The New Yorker has published ANOTHER new Annie Proulx story ***SPOILERS***

[Jeff Wrangler]

Newsflash!

Friends, when I got back from the Roundup yesterday, the June 9-16 issue of The New Yorker was waiting in my mailbox, and the magazine has published yet another new Annie Proulx story. This one is called "Tits-up in a Ditch"    (I'm not making that up!), and I presume it is also from her new collection, Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3, due in September.

I have not read this story, but I wanted to get out the word that it's out there.

***

It's in the May 5 issue, which arrived in my mailbox yesterday. No details--haven't yet had time to read it--but it appears to be set in the "Old West" days of Wyoming.

It also appears that the story is from a new collection, Wyoming Stories 3, that will be out this year.

[Shakesthecoffecan]

Hot Damn! I didn't know there was a #3 in the making, I was still waiting on the coffe table book she was collaberating on. I'll cruise by the library today and see if they have it. 

[Front-Ranger]

Yup, I finished the story last nite. It's about the devastating winter of 1885 that killed millions of head of cows in the upper states of the Rocky Mountains. That Annie Proulx does always tackle the interesting topics...the Depression, homophobia, the death of the maritime industry, and now the development of the West, seen through the eyes of Archie and Rose, a homesteading couple. He's 16, she's 14. And as usual, Annie shows no mercy in telling the story.

[Shakesthecoffecan]

Yup, I finished the story last nite. It's about the devastating winter of 1885 that killed millions of head of cows in the upper states of the Rocky Mountains. That Annie Proulx does always tackle the interesting topics...the Depression, homophobia, the death of the maritime industry, and now the development of the West, seen through the eyes of Archie and Rose, a homesteading couple. He's 16, she's 14. And as usual, Annie shows no mercy in telling the story.

That is what I like about her, she shows no mercy in her sotries and when you meet her she is just as calm as the Wyoming countryside betwixt gusts of wind.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I started to read the story last night but did not finish it. I did come across some elements that sounded familiar, though, like cowboys who don't wear socks and employers who take pleasure in telling someone that he had no work for that person.

[Ellemeno]

Thanks for posting this Jeff!  Let's get it on the banner while it's stil on the newsstand!

[serious crayons]

It's about the devastating winter of 1885 that killed millions of head of cows in the upper states of the Rocky Mountains. ...  seen through the eyes of Archie and Rose, a homesteading couple.

Did they think they'd asphyxiate from the smell? Were they supposed to control the weather?


I haven't started it yet, but I'm looking forward to it. 

[Front-Ranger]

Did they think they'd asphyxiate from the smell? Were they supposed to control the weather?

Can't say, Katherine!! Those would be spoilers!!

[Oregondoggie]

That story about froze my soul.  Whew!  If the rest of the new book is like this yarn, we are in for it.  No escapin' to Mexico!

[BelAir]

It's in the May 5 issue, which arrived in my mailbox yesterday. No details--haven't yet had time to read it--but it appears to be set in the "Old West" days of Wyoming.

It also appears that the story is from a new collection, Wyoming Stories 3, that will be out this year.

oh wow.  !!!

[BelAir]

so does a non-subscriber just go to the book store and look for an issue?  (yes, right?)

[fernly]

Just finished it. Really, really liked it. Reminded me more of Brokeback than anything else I've read of hers - lyrical nature descriptions, the scope and sweep of a novel condensed, no, pressurized, into a short story told hard and sharp as flint. And characters who, while very much themselves, remind me somewhat of Ennis, and Aguirre, and Jack - even Jake - in that Archie's singing voice was "halfway between a shout and a song".
There's more I'd like to discuss, but it'd be hard not to give away plot...

[Ellemeno]

Just finished it. Really, really liked it. Reminded me more of Brokeback than anything else I've read of hers - lyrical nature descriptions, the scope and sweep of a novel condensed, no, pressurized, into a short story told hard and sharp as flint. And characters who, while very much themselves, remind me somewhat of Ennis, and Aguirre, and Jack - even Jake - in that Archie's singing voice was "halfway between a shout and a song".
There's more I'd like to discuss, but it'd be hard not to give away plot...

Let's put ***SPOILERS*** in the subject line, then talking about plot is fair game.  Is that okay with you, Jeff, thread-starter?

[Jeff Wrangler]

Let's put ***SPOILERS*** in the subject line, then talking about plot is fair game.  Is that okay with you, Jeff, thread-starter?

Doesn't bother me none. I just wanted to call people's attention to the fact that The New Yorker had published an Annie Proulx story. 

