Cowboys Are My Weakness; Stories

New York, NY: Washington Square Press published by Pocket Books, 1992. Ninth Printing. Paperback. 171, [5] pages. A collection of 12 smart, humorous, and Intelligent stories about smart women who are looking for the love of a good man, and men who are wild and hard to pin down. Signed copy sticker on front cover. Signed by the author on the title page, "Pam Houston, Creede, 98." Pages slightly darkened. Pam Houston (born January 9, 1962) is an American author of short stories, novels and essays. She is best known for her first book, Cowboys Are My Weakness, which won the 1993 Western States Book Award. "Cowboys Are My Weakness" was named a New York Times Notable Book in 1992. Houston's stories have been selected for volumes of Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize, and Best American Short Stories of the Century. She is a winner of the Western States Book Award, the WILLA award for contemporary fiction, and The Evil Companions Literary Award. This collection of short stories provides a refreshing and realistic look at men and women--together and apart. Derived from a Kirkus review: `...I should know better, but I love it when he calls me baby.'' That about sums up the sentiment running through these fresh, highly crafted, image-packed stories by the debuting Houston. Her setting is the West, her protagonists women in their late 20s, rugged, outdoorsy, independent types looking for the love of a good man no less doggedly than are their yuppie sisters; it's only that when the guys out there disappoint—as, according to Houston, guys must—they howl instead of whine. In the collection opener, ``How to Talk to a Hunter'' (Best American Stories 1990), the down-spiraling course of a love affair between the narrator and a classic Houston male trickles out amid amusing aphorisms about the ultimate incompatibility of the sexes. The theme gets replayed in ``Selway'', though this time in the Deliverance-like action and adventure of a maniacs-only trip down a high-water river, undertaken by the narrator in order to win the love of a professional white-water rafter. It's not until ``Cowboys Are My Weakness'' that the female voices of these stories begin to show some starch. In that story, a woman first discovers the difference between real and ersatz cowboys, then figures out that neither variety is ever going to provide ``the impossible love of a country song.'' And when ``In My Next Life'' finally rolls around, Houston delivers up a rich, sad relationship between two women, one dying of breast cancer, both locked in hopeless affairs with men. These stories are fine things from a writer one hopes will come up with a novel before too many suns sink in the West. Condition: Good / Very good.

Keywords: Short Stories, Men & Women, Fiction, Relationships, Love, Cowboys, Hunter, White-water Rafter, Selway, Idaho, Blizzard

ISBN: 0671793888

[Book #79117]

Price: $50.00

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