Book Review
Close Range
By ANNIE PROULX Reviewed by PEGGY BARNETT
Close Range is a collection of short stories by Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx which take place in her adopted state of Wyoming. They present a harsh, unyielding environment, populated by characters who are not always charming or delightful.

Nevertheless, the reader becomes absorbed in their adventures, sometimes hoping against hope for their success, just as they are doing. "In Wyoming not the least fantastic situation is the determination to make a living ranching in this tough and unforgiving place."

In the opening story, "That Half- Skinned Steer," Mero reflects on his long journey away from poverty and the ranch, as he goes back to attend the funeral of his brother who had stayed. He's confident in his abilities and financial status as he remembers some of the old stories, like the one about the half-skinned steer. He does not plan to meet the steer.

"People in Hell Just Want a Drink of Water" tells about some of the homesteaders, famous for their toughness and endurance of pain, and their new neighbors with different plans and goals. This one is a horror story, ending with this observation: "We are in a new millennium and such desperate things no longer happen. If you believe that you'll believe anything."

Proulx is a well-educated New Englander by birth, but she seems to find inspiration in setting. She has stated that her approach to fiction is to examine the lives of individuals as they are affected by time and place. In one of the stories outsiders are changing the customs of the area. " . . . all over the country men who once ate blood-rare prime, women who once cooked pot roast for Sunday dinner turned to soy curd and greens, warding off hardened arteries." These attitudes affect the income of cattle ranchers, of course.

They also influence the ranchers' outlook. "Scrope, 40 years old, had lived on the Coffeepot [his ranch] all his life and suffered homesickness when he went to the feed store" in the next town. His life takes a strange turn when newcomers bring new ideas to the neighborhood. There is an element of fantasy in this story, too.

Mostly, however, there is the unrelenting challenge of the deadly winters and blistering summers. Proulx is a powerful observer and writer. Even when the stories are grim, there is a kind of uplift in her descriptions of the landscape and the characters she creates.

Her title, Close Range, conveys "the idea of the closed range, the open, unfenced place that no longer exists." Moviegoers may like to know that included here is the story "Brokeback Mountain" from which the popular movie came.

Close Range is available at the Mary Willis Library.

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