A collection of short stories set in Wyoming. Some of the characters (and the bars) appear in several of the stories which together form a quirky picture of the modern American West. Proulx has a Dickensian way with names: Orion Horncrackle, Sage Brawls and Gilbert Wolfscale seem to be normal in Wyoming. A magic hole swallows illegal hunters, a Sioux girl suddenly discovers what happened to her ancestors, a drunken driver sets fire to the hay and transforms his truck into a fireball. If there are any dull people in this part of the world they are not mentioned in this irresistible book.
