Hell's Bottom, Colorado [Paperback]

Laura Pritchett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2001

Winner of the Milkweek National Fiction Prize, in this collection of linked short stories, Laura Pritchett balances gritty material with genuine warmth and understanding of character. Hell’s Bottom is more than a ranch. Home to Renny, one of those women who prefers “a little Hell swirled with their Heaven,” and her husband, Ben, who’s “gotten used to smoothing over Renny’s excesses,” the ranch has been the site of births and deaths of both cattle and children, as well as moments of amazing harmony and clear vision. A day of haying turns violent in “A New Name Each Day,” while in “Rattlesnake Fire,” Ben and his estranged sister must decide whether to put aside their differences to save families trapped by a forest fire. In Pritchett’s masterful hands, the western landscape becomes a zone of familial crisis and, sometimes, transcendence.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Winner of the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, Pritchett's debut is an admirable, steely-eyed collection of stories and vignettes featuring a family of ranchers in mountain-shadowed Colorado. Pritchett, raised a rancher herself, writes beautifully about the hard work and casual cruelty of ranch life. Forest fires, stillborn animals, poverty, cold and violence: all play as significant a role in the shaping of these characters as their emotionally hardscrabble family life. The three family groups that form the collection's core are brought uneasily together by an act of violence: the murder by her own husband, Ray of Rachel, youngest daughter of stubborn matriarch Renny. Some of the finest writing is in the stories about Rachel's children, Billy and Jess: "A Fine White Dust" chillingly illustrates their relationship with Rachel's abusive husband, and in "Dry Roots," one of the most painful and evocative stories, Billy and Jess come upon a horribly mutilated calf the property of a vicious neighbor and must make the decision to end its suffering. Pritchett's emotional revelations are often painted with broad strokes, as when Ben and Anita, estranged brother and sister, agree "that devastation looks pretty damn good from afar." But just as often, the writing is redeemed by fierce tenderness: "The wheat is starting to turn, flashes of deep gold streaking through tall, waving green....I suspect most city-folk... don't realize that wheat grows up green and living and then it dies, and that's when it becomes useful." Fans of Annie Proulx's Close Range: Wyoming Stories and Jon Billman's When We Were Wolves should enjoy this visceral, accomplished collection.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-A collection of well-crafted stories told by the members of a ranching family. Renny and Ben, after raising their two daughters, now live at opposite ends of the ranch, but miss the closeness they once shared. Carolyn, the elder daughter, is happily married, but just has to go to town because she knows an old beau has stopped there. Her daughter confronts her grandfather's hired man with a mixture of bravado and caution; son Jack takes his girl to Denver for an abortion, knowing they're too young to be parents, but determined to keep the pregnancy a secret. Rachel, Renny and Ben's younger daughter, is a battered wife who is eventually murdered by her husband. Their children, Billy and Jess, are adolescents struggling to find the courage to confront their cruel father. The stories jump back and forth in time, but their message is clear: this family's ties are as quixotic, fierce, and enduring as the land that binds them together. Teens will find this a moving portrait of the American West and what it takes to eke out a living from land that is as harsh as it is beautiful.

Molly Connally, Kings Park Library, Fairfax County, VA

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 142 pages
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions; 1 edition (November 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571310363
• ISBN-13: 978-1571310361
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,461,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Collection of Short Stories, December 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Hell's Bottom, Colorado (Paperback)

Hell's Bottom is a poignant collection of short stories that chronicles some of the watershed events in the lives of a Colorado ranch family. It's quite enjoyable on several levels.

I especially appreciated the attention to detail about life in modern rural America. This book chronicles ranching activities in an accurate manner- one can tell the author is familiar with this way of life. I don't believe that an outsider could have presented such an honest portrait. This realistic backdrop helped the already interesting characters become even more alive for me.

Hell's Bottom is an excellent read. I look forward to more by this author.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncommonly Insightful, November 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Hell's Bottom, Colorado (Paperback)

Pritchett's short stories are psychologically insightful into life's sometimes painful details and hidden triumphs -- expressed within the framework of everyday existence. Hard to find writing like this -- definitely worth your time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read!, December 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Hell's Bottom, Colorado (Paperback)

Pritchett evokes the vivid images of landscape, ranching and families in the West. Set along Rocky Mountains, these stories show the beauty and sometimes messy reality of farming, ranching, and living. When writing in her clear-eyed prose, Pritchett has perfect pitch: all of her charcters and stories ring true. Highly Recommended.