Customer Reviews

Bumper Crop

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joe R. Lansdale writes stories and novels that overlap into a vast array of genres. This short story collection of his is no different. "Bumper Crop" brings together an enthralling and eclectic medley of short five or six page tales stemming from the horror, crime, science fiction, and suspense categories. Though each story is very different from the next in terms of classification and style, they all share a common thread in that they are extremely dark, and not for the squeamish.

In his introduction to the book, Lansdale explains that the term "Bumper Crop" refers to when crops provide an added splurge or treat for the growing season. This book is indeed that, and should be seen as an accompaniment to Lansdale's previous short story collection, "High Cotton." The two combined serve as the culmination of what Lansdale refers to as his best work.

Some of my favorites in this volume include:

"God of the Razor" opens the book quite nicely. A man wanders into an old southern Gothic mansion with hopes of finding antiques. However, he finds that the mansion has not stood vacant all this time as he had thought. Furthermore, the man discovers that there may be more to serial killers than meets the eye.

"Chompers" describes a set of false teeth that have a mind all their own and a taste for blood and flesh.

"On a Dark October" is a monster tale and speaks of an annual tradition that takes place in a dark garage on Halloween night.

"Bar Talk" is what happens when an alien visits Earth and sits down for a conversation and a drink.

"The Companion" is a story Lansdale wrote with his children, and is meant to be a good old-fashioned spooky campfire story. A scarecrow made to serve as a companion to a farmer after his wife's death comes is more than a mere compilation of twigs and hay.

"Bestsellers Guaranteed" is perhaps my favorite story in this book, and one of the longest at about 14 pages. How far would one struggling author go to be guaranteed a best-selling book each year?

In addition to these incredible stories, Lansdale has written a short introduction for each of the 26 tales in this volume, indicating his thoughts on and inspiration for every story included, which is a very nice touch. Many of these tales were influenced by Bradbury, and many were written for the Twilight Zone magazine. All, however, are very good in their own unique way. Though these stories have found their way into print previously, it is wonderful to have them all in one complete volume. This collection (both "Bumper Crop" and "High Cotton" together) should not be missed by fans of dark fiction, and those who have a taste for the strange, the weird, and the amazing.

The stories contained in this collection are, in a word, weird. I love Lansdale's stuff and originally got into his work as a horror fan, enjoying "The Night They Missed The Horror Show" so much that I quickly snatched up all of his "horror" stuff. After reading the excellent short story collection "High Cotton" I moved on to "Bumper Crop" expecting more of the same.

While "Bumper Crop" has its fair share of horror tales, the stories are more along the lines of weird Twilight Zone-esque yarns, with the strangest twists and turns you'll ever read. There are also a few fantasy-type pieces, and some rather intensely violent pieces that play out only as Lansdale can do. Absolutely worth reading, but if you're more of horror fan, I recommend "High Cotton" as the quintesential Joe R. Lansdale short story collection.

Joe R. Lansdale, Bumper Crop (Golden Gryphon Press, 2004)

For the majority of its all-too-short time on this mudball, I was a devoted reader of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone magazine. I was lucky enough to stumble upon the first issue by chance on a newsstand, and after that I subscribed until the bitter end. Many of the authors I still revere today I first found in the pages of TZ, including Joyce Carol Oates ("The Rose Wall," reprinted in her collection Raven's Wing, was the strongest story in that first issue) and Dan Simmons (whose first published story, "The River Styx Runs Upstream," was the winner of TZ's first fiction contest). But through all those years, I didn't remember seeing Joe Lansdale's name a single time. So when I checked the pub credits page and saw TZ's name by a number of stories, I got to wondering. Then I read the preface, and Lansdale says these stories stick with you. I got to wondering more. Then I read "The Dump,"and the second I saw the name Otto, I bowed to Lansdale's superior firepower. Note, "The Dump" is a story I haven't read in over twenty years, and within the first few words, I remembered it. "Memorable" is an understatement.

Bumper Crop, the second (following High Cotton) volume in Lansdale's personally-selected "Best-Of" collections of his short fiction, is, in short, a whole lot of fun. The stories here, most of which are exceptionally short, run through the early part of his career like a vein of adamantite in a mountain of pure silver. It's all great stuff, but this is just that little bit more rare, more coveted, and harder. "Chompers," "The Fat Man," and, well, just about everything here will leave its mark on you. Two stories will be recognizable to those who have read The Nightrunners (Lansdale, during the seven years between the book's completion and its purchase, took pieces out of it and revised them into stories a number of times). One of them, "God of the Razor," is one of the strongest pieces here, and very highly recommended.

If the book has a weak point, it is "Master of Misery," the last story. It sounds too much like... something. But I can't for the life of me remember what. But, jeez, don't let that stop you. This is great stuff. ****

While I haven't read "High Cotton" yet, I have read most of the stories in it. As had I read most of the stories in this anthology. "Bestsellers Guaranteed" and "By Bizarre Hands" collected the majority of Lansdale's fiction back in the day, and it is from these two books where the majority of these two books come. I think he focuses on novels now, and I'm not sure how much short fiction he has published in the last decade or so. Rather than simply reprinting them with a new introduction, Lansdale and editors put these two collections together.

That's fine with me... There are some new attractions. Lansdale includes a new introduction to each story. His introductions are often so funny I wish he would compile a collection of intros and other nonfiction. "A Fistfull of Stories" collected a good bit of his nonfiction, for those who are interested. I enjoyed this collection, as it had been so long since I'd read most of the stories I had forgotten many of them. I look forward to the next mainstream Lansdale story collection which, hopefully, will contain a majority of new material.

