Customer Reviews

Welding with Children: Stories

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This collection of short stories is populated with surprisingly complex characters yet quirky characters. The stories are vividly set in rural blue collar cajun communities (with some New Orleans thrown in). He avoids stereotypes, and instead gets you inside people's heads in a wonderful and friendly way.

Like Flannery O'Connor and Ellen Gilchrist, Tim Gautreaux crafts sly tales that build upon the landscape and characters of the Delta South in a manner that shows his love of the people and place, their hopes and dreams, foibles and flaws. The stories turn equally tragic and humorous with deft turns of Gautreaux's pen.

In Welding With Children, Gautreaux devotes a fair number of the stories to older people caught in a modern world not of their making, yet they manage to find ways to reach out to (in the case of the title story) their grandchildren, to neighbor youths, or even strangers. The old Cajun woman and her bourée playing neighbors who end up outwitting a would-be robber/murderer is an especially delicious tale.

However there are other stories -- such as the one about a camera salesman who develops old rolls of film in used cameras his shop buys in search of found art, or the one about a minister/would-be novelist at a writers' conference -- that illuminate other corners of the soul.

This, and Gautreaux's previous work, should put Hammond, Louisiana, on the literary map.

These are fabulous stories narrated in a clear, concise manner. The characters are typical Southern Gothic who help keep the Southern Literay Tradition alive. Gautreaux is a great storyteller who has both the gift of creating a vivid environment (Louisianna), and the ability to make you relate to his characters.

I love every story in this book. I did not want the story "Welding with Children" to end. I wish Gautreaux would make it a novel. My favorite story is "Good For The Soul" which is hilarious. You cannot live in Southern Louisiana and not know Father Ledet. I pray Tim Gautreaux lives to be a very old man and writes for the rest of his days. I am buying every person I love this book for Christmas.

This second collection of short stories from Tim Gautreaux is, perhaps, even better than the first. Of course, if you look inside the book and see who published the individual stories, it's obvious that they must be good; The New Yorker, Atlantic, and Esquire are not noted for publishing bad fiction.

While these are fiction, the stories ring so true to life and the lives of the characters, that we can all see ourselves in someone in this collection. Most of Gautreaux's stories have a touch of humor, but all show the depth of character that draws readers into the stories.

Anyone who reads these stories and enjoys them, should also read his novels. You'll find that same voice and an author you can trust, who will not betray your empathy for his characters.

I just finished reading this book, and could start all over again. Gatreaux has a wonderful way of crafting a story with believable people. No matter where the reader is from, because of his character descriptions, it is easy to identify with these folks from Louisiana. Gatreaux's short stories evoked all kinds of emotions, but there were many places where I simply laughed out loud. The best thing about this book, is the ability of the author to depict flawed characters living flawed lives, who nonetheless experience redemption in various ways. I will be looking for more books by this talented writer.

If you get off the interstate and on to the old highways, you can see them. They're the people who live between the suburbs of one great city and the suburbs of the next. Tim Gautreaux invites us to get out of our cars and into the grey-wood houses with a bentwood rocker on the front porch and an Oldsmobile engine hanging from the pecan tree in the side yard. He gives us a sad, funny, sympathetic and ultimately hopeful introduction to his friends. He shows us their fears, their friendships, their courage and their dreams. Take him up on his invitation. You won't regret it.

These short stories are awesome and pure Louisiana: rich, delectable and spicy. My favorite was also 'Good for the Soul' about the well-meaning priest who drank just a wee bit too much....but had a heart of gold. I laughed until I cried in parts of this one. Thanks, Tim, for these superb, uplifting stories. You make us Louisiana natives proud!!!

A friend handed me a tattered copy yesterday. I finished this afternoon. It was superb. Rarely have a read a collection this compelling. Buy it, read it, and pass it on.

I read this book upon the recommendation of a clerk at Books Along the Teche in New Iberia, LA. J.L. Burke may be New Iberia's favorite son, but Tim Gautreaux offers much more to the reader. His dialogue and characters ring authentic. Each story is one you are glad to read, and "Easy Pickings" is a story you will remember with a smile and a chuckle for the rest of your life.