That Old Ace in the Hole

I just could not ever get into this book and I love Annie Proulx's work, including her short stories and memoir Bird Cloud. But this one just seemed like a creative writing excercise where the author goes through a ton of research into the Panhandle area of Oklahoma and Texas and puts her thoughts on the history, geography, architecture, weather patterns, farming history, and photographic record into the mouths of various extremely oddly named characters. These people serve no function but exposition. They orate the facts Proulx has learned in conducting her extensive research on this region. I would like to look at the old photos her characters describe, and see some of the downtrodden eccentric old towns and settlements, but I just do not want to keep reading this book. Also--I find the narrator's voice and accent ridiculous. He is a huge distraction, something I don't need when the book itself is so hard to latch onto.

I love Annie Proulx's work. This novel is less structured than her famous The Shipping News and more like her great short stories. Her wit and sass always amuse me. The underlying story concerns a young man sent to the Texas Panhandle region as a scout for huge hog operations -- who loves the region and develops a connection to its people. Some of the back-stories concern characters who go back to the days of freight wagons, which preceded the railroads in developing the area. I wish more of Annie Proulx's material was available in audiobook form.

superior narration by Tom Stechschulte really brings this tale of the unique panhandle area of Texas to life. His accents are excellent, and the characters literally leap to life with his excellent narration. Proulx is at her usual descriptive, but not wordy best. I found this book riviting.

This book is about dust and sweat and bad smells, so I didn't expect to like it so much. Now after the second listen, I admire author and narrator more than ever. With a mom born in Grand Prairie and husband born in Pampa, I needed to read it. The beginning is a bit slow. Once Bob is settled in with his uncle and later in his job, the story settles in with flashbacks, characters telling stories, Bob's reading which touches on history, and all kinds of instructive detours and delays. Someone bored by descriptions will just have to get over it. Anyone put off by gay people, ditto, though the most important characters are hetero. I sent a print copy to my friend, thinking she would enjoy the descriptions of food. Stechschulte is a marvelous narrator -- right up there with Humphrey Bower, Davina Porter and Juliet Stevenson. He gets the accent just right, and his women are as believeable as the men. . . . I'll never forget the Dutch windmill expert who washed and ironed his shirts in camp and died a millionaire. Or the old Indian going to live with his daughter. This is great American literature. Thank you, Annie!

good but not amazing. good voices. fun story. nice but a little long. not bad