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I have been meaning to read Joe Lansdale for ages. Ever since The Bottoms came out in 2000, which my Dad begged me to read. Having finally gotten around to reading his latest book I am of course kicking myself for waiting so long. I am a sucker for a good Western and a massive […]

I haven't stayed up late to finish a book in a few years. Having children cuts down one's desire to be groggy the next day. They're always on, and a parent isn't really allowed a day off.

Joe R. Lansdale weaves stories I would cringe to write (and give my left pinkie, to boot).  The cringe comes from his subject matter--he doesn't shy away from awful race relations, lynchings, and rape.  But damn, can this man write. My Saturday night became Sunday morning, but I had to finish The Bottoms.

The Bottoms (2000) is beautiful and thrilling, and a fine companion for an older audience looking for a read in the vein of To Kill a Mockingbird.The subject matter is challenging, but realistic, and man... Mr. Lansdale keeps the pages turning.

"The wind could blow down a full-grown man, but it was the dust that was the worst."

This was a pleasantly surprising story of adventure and camaraderie found in the midst of heartbreaking loss during The Great Depression.

Jack Catcher has recently lost both parents, the money's gone, the dog's gone, the food's gone and soon enough the family farm will be gone too thanks in part to the Oklahoma dust storms that have killed anything and everything edible. (Sounds like a bad country music song, doesn't it?) There's nothing left for him in the only place he's ever called home except memories and those aren't even worth sticking around for.

All he wants to do now is get out of Oklahoma but he has no idea how to accomplish that. Enter Jane Lewis and her younger brother Tony. Jane and Jack used to go to school together, until the Depression hit and Jack had to stay home and help his parents out around the farm. Jane and Tony are orphans now too with their father having had his unfortunate tractor accident and their mother running off with the Bible salesman, but they've managed to survive the storm somehow.

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