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Country Hardball (2013)

by Steve Weddle(Favorite Author)

4.06 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1440570817 (ISBN13: 9781440570810)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Tyrus Books

review 1: "Country Hardball" seeks the truth. The 18 stories are vignettes, in a way, but each is much more than a sketch or detail. Individually, they can be taken on their own. Together, in the big sweep, the gravity grows. These are stories about lives and cultures that are often overlooked. In this case, Louisiana. As the economic mood brightens a bit in 2013 (unemployment rate is “just” 7 percent; let’s celebrate!) Weddle reminds us that real people are struggling in the backwaters—real people with real hopes, real dreams and very dicey choices ahead. Do they focus on the fact that they are at the bottom of a hole? Or do they see a way out? As one character, notes, “All holes have sides.” Do you try to get away? To where? Do you take what’s not yours? How? And wha... moret will be the consequences? If you’ve got a plan, will it work? And how sure are you that it will?Weddle’s writing is unflashy. He uses words for power and accuracy, not show. He is after intimacy, odd moments and big life choices both. He goes for bone-shaking honesty in studying the lives of people on the economic edge, where a busted alternator can make or break the budget and you measure distances between the new bad thing and the last bad thing. “Debts to Pay” spotlights the sharp edges. “The tree through the porch. The rotten tooth. The burned-out relay in the septic tank. You ask yourself how other people do it. When it go so tough. How anyone ever gets ahead. Just a little, you say. Just a hundred bucks in the coffee can you won’t have to go into a month when something else goes wrong.”There are glimmers of hope and humor and love amid the ruins. "Country Hardball" starts bleak and gradually rises up in tone and tenor. Don’t give up on "Country Hardball" and don’t give up on these people. They might be at the bottom of a hole, but all holes have sides.
review 2: I won this book in a Goodreads giveaways contest. It's pretty short. A collection of short stories that set the scene of small-town Arkansas. Having lived there for a year, I can definitely appreciate the nuances in the book. The problem is that none of the short stories really work independently on their own, but neither does the book work well as one cohesive story. It takes a long time to keep the various characters straight and figure out which ones matter to the overarching storyline. The ending, or lack thereof, was a letdown, as the book finally seemed to be heading somewhere good. All that said, the writing is crisp and the characters are pretty well fleshed out. I would be interested in seeing this expanded to a more complete novel. less

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