Customer Reviews

Dog on the Cross: Stories

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The title story--about a dog nailed to a cross outside a church, presumably to discourage its members--is one of the most haunting and graceful stories I've read in years. But what I like most about this collection is how the author depicts the Southern Pentecostal experience, without irony or prejudice, to produce a deeply engrossing collection of stories in which sum of its parts is somehow more than the individual pieces.

Gwyn is one of the true descendents of Flannery O'Connor, with a little Larry Brown and Eudora Welty thrown into the mix. If you ever read with awe one of Flannery O'Connor's stories--such as "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" or "Good Country People"--you will not be disappointed in the least with Dog on the Cross.

Gwyn's debut had me simultaneously in stitches and mortified. He wonderfully captures the essence of Pentecostal faith, with all of its trappings (and shortcomings). It read, at times, like a classic gothic novel, but with a slightly more critical eye. Yet, Gwyn doesn't judge his characters in those most convenient moments when many early writers would fall victim to the temptation. This stories-as-novel approach to revival preachers, small town life, back woods paranoia, and the pitfalls of zealous followers of religion turns the mirror onto all of us. It's a near-perfect debut whose only shortcoming is that it might have been slightly *more* honest at times. It seems, on occasion, that Gwyn fears offending the very people who he depicts in this collection, and yet the nature of his subject matter virtually guarantees that devotees of Christianity--particularly the Fundamentalists and Pentecostals on display here--will take offense. So, Mr. Gwyn, next time pull no punches!
Still, Gwyn is a welcome addition to the contemporary literary scene. I look forward to reading future works by him. I only hope that he not write to any specific audience, and instead be brutally honest--as our best writers are.

With these stories Aaron Gwyn has tapped into something common in all of us. I read these short stories and was astonished by how original they were, taking the life of the Pentecostal and showing us something completely new, different. Each story takes you somewhere wholly unexpected. Gwyn is the O'Henry for our times. I'd recommend this book to any short story fan and those who really need to feel how strong a short story can hit you.