"One place comprehended can make us understand other places better," Eudora Welty wrote in 1956. It is not an easy feat for a writer to portray a region so fully that enduring truths are found in local circumstance…Ron Rash has accomplished this with his fictional account of the very real Watauga County in western North Carolina…There are no outsiders, no visitors, no prodigal sons in this homogeneous world. These are the sons who stayed; the ungiving Appalachian soil is as much a part of them as their souls…As a Southern author, Rash is often compared, wrongly, to Welty. He shares little with her other than an attachment to place and an ability to, as he has said, "bore deep and true," like "farmers drilling for water." Rash's grave stories contain deep silences and are much more reminiscent of the best Midwestern writers, particularly Willa Cather.
Something Rich and Strange: Selected Stories
Narrated by Christian Baskous
Ron RashUnabridged — 15 hours, 4 minutes
Something Rich and Strange: Selected Stories
Narrated by Christian Baskous
Ron RashUnabridged — 15 hours, 4 minutes
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Overview
From the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling award-winning author of Serena and The Cove, thirty of his finest short stories, collected in one volume.
No one captures the complexities of Appalachia-a rugged, brutal landscape of exquisite beauty-as evocatively and indelibly as author and poet Ron Rash. Winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, two O Henry prizes, and a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, Rash brilliantly illuminates the tensions between the traditional and the modern, the old and new south, tenderness and violence, man and nature. Though the focus is regional, the themes of Rash's work are universal, striking an emotional chord that resonates deep within each of our lives.
Something Rich and Strange showcases this revered master's artistry and craftsmanship in thirty stories culled from his previously published collections Nothing Gold Can Stay, Burning Bright, Chemistry, and The Night New Jesus Fell to Earth. Each work of short fiction demonstrates Rash's dazzling ability to evoke the heart and soul of this land and its people-men and women inexorably tethered to the geography that defines and shapes them. Filled with suspense and myth, hope and heartbreak, told in language that flows like “shimmering, liquid poetry” (Atlanta Journal Constitution), Something Rich and Strange is an iconic work from an American literary virtuoso.
Editorial Reviews
Ron Rash occupies an odd place in the pantheon of great American writers, and you'd better believe he belongs there. He gets rapturous reviews that don't mean to condescend but almost always call him a Southern or Appalachian writer, and Mr. Rash has said he can hear the silent, dismissive "just" in those descriptions. He also baffles anyone who thinks that great talent ought to be accompanied by great ambition. Mr. Rash has planted himself at Western Carolina University and eluded the limelight that his work absolutely warrants…It's time for Mr. Rash's standing to change. And here is the book to do it: Something Rich and Strange, a major short-story anthology that can introduce new readers to this author's haunting talents and reaffirm what his established following already knows…Mr. Rash's stories glide with exceptional ease between the supernatural, which he can treat as a very beautiful extension of the natural world…and the mundane, which can be ghastly.
Rash is the master of his craft…The poet in Rash comes out in every story, in language so choice that even his shortest stories pack a serious wallop… Readers will want to read slowly, dipping into the contents judiciously to extend the pleasures of this stunning collection. — Booklist (starred review)
“This selection of 34 stories from four collections signals the growing prominence of a fine author… These superbly suspenseful stories evoke a world of hurt, but what makes them so deeply satisfying is that they enlarge our capacity for empathy.” — Kirkus Reviews
“No one writes better about the misunderstood, bedeviled, mule-stubborn inhabitants of Southern Appalachia than Rash... Something Rich and Strange is a bonanza for short-story fans, and another great introduction to Rash for those who haven’t read the originals yet.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“For those unfamiliar with the beautiful and searing short stories of Ron Rash, Something Rich and Strange is a generous, well-timed introduction…. Rash’s stories tell in crisp, gripping prose the emotional travails of life on the Appalachian outback… Powerful and beautifully told.” — Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers
“Rash’s stories show the highs of lows of life in the Appalachians through the decades, from the hardscrabble years of the Great Depression through the current challenges of meth addiction… Something Rich and Strange showcase[s] Rash’s narrative powers and convey why his work has won so many accolades.” — Asheville Mountain Express
“[Rash] brings his poet’s eyes to the images of his people and place and his native ears to the language of that locale… Rash’s writing resonates with our lives.” — New York Journal of Books
“Ron Rash’s stories portray the Appalachian landscape in all its brutal, exquisite complexity… It is not an easy feat for a writer to portray a region so fully that enduring truths are found in local circumstance… [Rash] beautifully illustrates the appeal and vexation of the South.” — New York Times Book Review
“Ron Rash occupies an odd place in the pantheon of great American writers, and you’d better believe he belongs there…Something Rich and Strange is a major short-story anthology that can introduce new readers to this author’s haunting talents and reaffirm what his established following already knows.” — New York Times, Janet Maslin
“Expect to be good for nothing for a long time after you read Ron Rash. His writing is powerful, stripped down and very still... Rash’s spectacular stories may originate in the peculiar soil of Appalachia, but their reach and their rewards are vast.” — NPR's Fresh Air
