The Ice at the Bottom of the World: Stories (Paperback)

~ Mark Richard (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An abandoned boy with fish-like features stows away on a trawler manned by a deranged crew of outcasts and oddities.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In Richard's collection of short stories, we are in familiar but updated Faulkner/Caldwell territory, the gothic American South. Specifically, we are in the country of that endangered species, the redneck. In sharply detailed stories presented without excuse or judgment, and often with a sharp bite of humor, Richard offers creditable characters in the middle of their singular lives. In the complex title story, Powell has come to ask Bill Doodlum for his daughter's hand, "second-hand as it was, a little legal holdover from the mixed-up-divorce-from-Tommy-John." As the two men sit in the garage drinking beer, the reader learns about the Doodlums of Doodlum County and the Carters of Carter County, and also learns why, when Bill's wife shoots him, his death is recorded as a suicide. Though full of peculiarly Southern connections, these stories transcend Southern particularity. They are about universals: love and loss and birth and death. --Marcia Tager, Tenafly, N.J.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; 1st Anchor Books Ed edition (January 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385415443
• ISBN-13: 978-0385415446
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #384,685 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Macabre, hilarious, desperate, heartwarming, May 25, 2000

By	R. Griffiths "bookchoice" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Macabre, hilarious, desperate, heartwarming, Mark Richard's collection is stunning in its stark juxtaposition of a gamut of emotions and moods. The prose is sparse, and all the more evocative because of it. The world Richard depicts is itself sparse - his characters take their comfort where they can. It is a world of immense cruelty and immensely harsh beauty. There is pain in this washed out, painted over landscape of mudflats, fairgrounds and burning shacks, but also a piercing redemptive vision. As I read I found the first story superlative, then the next, then the next, right to the end. Books may not change your life, but this one may well leave its images searing your imagination for a long time. When I consider the lack of attention Mark Richard has received for his fiction, I'm tempted to believe there's no justice in the world at all, but then I realise that for such a gem of a book to exist at all is a kind of secret miracle. Witness it while you can.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shame on Doubleday, April 22, 2000

By A Customer

Mark Richard is simply the best current short story writer (with some competition from Tom Franklin). While no single story in this collection rivals Richard's "masterpiece," the story BIRDS FOR CHRISTMAS collected in CHARITY, each piece is subtle, precise, brilliant.

However, the overall enjoyment of the book is hampered somewhat by the shameful job performed by the publisher (Doubleday). ICE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD feels like it's printed on two-ply paper towels shoved between dry cleaning shirt cardboards which serve as the cover. You worry something must be wrong with the book because the publisher did such a cost cutting - dismissive job in producing it.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, haunting Southern short stories..., October 18, 2004

By	CoffeeGurl (MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I loved reading this collection of short stories. The stories are dark, haunting, beautiful, and some even heartwarming. Mark Richard's stories are quite similar to Faulkner's work in that they are set in the South and have a gothic, no-nonsense quality to them that make them unforgettable. Richard's voice is one of brutal honesty, and I found myself nodding in agreement with various passages. My favorite stories are "Happiness of the Garden Variety," "The Ice at the Bottom of the World," "On the Rope," "The Theory of Man," and "Strays." The one bad thing about this collection is its lack of popularity. I cannot believe that such a beautiful book could go almost unnoticed, but that is often the case with true literary offerings. I feel bad enough that it took me ten years to give this collection a whirl. Mark Richard is a brilliant storyteller and I would have liked it if he had written other works. I shall give this wonderful piece of work all the word of mouth it deserves.