of comedy and pain and trouble, carry a mighty kick. -- Thom Jones, author of The Pugilist at Rest

Exhilarating or chilling . . . Udall’s stories can be as funny as they are dark.--Jim Shepard

Udall’s West emerges as a place of passion and despair without the mythic overtones of gunslingers and Marlboro men. It is a place filled with as much laughter as tears, and a place that I hope we hear from again quite soon.--Michael A. Elliott

An irresistible performance.--Judith Freeman, author of Red Water

An irresistible performance. --Judith Freeman, author of Red Water"

There is a wonderful innocence in Udall's narrative voice, a risk and edge to these stories that make for delightful reading. ... Letting Loose the Hounds has a great deal of meat to it, nothing sliced thin and served on a bed of watercress.... Always under the surface, there is a raised eyebrow, a bit of laughter, and the wildness of a writer who understands his backyard and plays by his own rules. --Jeff Metcalf"

Exhilarating or chilling . . . Udall s stories can be as funny as they are dark.--Jim Shepard"

Udall s West emerges as a place of passion and despair without the mythic overtones of gunslingers and Marlboro men. It is a place filled with as much laughter as tears, and a place that I hope we hear from again quite soon.--Michael A. Elliott"

Brady Udall works with a whole lot of grace and an exquisite eye for detail. His characters find redemption in the utterly surprising places we suspected it lurked all along.--Pam Houston, author of Cowboys Are My Weakness

Bittersweet....memorable....Udall breathes fresh life into tales of the modern West.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0224043005
• ISBN 13: 9780224043007
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 198