“[R]ich and strange are two words that aptly apply to this book. I have two other words to continue with: Simply beautiful... some of the stories are so searing, it’s as if someone has taken a stick from a blazing fire and pressed it into your hand.” — NPR's All Things Considered
“These are among the ‘rich’ and ‘strange’ tales Ron Rash shares from his Appalachian region, stories of country life so true, they are sure to strike deep chords among rural readers across the country…” — Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS)
“Ron Rash merges sound and sense in [this] new collection… Rash’s themes are universal: man’s struggle with nature, with others, with himself. ” — Charlotte Observer
“Ron Rash knows that shadows are waiting to eclipse our lives, knows that no matter how desperately we search for places of respite, there are likely to be none…[This book] remind[s] us of that truth and of the unforgiving, barren landscape in which that truth resides.” — Anniston Star
“…beautiful new collection…. The prose in every story is sensual and expressive. [Rash] swings easily between humor and pathos, the mundane and the momentous. ” — Chicago Tribune
“This anthology of Rash’s earthy, often eerie short stories is like a forest you can get lost in for hours, small but affecting tales of poverty, addiction, pride, love, and despair threaded with life-altering acts of violence and a firm sense of humanity... Grade: A-” — Entertainment Weekly
“Mr. Rash is one of the great American authors at work today, and this short-story anthology confirms that stature. His prose rings clear and true… his awe-inspiring stories are startlingly attuned to nature, human and otherwise, in all its power both to create and destroy.” — New York Times, Janet Maslin's 10 Favorite Books of 2014
“Short story lovers would be hard-pressed to find a better release this year than Ron Rash’s Something Rich and Strange. Throughout this masterful collection… Rash brings authority and compassion to a broad range of mountain folk…Rash’s stories may have heart, but they also flash some formidable teeth.” — Nashville Scene, Reviewers Favorite Books of 2014
“Rash will scare you, enlighten you, dazzle and surprise you. But he’ll never bore you. These 34 muscular stories brim with Appalachian characters who live (and sometimes die) by their wits and by their pride.” — Raleigh News & Observer
“Most of the 34 stories are from the author’s previously published collections. Two stories are published in book form for the first time. All contain language and characters as rich and strange as the southern Appalachian landscape that they have come from.” — Anniston Star
“These stories are so visual as to be palpable to the senses… Ron Rash is known to be conscious of every word he writes and each syllable stressed in each sentence illuminates the cadence of his prose.” — Authorlink
“Mr. Rash is one of the great American authors at work today, and this short-story anthology confirms that stature. His prose rings clear and true. — Janet Maslin, NYT, Top Ten Books of 2014
Rash is the master of his craft…The poet in Rash comes out in every story, in language so choice that even his shortest stories pack a serious wallop… Readers will want to read slowly, dipping into the contents judiciously to extend the pleasures of this stunning collection.
For those unfamiliar with the beautiful and searing short stories of Ron Rash, Something Rich and Strange is a generous, well-timed introduction…. Rash’s stories tell in crisp, gripping prose the emotional travails of life on the Appalachian outback… Powerful and beautifully told.
Ron Rash’s stories portray the Appalachian landscape in all its brutal, exquisite complexity… It is not an easy feat for a writer to portray a region so fully that enduring truths are found in local circumstance… [Rash] beautifully illustrates the appeal and vexation of the South.
No one writes better about the misunderstood, bedeviled, mule-stubborn inhabitants of Southern Appalachia than Rash... Something Rich and Strange is a bonanza for short-story fans, and another great introduction to Rash for those who haven’t read the originals yet.
Rash’s stories show the highs of lows of life in the Appalachians through the decades, from the hardscrabble years of the Great Depression through the current challenges of meth addiction… Something Rich and Strange showcase[s] Rash’s narrative powers and convey why his work has won so many accolades.
[R]ich and strange are two words that aptly apply to this book. I have two other words to continue with: Simply beautiful... some of the stories are so searing, it’s as if someone has taken a stick from a blazing fire and pressed it into your hand.
Ron Rash occupies an odd place in the pantheon of great American writers, and you’d better believe he belongs there…Something Rich and Strange is a major short-story anthology that can introduce new readers to this author’s haunting talents and reaffirm what his established following already knows.
Expect to be good for nothing for a long time after you read Ron Rash. His writing is powerful, stripped down and very still... Rash’s spectacular stories may originate in the peculiar soil of Appalachia, but their reach and their rewards are vast.
[Rash] brings his poet’s eyes to the images of his people and place and his native ears to the language of that locale… Rash’s writing resonates with our lives.
…beautiful new collection…. The prose in every story is sensual and expressive. [Rash] swings easily between humor and pathos, the mundane and the momentous.
Mr. Rash is one of the great American authors at work today, and this short-story anthology confirms that stature. His prose rings clear and true.
Rash will scare you, enlighten you, dazzle and surprise you. But he’ll never bore you. These 34 muscular stories brim with Appalachian characters who live (and sometimes die) by their wits and by their pride.
These stories are so visual as to be palpable to the senses… Ron Rash is known to be conscious of every word he writes and each syllable stressed in each sentence illuminates the cadence of his prose.
