Brokeback Mountain: Now a Major Motion Picture (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Proulx's understanding is at its most remarkable in the astonishing 'Brokeback Mountain.' [She] knows what she could only know...by the infrared that allows a very few writers clear sight in the dark of the imagination."

-- Richard Eder, The New York Times Book Review

"'Brokeback Mountain' does some of the best things a story can do. It abolishes the old West clichés, excavates and honors a certain kind of elusive life, then nearly levels you with the emotional weight at its center."

-- Gail Caldwell, The Boston Sunday Globe

"A stand-out story...'Brokeback Mountain' is the sad chronology of a love affair between two men who can't afford to call it that. They know what they're not -- not queer, not gay -- but have no idea what they are."

-- Walter Kirn, New York

Product Description

Annie Proulx has written some of the most original and brilliant short stories in contemporary literature, and for many readers and reviewers, "Brokeback Mountain" is her masterpiece.

Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, come together when they're working as sheepherder and camp tender one summer on a range above the tree line. At first, sharing an isolated tent, the attraction is casual, inevitable, but something deeper catches them that summer.

Both men work hard, marry, and have kids because that's what cowboys do. But over the course of many years and frequent separations this relationship becomes the most important thing in their lives, and they do anything they can to preserve it.

The New Yorker won the National Magazine Award for Fiction for its publication of "Brokeback Mountain," and the story was included in Prize Stories 1998: The O. Henry Awards. In gorgeous and haunting prose, Proulx limns the difficult, dangerous affair between two cowboys that survives everything but the world's violent intolerance.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; movie tie-in edition edition (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743271327
• ISBN-13: 978-0743271325
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (146 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #86,349 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A transforming work, January 1, 2006

By	K. Wray - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I wanted to be able to talk about this story in a casual conversation without getting tears in my eyes so I actually went and saw the movie. It has been my experience that however powerful a piece of literature might be, a movie can make it banal. For those who have seen the movie, I was exactly as sucessful as you would have thought. Now I can't talk about the story or the movie.

It is a symptom of our national myopia about homosexuality that anyone would conclude that this story is about gays or was written to serve some gay agenda. Downright silly if you ask me, so don't let yourself get sidetracked.

I can't shake this story, me, a respectable mother of 3 with nothing in my life history which would approach the grief these two men experience. All I can conclude at this point is that my spirit knows the losses that are to come to me -- my parents, a brother, maybe my husband -- and the crushing grief that is to come.

To say this story changed me would be inaccurate -- it has not finished its work in my life. I can't think what more a reader could ask for. So read it -- even if you are anti-gay, pro-family, etc. Be open to the idea that there is something in this story for you, or, at the very least, be prepared to defend your position in the face of what Ms. Proulx has given us.

208 of 232 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I wish I knew how to quit you.", December 9, 2005

By	Westley (Stuck in my head) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Annie Proulx's short story, "Brokeback Mountain," is a beautifully crafted tale of love and longing. Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar meet when they're 20 year olds tending sheep on the titular mountain. The men are grateful for having each other for company on the long and lonely job; unexpectedly, they have sex on a cold winter's night. They both pass it off as a one-time thing and move on with their lives. However, when they meet again four years later, it's clear that they cannot forget each other, leading to years of yearning and ultimately frustration.

Set in 1963, the story uses the mythos of the great American West and cowboys to full effect. Ennis and Jack are two of the last people you'd expect to romance each other, which only deepens the meaning and realism of their relationship. Proulx's writing is spare; it took me awhile to read through and absorb the tale because of all that it implies without stating directly. With Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall on the cover and trailers for the movie playing non-stop, it's hard to not imagine them as the characters, which does not lessen the story and its impact. The ending is somewhat abrupt and perhaps overly tragic - but then all-too-often so is life. As others have noted, "Brokeback Mountain" is not necessarily "gay" lit; the characters and their longing are universal and the writing is simply excellent. Highly recommended.

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Awesome story, but..., January 5, 2006

By	E. Hauke Fischer "Three of Nineteen" (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First things first. Annie Proulx' short story Brokeback Mountain is absolutely awesome. So much has been written about it, I don't think I'll have to go into detail.
However this version of it provides horrible value for money compared to other alternatives.
For just 1$ more, you can get the "From Story to Screenplay" book, which not only includes this story but also the published screenplay to the movie AND three interesting essays by Proulx, Ossana, and MCMurtry.
The second alternative, also just a measly dollar more expensive, is Annie Proulx' "Close Range: Wyoming Stories", which also includes this story and 10 more short stories by Proulx.
I'd only recommend this item to collectors who want all merchandise from the movie. Everyone else is better served with the alternatives I mentioned, IMHO.