Good Books

I just finished reading two good books by two friends. First, it was a pleasure to read Beyond Rust, a novella, essays, and short stories by Larry Smith, my editor and publisher at Bottom Dog Press. Beyond Rust has a big heart and gives voice to the down-and-outers, the getting-byers, and the got-it-tougher-than-mosters. This is not fiction of the sad-sacks and the woe-is-meers, however. Smith shows too that there are tender moments in these lives, beautiful moments that even the characters can rise above their misery to recognize. Smith's love of Ohio and especially the Ohio River Valley comes through loud and clear. A book worth checking out. Buy it directly from Smith if you can: http://smithdocs.net/LarrySmithHomepage.htm

Also, I enjoyed reading Matt Bell's The Collectors. It fictionalizes the final days of the Collyer brothers . . . two men who barricaded themselves into their family mansion and filled it with what amounted to rotting junk -- so much so that tunnels had to be made through the junk. Bell did his research and really brings the Collyer mansion to life. The reader feels, especially for Homer Collyer, the would-be hero of the collection. I've been fortunate to watch Matt's fiction get nothing but better over the years and, I'll tell you, this is some tight, crafted fiction.

While Langley Collyer lay wounded somewhere in the mansion, the blind, nearly useless Homer Collyer searches for him: "Homer crawls on his hands and knees, searching for signs of his brother, whose voice is like crickets, always out of reach, coming from every direction at once."

Like crickets!! I mean, that is the perfect choice to describe that moment . . . and there are many, many sentences of that caliber in this thin, but full volume. Check it out . . . if you can still get your hands on one: www.mdbell.com

Way to go, Matt!