I love McCrumb's Appalachian series. This book of short stories is a great complement to her novels, and some of my favorite characters appear in the stories.
Deb T. (desertdreamer) reviewed Foggy Mountain Breakdown and Other Stories on + 23 more book reviews
I love Sharyn Mccrumb's style of writing. These stories are good for reading by a fire on a cold winter night.
Boy, was I disappointed in this book, keeping in mind, Sharyn McCrumb is among my very favorite authors. It is short stories, some which are good, some okay, and others downright boring. I read 3/4's of the book and looked at my leaning TBR pile and said, why bother?
Really enjoyed this one. The length of the stories was just right for those of us who just have to have a "reading fix" and then get up and do something else. Of course, it WAS kind of like eating peanuts, one never seemed to be enough!!
Great stories..............almost feel as if your there!
This is the first story collection from best-selling mystery writer McCrumb (e.g., She Walks These Hills and If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him, both LJ 5/1/95). With settings, tone, diction, and characters varying so widely, the 25 stories might have been written by 15 different writers. The one theme common to many of the stories is the desire for?and usually accomplishment of?revenge. Some stories, especially the first one, "Precious Jewel," are very fine, subtle, and moving. In others, however, a distancing irony prevents the reader's involvement with the characters. Some nicely convey a feeling for the rural South ("The Witness") and others the often-fraught relationship between men and women that is not limited to any region ("A Snare As Old as Solomon," "John Knox in Paradise"). The length of the stories does not allow much plot, and McCrumb sometimes attempts to compensate by winding up with an obvious metaphor or startling action to provide a punch.
Spooky! The story gets to moving along and then ...just when you think you know what will come........McCrumb throws a curve!
Ex library book...acclaimed ballad novel with suspense...combining the old with the new....
Collection of short stories. Great for bathroom reading. ;)
