Customer Reviews

River Dogs: Stories

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

 

 

There are only a handful of contemporary American fiction writers on par with Olmstead. And there's no better place to start than with Olmstead's first book, "River Dogs," a collection of short stories. Like John Cheever and Raymond Carver, Olmstead's short stories draw you into the strange, familiar world of small-town America through his careful, precise language. The stories also treat the characters with respect and honesty. My favorite stories are "A Good Cow," "In This Life" and the title story. This is definitely a good book for any young writer struggling to master the craft of storytelling. I highly recommend it.

I have only read two of these tales so far -- doling
'em out slowly. I had read only one of his books prior
to this & loved it & these stories seem to be living
up to my opinion that he is an unusual, excellent writer
with a sort of sardonic tho deeply felt point-of-view.
I enjoy his use of the language & plan to graze through
all of his work. I am one of those who believe that you
CAN (often) "tell a book by its cover," & this quite
wonderful cover photo & fonts hint @the art awaiting
within that cover.

I grew up spending my summers in rural New Hampshire and never thought I would read a book that captured the lives of the permanent residents so vividly. Almost all of these stories are about working people of New Hampshire and western Massachusetts. These are people with deeply ingrained emotional reserve that has often been cariactured, but rarely (in my experience) been presented with sympathy. Annie Proulx's "Postcards" is the other work of fiction that I have read lately that does so.

Terrible things happen to many of the characters in Robert Olmstead's stories and they rarely react in any outward way. Rather their tendency is to simply veer off-track in their lives. People that had been going somewhere have something precious taken from them and it causes them to close themselves off from their emotions and begin to lead lives of steadily increasing futility and pointlessness. On rare occasions an Olmstead character will go off the deep-end in dramatic fashion, but usually they just drift into an emotional and/or moral purgatory.

Having said all this, I must admit that I laughed out loud at some of the funnier moments in these stories, which include a dead cow floating down river, dead dogs and drunk people that fall out of the back of open pick-ups and outrageous bets that make people a lot of money and many enemies.

Contrary to what other have written, I would say that their is a great deal of depth to these stories and that the laconic way in which they are told may cause the casual reader to miss this. The descriptions of the various marriages, friendships and filial relationships in this book are much truer to life than a lot of people would probably like to admit.

There are only a handful of contemporary American fiction writers on par with Olmstead. And there's no better place to start than with Olmstead's first book, "River Dogs," a collection of short stories. Like John Cheever and Raymond Carver, Olmstead's short stories draw you into the strange, familiar world of small-town America through his careful, precise language. The stories also treat the characters with respect and honesty. My favorite stories are "A Good Cow," "In This Life" and the title story. This is definitely a good book for any young writer struggling to master the craft of storytelling. I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book. It really isnt about a whole lot. It isn't scary, it doesn't try to convey a really deep meaning. What it does do well is it captures the human spirit, our faults, fears, and triumphs. It is very true to human nature. I think the only other author that has captured this in recent time is Mark Twain. Both authors have a keen eye for the human nature, and both capture it well in their respective body of works.

I enjoyed this book. It's a collection of short stories, told in a matter of fact way. My favorite was the onion story. Most of these stories are about everday joes, and their lives, or lack there of. Worth reading, though if you like suspense and action/thrillers, it may not be for you

I stumbled upon River Dogs while rummaging for "Vintage Contemporaries" at a local used bookstore. I usually plop down on the floor & dig into the first few chapters to see if an author is up to snuff. It didn't take long to get hooked on Olmstead's style-- he has a touching, keen eye for humanity. The book reminded me of Steinbeck's first few short story collections (Pastures of Heaven and Long Valley). The stories inspired me to sign up for a writing class, believe it or not.

This isn't a top-ten "fluff" book that everyone's reading at the airport-- it doesn't focus on current events or rely on shocking plot twists to keep the reader interested. Instead, Olmstead weaves stories about everyday people that seem extraordinary because of the way he portrays them. My favorite stories were "A Good Cow", "The Mason", and "Bruno and Rachel".

I've since picked up a few of his other books, which I'll review sometime soon. It looks like Amazon has some of them in stock. Until recently, most of his books were out of print.

-James Blakeman

If moronic men and cruelty to animals is your cup of tea, than this book is for you. Many of the inhabitants of this small town are the type you hope not to have to cope with in real life. My advice - don't stop - keep on driving!