This anthology of Rash’s earthy, often eerie short stories is like a forest you can get lost in for hours, small but affecting tales of poverty, addiction, pride, love, and despair threaded with life-altering acts of violence and a firm sense of humanity... Grade: A-
Ron Rash merges sound and sense in [this] new collection… Rash’s themes are universal: man’s struggle with nature, with others, with himself.
These are among the ‘rich’ and ‘strange’ tales Ron Rash shares from his Appalachian region, stories of country life so true, they are sure to strike deep chords among rural readers across the country…
Short story lovers would be hard-pressed to find a better release this year than Ron Rash’s Something Rich and Strange. Throughout this masterful collection… Rash brings authority and compassion to a broad range of mountain folk…Rash’s stories may have heart, but they also flash some formidable teeth.
Ron Rash knows that shadows are waiting to eclipse our lives, knows that no matter how desperately we search for places of respite, there are likely to be none…[This book] remind[s] us of that truth and of the unforgiving, barren landscape in which that truth resides.
…beautiful new collection…. The prose in every story is sensual and expressive. [Rash] swings easily between humor and pathos, the mundane and the momentous.
Ron Rash merges sound and sense in [this] new collection… Rash’s themes are universal: man’s struggle with nature, with others, with himself.
No one writes better about the misunderstood, bedeviled, mule-stubborn inhabitants of Southern Appalachia than Rash... Something Rich and Strange is a bonanza for short-story fans, and another great introduction to Rash for those who haven’t read the originals yet.
For those unfamiliar with the beautiful and searing short stories of Ron Rash, Something Rich and Strange is a generous, well-timed introduction…. Rash’s stories tell in crisp, gripping prose the emotional travails of life on the Appalachian outback… Powerful and beautifully told.
01/01/2015
Set in the mountains of western North Carolina, this latest story collection by Rash (Serena) captures the unique, complex culture and history of the Appalachian region. Life and circumstances are often challenging in this part of America, and Rash doesn't shy from including many of the issues facing the region today, especially methamphetamine addiction. Ranging in time from the Civil War to the present, these stories aren't happy, but there's a great feel for the resiliency and determination of mountain people, whether a young woman protecting her livestock and home from roaming Confederate soldiers, a boy trying to keep his family together while his parents are more interested in getting high, or parents working two jobs to help their daughter go to college even as they count the days until her tour in Afghanistan is over. VERDICT Indeed rich and strange and sometimes haunted, this work will certainly appeal to fans of short fiction and Appalachian literature, but it's well worth a try for anyone interested in beautifully crafted short stories. Rash is a modern Southern master who deserves mention with the likes of Eurora Welty and Flannery O'Connor. [See Prepub Alert, 4/14/14; previewed as Above the Waterfall.]—Shaunna E. Hunter, Hampden-Sydney Coll. Lib., VA
Narrator Christian Baskous delivers this collection of stories by award-winning author Ron Rash with a soft Southern accent, deftly matching the tone and substance of the material. Baskous evokes empathy and horror in these tales of hard-hit Appalachian people dealing with poverty, sorrow, addiction, and more. He allows a weary, threadbare tone to seep into his voice, evoking the sandpaper quality of life lived on the edge. Baskous raises the emotional level of the stories, which are already poetic in nature. A match made in literary heaven, Rash and Baskous capture bleak moments that make listeners feel the pain and joy of life. R.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
★ 2014-10-08
This selection of 34 stories from four collections signals the growing prominence of a fine author; the movie of his enthralling 2008 novel Serena is due this fall. Rash's writing is rooted in the mountains of North Carolina, the region's history and folkways.These stories describe a hardscrabble landscape streaked with violence that, in Rash's telling, is graphic but never gratuitous. Some are set in the present, others in the past, which should be respected and remembered. A visiting Briton's ignorance of his family's history results in his savage punishment ("A Servant of History"); a mercenary moocher trashes soldiers' graves and also gets his comeuppance ("Dead Confederates"). The most powerful contemporary stories highlight the ravages of meth addiction. Further back in time, "Hard Times" glimpses lives broken by Depression-era poverty, while the Civil War-related stories have an almost crystalline quality. The mountains are predominantly for the Union; a young wife, alone on her farm, must battle a scavenging Confederate soldier ("Lincolnites"). Pity Ethan Burke in "The Dowry." The war over, the young Union soldier hopes to marry the daughter of a Confederate colonel, who lost a hand on the battlefield. The colonel's condition is that he receive a severed hand first. Even more haunting is the plight of two runaway slaves seeking shelter from a farmer maddened by grief over the loss of his son and wife ("Where the Map Ends"). He helps one slave on his way but detains the other; a rope hangs ready in the barn. Yet there's light relief here too, from the antics of three dummies and one smart bear in the wilderness ("A Sort of Miracle") to a memorable fish story ("Their Ancient, Glittering Eyes"). These superbly suspenseful stories evoke a world of hurt, but what makes them so deeply satisfying is that they enlarge our capacity for empathy.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940170295784 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 11/04/2014 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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