[MsMercury]

I'll have to see if I can find a copy of the New Yorker.

[Ellemeno]

so does a non-subscriber just go to the book store and look for an issue?  (yes, right?)

Or any good magazine store or newspaper stand.

[Clyde-B]

Doesn't bother me none. I just wanted to call people's attention to the fact that The New Yorker had published an Annie Proulx story. 

Thanks for mentioning it!      I would never have known about it otherwise.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Thanks for mentioning it!      I would never have known about it otherwise.

You're welcome! It was an exciting surprise to survey the TOC for the issue and discover it. 

[Front-Ranger]

On retrospect, I wonder if they put that story in especially for Mother's Day. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

On retrospect, I wonder if they put that story in especially for Mother's Day. 

Eeew. ... 

[Kd5000]

So disappointed. I stopped by Barnes and Noble looking for this New Yorker and they already have the one out for 5/12.  It's the 5th today.   I guess I will have to check at the library to see if they got "older" issues.

Does this story sound like it could be turned into a film?  Just curious.  I know Proulx isn't the type that writes so her stories can be easily turned into films.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Does this story sound like it could be turned into a film?  Just curious.  I know Proulx isn't the type that writes so her stories can be easily turned into films.

My opinion is that it would not make a very good film, FWIW.

[BelAir]

schew.....  I barely (sp?) got my copy!  I went to the local Barnes and Noble today, found the 5/12 issue, spent 5 minutes or so waiting for someone to show up at customer services, asked if they had any of the 5/5 left - and he said, "Oh, wait, here you go, they're about to be shipped back..."

(so anyone still looking should maybe quick call the bookstore and ask)

anyone know if it's online?  the other option would be for someone to scan it and make a PDF (very illegal i'm sure).  if needed (and not too cost prohibitive), i could certainly mail a few photocopies... of course I shall abstain from mentioning my name, in case that is also illegal, lol...

[Shakesthecoffecan]

I got a chance to read the story last week at the library. You might want ot check there if the book stores have sent their back already.

What I enjoy about all of her work is that there is this sense the characters don't know the whole story, but the reader does. Proulx write from a place of authority, an all seeing eye and tells you things like Jack remembers the dozy embrace as Ennis drives away, but Ennis does not know that, nor does anyone know he has the shirts in the closet, but we know all those things, because we read. 

In Old Cowboy Songs, it is much the same, you get to see what each character goes thru, but th others are oblivious to it, much more pronounced in this one.

[Front-Ranger]

What I enjoy about all of her work is that there is this sense the characters don't know the whole story, but the reader does. Proulx write from a place of authority, an all seeing eye and tells you things like Jack remembers the dozy embrace as Ennis drives away, but Ennis does not know that, nor does anyone know he has the shirts in the closet, but we know all those things, because we read. 

I know and agree with what you're saying but there are other times when Proulx takes the character's POV. I'm thinking particularly of the time when Ennis was seducing Alma (or trying to distract her from her line of thought) and the line finishes up, "all the way to the North Pole or the Equator, depending on which way you thought you were sailing" Now that is something that comes from the character's POV, not the narrator's LOL!!

[BelAir]

I read the new story end of last week.

I forgot how absolutely devastating her writing can be.  I am glad the cat survived her tale, lol!

Does anyone think any parts of the story were over the top?  (I don't necessarily think so, but I think you could possibly make the argument.)

[Front-Ranger]

Certainly the part where the woman heard the coyotes howling and "she knew what they were doing."

But I've been to Wyoming and it is a very intense place and somewhat "over the top" as you say. So it fits with the location.

She is certainly very low-key about how her characters end up. I had to go back and read again to figure out what happened to Archie the young cowboy.

[BelAir]

So disappointed. I stopped by Barnes and Noble looking for this New Yorker and they already have the one out for 5/12.  It's the 5th today.   I guess I will have to check at the library to see if they got "older" issues.

Does this story sound like it could be turned into a film?  Just curious.  I know Proulx isn't the type that writes so her stories can be easily turned into films.

well, yeah, I think it probably could be a film....  might look like a lot of harrowing melodrama on screen though.

at its simplest, it is a basic western tale of misfortune.  (well, seems sacreligious to use the words simple and basic to relate to a. proulx.  simple and basic don't equal bad though.)

[Jeff Wrangler]

The names Annie Proulx comes up with never cease to amaze and amuse me: "Queeda Dorgan."   

