The Big Idea: Joe R. Lansdale
Posted on August 17, 2023 Posted by John Scalzi 6 Comments
Today’s Big Idea is short… but is it sweet? Joe R. Lansdale’s collection title promises that Things Get Ugly, and maybe, sometimes, that’s the way it should be.
JOE LANSDALE:
Things Get Ugly has been years in the making, containing my best crime stories from the eighties on. Not every crime story I’ve written is included, and even some of my best ones were left out due to lack of room. Fifty years of writing leaves a lot of short stories out there.
I’m pretty proud of these stories, and that may sound somewhat prideful, but I like to think No Brag, Just Fact. The reader can decide.
These aren’t the sort of stories you want to read in one sitting. That might be too much. One a day isn’t a bad way to go, but if you’re a gulper, then have at it. They touch on, shall we say, sensitive subjects, and sometimes they cut deep into sensitive subjects, and those subjects bleed.
People die, both good and bad. People do terrible things. That’s just life. Things tend to get ugly.
Several of the stories are based on real events that I was a part of or witnessed. I’ve experienced many a weird thing. Reality can be a violet, ugly mess at times. “Mr. Bear” is not based on anything real. Bears cannot fly on planes nor talk.
I don’t offer trigger warnings, but I can say here is one sort of warning I will offer. I wrote the stories. And if you’re familiar with my work, that should be enough.
Things Get Ugly: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Powell’s
Author socials: Web site|Facebook|Instagram|Twitter
You cannot go wrong with Mr. Lansdale. Looking forward to this as all his story collections.
This one is now on the Amazon UK list..
I’ve bought more than one book after reading about it in one of these. This one had me at “Joe R. Lansdale”.
“Bears cannot fly on planes nor talk.”
Albear, Mr,Buttons, and Pooh beg to differ.
“Bears cannot fly on planes nor talk.”
Yet.
“Bears cannot fly on planes nor talk.”
But they do go to bear bars.