If High Cotton could have been titled The Best of Joe R. Lansdale, then Bumper Crop's revised one would be The Early Stories of Joe R. Lansdale. I have been a fan of Lansdale since 1982 or so, back when he was beginning to see regular print in the pages of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine -and it is nice to have those short shorts that I remember so clearly (The Dump, Chompers, etc.) finally collected into a book format. Most of the stories in this collection were written fast, or before Lansdale had discovered, refined, and polished his blackly comic and ruggedly vulgar writing style, so those expecting the artistic heights found in High Cotton will be confused or disappointed. These are the stories that contained the flickers and hints of the greatness that was growing within Lansdale's writing. Highly recommended.

Since reading Mucho Mojo in early 1995, I have followed Joe R. Lansdale's work religiously. I found myself drawn to his politically incorrect humor, boundless imagination, and the simple fact that he understands how REAL working people live. As long as he keeps on writing, I'll keep on reading. For better or worse.

And when I say worse, I mean this little (199 pages) collection right here. It's not that these stories are bad - well not a large portion of them -, it's just that they are weak when compared to JRL's later work. But that's understandable when you consider that most of them were written early in his career. It's painfully obvious that for the better part of the 1980s, he had yet to discover his own writing style. Then again, doesn't every great writer have this problem early on?

Getting back to the stories, most of them are very short (26 stories, 199 pages) and leave too little room for development. Some of them ("Fish Night" and "The Fat Man"), as JRL will tell you hisownself, are homages to Ray Bradbury that seem to draw a little too heavily upon the latter writer's influence. Others are the type of short-short fiction that is popularized by writers like Frederic Brown and Richard Christian Matheson. Unfortunately, they are marred by predictability and shaggy dog endings. And one story here ("Billie Sue") is just flat out awful. If I were an editor that was unfamiliar with Lansdale's work and I was handed this story, I would say "Don't quit your day job."

But there are times even in this slightly disappointing collection that JRL's brilliance shines through. "In the Cold, Dark Time" hauntingly depicts a near future war in which American children are forced to take up arms. "Pilots" is a brutal full throttle tale about a group of badly disfigured young men who murder truck drivers because their Air Force dreams were crushed (among other things) by a drunken trucker. My favorite story in the collection is the last one - "Master of Misery". Here a disgraced kickboxer flees to the Caribbean to escape the tragic outcome in one of his matches only to be manipulated into another fight.

It pains me to give such a low rating to anything by Lansdale, but when the quality of his later work is taken into consideration, I have no choice. Out of all his collections, I would probably recommend this one first and then work your way into books like Writer of the Purple Rage and Mad Dog Summer: And Other Stories. As far as Bumper Crop goes, there are far better books from Lansdale. And there are far worse books from other authors.

Its nice to see Joe R. Lansdale continue to put out the goods-
he's a classy writer, tells it like it is. I just can't say
enough about his last collection "HIGH COTTON", pure genius
full of stories like you've never read before. "BUMPER CROP"
continues in this tradition of excellence. Great cover work
again, he is a short story writer with no peers, well nobody
near this consistent through the years and I just received the brand new JOE R. LANSDALE
"MAD DOG SUMMER and OTHER STORIES", Joe is on a roll, whether
its a novel or one of his short stories this guy is still the
most highly under appreciated writer in this country.

Bumper Crop by Joe Lansdale is an imaginative collection of 26 short stories each introduced by the author. Bumper Crop and High Cotton are a definitive collection of Lansdale's short stories.

The author's introductions to each story alone are worth reading the book. Lansdale advises us that many of his stories are the product of his wife's popcorn. Most of the stories are reprints from Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, The Horror Show, and other publications.

Bumper Crop is appropriately titled as most of the stories have some food or food intake as a major theme. These stories are not for the feint of heart or for the easily frightened. "Chompers" in particular gave me nightmares. The idea of cannibalistic dentures is fairly disturbing to dream about.

Each story has a definitive twist to them. From razor inspired to murderous teeth to prehistoric sharks and on, this collection is one you will not easily forget. One theme repeated in the stories is that inquisitive children, who find out why curiosity killed the cat are not likely to forget the lesson. It is easy to imagine the mongoloid, albino banjo player from Deliverance to be serenading in the background.

Bumper Crop is Joe Lansdale at his finest. I purchased High Cotton to complete my addiction to these `catchy' little stories.

Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over 20 books and has received numerous honors for his work. He currently resides in Texas with his wife, Karen.

I've noticed a disturbing trend in which I read a short story and then think, "What the f...?" This book provides a pleasant contrast. All stories, whether I enjoyed them or not, have a beginning and an end. In addition, the stories are well written. Mr. Lansdale is an eloquent author and he is able to present a picture that stays with you. To my way of thinking, he is the type of author that sends up the signal that short stories are not dead. To read "Bumper Crop" is to realize that there are authors who write short stories for a purpose. Some of the commentary may suggest that the reason was the almighty $$$, but Mr. Lansdale cleary has an eye or ear pointed toward his audience.

I don't grade on a curve and give every book a 5 start rating.
The author says that Bumper Crop means the overage from a good crop. These stories basically did not make the author's cut for a previous collection. That explaination nails the collection right on. They are fine stories, with a bit of a low rent Lovecraft feel to more than a few of them. I used the book for bedside reading but it would work as travel reading just as well. I read and enjoyed one of the author's Texas buddy tales and decided to try his horror stories. As I say this isn't memorable but it's a good read.