[Shakesthecoffecan]

I know and agree with what you're saying but there are other times when Proulx takes the character's POV. I'm thinking particularly of the time when Ennis was seducing Alma (or trying to distract her from her line of thought) and the line finishes up, "all the way to the North Pole or the Equator, depending on which way you thought you were sailing" Now that is something that comes from the character's POV, not the narrator's LOL!!

Yeah she really exposes their POV as a enement in the telling of the story.

That line about the north pole and the equator was so obtuse I really had to think about it a long time. It was so personal that it was alien to me. An example, I think, of Jack and Ennis becoming very real to her.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Bumping for the Newsflash! 

[louisev]

I read this story, and I have to say, I was very let down by it.


SPOILER!!!




I would summarize it as "Hoo boy, everybody dies a horrible death."  I have to say that my preferred reading has at least somebody surviving and not being eaten by wolves after bleeding to death.

[MaineWriter]

Apparently, Annie has another story, "Tits-Up in a Ditch" in the June 9 & 16 issue of the New Yorker. Is it a double issue? Not sure. That's the way the TOC is listed on the website.

My mother has received her copy already and said this story isn't quite as devastating as the last one (which I haven't read yet).

Leslie

[Jeff Wrangler]

Is it a double issue? Not sure. That's the way the TOC is listed on the website.

I would say yes. Ordinarily, a couple of times a year, they do a double issue.

[belbbmfan]

Apparently, Annie has another story, "Tits-Up in a Ditch" in the June 9 & 16 issue of the New Yorker. Is it a double issue? Not sure. That's the way the TOC is listed on the website.

My mother has received her copy already and said this story isn't quite as devastating as the last one (which I haven't read yet).

Leslie

Great! It should be in our local store next week. I'll certainly go and get a copy.

[Clyde-B]

Great! It should be in our local store next week. I'll certainly go and get a copy.

    Better check the store now.  I had to order the last one because the issues are on the stands a week early.  When I went to pick up the May 5th issue on May 5th, the May 12th issue was already on the stands and all the book stores had sent the May 5th issue back.

      If this is a double issue, it's probably on the stands now.

[Jeff Wrangler]

    Better check the store now.  I had to order the last one because the issues are on the stands a week early.  When I went to pick up the May 5th issue on May 5th, the May 12th issue was already on the stands and all the book stores had sent the May 5th issue back.

      If this is a double issue, it's probably on the stands now.

Good suggestion, Clyde. My subscription issue always arrives during the week before the cover date.

[belbbmfan]

    Better check the store now.  I had to order the last one because the issues are on the stands a week early.  When I went to pick up the May 5th issue on May 5th, the May 12th issue was already on the stands and all the book stores had sent the May 5th issue back.

      If this is a double issue, it's probably on the stands now.

It takes almost a week for the latest issue to get here in Leuven, Belgium. I went to the store last time I wanted to buy The New Yorker (when Paul was visiting) and although the latest copy was out, they still only had the previous one. But I think I'll just go and check this weekend, just to be on the safe side.

Frankly, I'm amazed that I can get a copy here at all!

[Shakesthecoffecan]

Thanks for the heads up, I will check today, will probably have to wait until the library gets their donated copy.

[Clyde-B]

Just FYI  The double issue with the new Annie Proulx story ""Tits-Up in a Ditch" (Yes, that's the real title!  ) is now on newsstands in the U.S.

(Got mine at Borders today!)

The issue dates are June 9 & 16, and like I said, if you want it and wait until the 16th, it will probably already be sent back.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Spoilers:

Well, over lunch today I finally got round to reading "Tits-Up in a Ditch," and I really enjoyed it, even when the story turned tragic.

I had a really good laugh over the part where Bonita thought about poisoning Verl, but then gave up the idea because they had no insurance for her to collect. 

I think I saw a faint echo of Jack in the description of the young Verl. 

[MaineWriter]

SPOILERS



I "sorta" read it yesterday. "Sorta" read it means I skipped around and then read the end carefully, which means I had to go back and read the beginning, but then I breezed through that because it wasn't that interesting which is why I was skimming it in the first place.

But once again, at the end we have a woman without an arm, a man without half his body, and the baby squished by the truck. I mean, come on. Can't anyone ever have a half-way happy ending in Annie Proulx's world?

I have come to realize that BBM is the only thing of Annie's that I ever read that I enjoyed. And I am also realizing that if I hadn't seen the movie, I might not have liked the story so much. I read the story (the first time) just a few weeks before I saw the movie--not back in 1997 when it first came out. Somehow I think that if I read it in 1997 I might not have liked it so much...but I might be wrong on that.

