Day Fifty-Seven

5/27

The Book: The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake

ISBN: 0-316-71597-2

Suggested By: Bob Lopez

Where: Home

When: 9-

Music: None

Company: Alone

Pages: 86- 141(55)

The Lead In: Someone reacted to one of my tweets on Pancake’s work, thought I was bashing on West Virginia. I have no real opinion on WV, as I have never been there. I had a roommate in college from there, once. His feet stunk so bad, we used to powder the carpet every other day. And man, was he fat! Pretty gross roommate, but I doubt I was much better, just smelled a little better.

The 411 on the 55: Yesterday I referred to these stories as first, second, third and so on, I think tonight I will use their titles as it will make it easier to reference them.

“Time and Again” - Old man driving an ice truck, picks up a hitchhiker. The kid mentions a killer that used to kill hitchhikers in these parts. The story hints that its the old man, but he passes the opportunity to kill the kid, because he doesn’t want to dirty the truck.

“The Mark” - An ugly story about incest and domestic abuse. Had some trouble getting into the story.

“The Scrapper” - Cockfighting, gambling, bootlegging, boxing. The story centers on a man who does all of these things. Disturbing cock fight scene, tad barbaric. He fights in the end of the story, boxing a larger man. It ends with the fight still going on. I like Pancake’s description here, very well done. Mature writing.

“The Honored Dead” - Pancake draws a connection between an Indian burial mound, his father’s war letters, and his friend’s service in the Navy. He’s threatened by his activity in the military and assumes his friend has been with his girlfriend. Eventually, as the title indicates, his friend dies.

“The Way It Has to Be” - A couple from West Virginia are traveling across the country. He’s a murderer, in an almost Javier Bardem style. She is fed up with the life, but he wants to marry her. In the end she decides to get a job and stay in the town they are in, but the story closes with his hand brushing against his gun (she’s gotta die).

“The Salvation of Me” - Two boys growing up, focused on fast cars and cheap women. Not sure where its going. 

Line of the Day: “As he went down he could hear Trudy screaming his name above the cheers. He la for a time on the cold floor of the Sunflower Inn: the jukebox played, and he heard Bund coughing.” pg 114

The Fact on the Fiction: From an Article in the Atlantic Monthly - “Twenty-five years ago this month, on the evening of April 8, 1979, the young author Breece D'J Pancake placed the barrels of a shotgun in his mouth and took his own life. He was twenty-six. At the time of his death he had published six short stories, two of them in The Atlantic Monthly." Transcripts of a Troubled Mind