Once You Break a Knuckle

September 30, 2013
Before the release of his novel Ballistics, Canadian writer Wilson built a reputation for the stories collected here: testosterone-driven coming-of-age narratives set in the rugged working-class territory of British Columbia's Kootenay Valley. Wilson clearly revels in his material: "The Mathematics of Friedrich Gauss" constitutes a crash course in the history, genealogy, and local lore of Invermere and "Valley Echo" exemplifies the way of the rifle in the shadow of the Rockies. Paternal relationships figure in stories like "The Elasticity of Bone," about father-and-son judo experts, as do long delinquent summers ("Sediment"), dirt-smeared trucks ("Big Bitchin' Cow"), and dying where the air smells of "paving salt and pine needles and the cadaverous swell of the lake" ("Don't Touch the Ground"). Like Winesburg, Ohio, characters range freely through the 12 stories, culminating in the gothic title piece (wait for the severed stag's head), which reveals Wilson to be a master of atmospheric detail: gun barrels appear about as often as bottles of Coors Light, overalls are either stained with gasoline or flecked with wood chips after a day at the sawmill, and manliness is measured in bar-fight scars. This winds up being part of the problem: despite rich and specific details, it's those same details that give the collection a feeling of oversaturation.

October 15, 2013
After his first novel (Ballistics, 2013), the Canadian Wilson offers a collection of 12 stories about testosterone-fueled men in a small town. Invermere is in the Kootenay Valley, beneath the Canadian Rockies. Several stories feature John and Will Crease, a father and son. John is a veteran cop in the valley's small towns. In "The Elasticity of Bone," he's about to leave for Kosovo, a war zone, to train police recruits; the night before, he wrestles 17-year-old Will in a judo tournament. Then, he's back from Kosovo with a bullet wound in his chest ("Reception"). Early the next morning, he's challenging Will to use the punching bag with him. Some years later, in the title story, using a pulley for a tug of war while "engaged in a lifelong game of one-upmanship," he accidentally breaks Will's knuckles. Wilson delivers his own punch in his portrayal of these strong, stubborn men, their blood keeping them close yet unable to voice their feelings, about women or anything else. There's a far different father-son relationship in "Valley Echo." The pipe fitter Conner and his wife are hash addicts, which is rough on their son, Winch. Fortunately, he has a lifeline in his gramps, who teaches him how to shoot. His death (natural causes) leaves Winch bereft but with enough strength to fight his dad (more broken knuckles). Fists are always flying in Invermere. This is not Mayberry, Wilson makes clear, too insistently. The hicks, or hoodlums, are always looking for a chance to taunt and bully. Will's schoolboy buddy Mitch gets his revenge, setting a trap for a hick; the kid dies. Mitch is remorseful ("Don't Touch the Ground"). When the dealings with the women in their lives go bad, the locals head into the wilderness, suicidally (see "Big Bitchin' Cow" and, again, the title story); or they start drinking in dumb disbelief ("The Mathematics of Friedrich Gauss"). Wilson's dark world can become monotonous, but there's no denying its raw power.

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November 1, 2013
This powerful collection by the author of Ballistics (2013) is set, as that novel is, in the Kootenay Valley of western Canada, a region that seems oddly akin to the American South, with an assortment of macho (if vulnerable) men, rednecks ( hicks ), pickup trucks, booze, and drugs. Although there is a sameness to the storiesyoung men working out difficulties with their Great Santinilike fathers and with women, all of whom are described as beautifulWilson captures those travails and the British Columbia setting with strength, passion (a not unmixed affection), wit, and compelling imagery. In Big Bitchin' Cow, a young man saves his father from a mean bovine; in The Elasticity of Bone, another teen arranges a competitive judo match with his unsuspecting dad. Physicality is a strong element in these stories, many related by character and almost all by theme. The book comes with impressive endorsements (Margaret Atwood, Geoff Dyer) and will appeal to readers of Russell Banks and Daniel Woodrell.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)