L

[Front-Ranger]

SPOILERS
Can't anyone ever have a half-way happy ending in Annie Proulx's world?

Well, you have to give her credit for truth-in-advertising. That's what I would expect from a story called "Tits-up in a Ditch"!

[Jeff Wrangler]

I mean, come on. Can't anyone ever have a half-way happy ending in Annie Proulx's world?

Probably not. Does anyone have even a half-way happy ending in her novels? I've never read them but I'd be surprised. She just doesn't seem like a happy-ending kind of a writer. More like a "Life is a bitch and then you die" kind of writer.

[Clyde-B]

Probably not. Does anyone have even a half-way happy ending in her novels? I've never read them but I'd be surprised. She just doesn't seem like a happy-ending kind of a writer. More like a "Life is a bitch and then you die" kind of writer.

Yeah, she calls it getting pounded by the hammer of life.

In "The Wamsutter Wolf"  the protagonist survives intact and gets lucky, and I laughed out loud at the ending of "Trickle-Down Effect."

"55 Miles to the Gas Pump" is one of the most amazing stories I've ever read.   It's a Wyomingized retelling of the Bluebeard fairytale in only 273 words, but it feels so complete.

I'm not crazy about how she treats her characters, but I love to read her just to see how she does so much with so few words.  It fits my rather taciturn personality.    

 

[Jeff Wrangler]

It fits my rather taciturn personality.    

You don't say much, Clyde, but you get your point across. 

[Front-Ranger]

Yeah, she calls it getting pounded by the hammer of life.

In "The Wamsutter Wolf"  the protagonist survives intact and gets lucky, and I laughed out loud at the ending of "Trickle-Down Effect."

"55 Miles to the Gas Pump" is one of the most amazing stories I've ever read.   It's a Wyomingized retelling of the Bluebeard fairytale in only 273 words, but it feels so complete.
 

This makes me want to read more short stories by Proulx! I would also love to talk about some of Annie's other unforgettable characters. Personally, I love Loyal Blood and the horse-haunched woman, for starters. Can anyone name the works these people appeared in?

[southendmd]

"55 Miles to the Gas Pump" is one of the most amazing stories I've ever read.   It's a Wyomingized retelling of the Bluebeard fairytale in only 273 words, but it feels so complete.

I have to agree with you there, Clyde.  One of my favorites; it's only three sentences, but what sentences!

I love the reference to "blue paint" in the story, slyly reminding us of Bluebeard. 

I read an equally brief review:  "Bluebeard, writ redneck."

[Clyde-B]

You don't say much, Clyde, but you get your point across. 

Thank you, kind sir!   

I have to agree with you there, Clyde.  One of my favorites; it's only three sentences, but what sentences!

I love the reference to "blue paint" in the story, slyly reminding us of Bluebeard. 

I read an equally brief review:  "Bluebeard, writ redneck."

Great review! 

Her typically gruesome references to desiccated and moldy corpses and my favorite: "one wrapped in newspaper nipple to knee."
I love the alliteration!

This makes me want to read more short stories by Proulx! I would also love to talk about some of Annie's other unforgettable characters. Personally, I love Loyal Blood and the horse-haunched woman, for starters. Can anyone name the works these people appeared in?

Loyal Blood was in Postcards and the horse-haunched woman was in "The Half-Skinned Steer"   a short story in Close Range, the first book of Wyoming stories.  Did I understand your question right?

[Shakesthecoffecan]

I have to agree with you there, Clyde.  One of my favorites; it's only three sentences, but what sentences!

I love the reference to "blue paint" in the story, slyly reminding us of Bluebeard. 

I read an equally brief review:  "Bluebeard, writ redneck."

I read that one aloud to an acquaintence once as an example of Proulx's style and I think I scared them. 

[Front-Ranger]

Loyal Blood was in Postcards and the horse-haunched woman was in "The Half-Skinned Steer"   a short story in Close Range, the first book of Wyoming stories.  Did I understand your question right?

You are a true Proulxian, Clyde!! Now, you name some Proulx characters for us to match with their stories!

[Meryl]

I happened to see the September issue of Oprah's magazine, and Annie's new book, Fine Just the Way It Is,  is featured as one of "The Three Fall Blockbusters" along with books by Phillip Roth and Marilynne Robinson. 

From the short review, titled "The Devil and Annie Proulx," it seems clear Annie has not lost her dark edge.