Fine Just The Way It Is

Wyoming Stories 3

De: Annie Proulx

Narrado por: Will Patton

2009 Audie Award Finalist for Short Stories/Collections

From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Annie Proulx, an "unforgettable" (Miami Herald) and "vivid" (Oprah Daily) collection of stories set in Wyoming.

Winner of two O. Henry Prizes, Annie Proulx has been anthologized in nearly every major collection of great American stories. Her bold, inimitable language, her exhilarating eye for detail, her dark sense of humor, and her compassion inform this profoundly compelling collection of stories.

Proulx creates a fierce, visceral panorama of American folly and fate in these nine dazzling stories about multiple generations of Americans struggling through life in the West. Each character is a pioneer of a sort—some are billionaires, some are escapists, and some just think the rest of the country has it wrong. Deeply sympathetic to the men and women fighting to survive in this harsh place, Proulx turns their lives into fiction with the power of myth, leaving the reader in awe.©2008 Annie Proulx; (P)2008 Simon & Schuster

Review of "Fine Just The Way It Is"

Proulx does not disappoint and the narrator is excellent. Highly enjoyable and engaging stories with great presentation by the reader.

Will patten is the best

Stories were a little hard to take at times but the descriptions of geography made the listen worth it

The best one so far

If you like Proulx, or the West, or Wyoming, or the human condition on the outskirts of society, this is a great set of stories.

My favorite out of the series (which are not connected as far as I can tell) by far.

The last story’s ending brought me to tears of sorrow & joy at the same time.

Even the Devil can’t homestead in Wyoming.

These eight stories are a good companion for a long drive. They make you grateful for a full tank of gas, a bottle of water and a cell phone with a least a single bar.

"The Sagebrush Kid" is a sad, sweet tale of childless parents. "Deep-Blood-Greasy-Bowl" chronicles an ancient Indian tribe whose future relies on slaughtering a herd of bison. "I've Always Loved This Place" and "Swamp Mischief" are satirical pieces set in Hell. The remaining four stories are family tales, ranging from the days before statehood to the present. They are stories of loss, coping, continuity, legacy and erasure which anchor the others.

This is not a loose collection swept together by an author looking for a quick buck. “Fine, Just the Way It Is” is about the land, not the people. Even the Devil can’t homestead in Wyoming.

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Will Patton, as usual, is terrific. My only fault with the collection is the lack of a pause between the stories. They just run up on each other. The effect of a half page of white space at the end of a story is not rendered, and that's a flaw in the production.

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Compelling tales of hard lives

It took me a couple of tries to get into this book. The stories are harsh and bare and gritty, like the Western landscape. Life is extremely hard, mistakes cost dearly, and nobody lives happily ever after. Having said that, I did not find the stories depressing. Lifelike would be a better word. Once I caught on, I found the book compelling.