Brokeback Mountain: Annie Proulx

Brokeback Mountain is a short story that Annie Proulx included in a collection of shorts titled Close Range. It is a tale about two old fashioned cowboys—rough, gritty, and aggressive men—who spend a herding season on Brokeback Mountain together, working with a herd of sheep. In a short span of time and very close proximity, they discover something in one another that they have each longed for all their lives. They connect on a level that is intangible to both of them. Startled by the discovery, they never title their love, refusing the terms “gay” and “queer”. Each man marries and has children, while maintaining their friendship. They both know the possible consequences of being caught together.

I find it difficult to read a book after having seen the movie, because I will inevitably place the movie actors in the roles of the characters without giving the writer the chance to describe them. Brokeback Mountain doesn’t have that problem. Proulx is such a fantastic writer that in the 55 pages of her short story, she is able to illustrate the characters of Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist with such clarity that the Brokeback Mountain movie actors are separate characters.

When Brokeback Mountain was made into a movie, it was garish and romantic. Grown, straight men cried, and young gay men held their heads a little higher. I personally feel that it was an incredibly important film, and it was some of the best acting either of the leading men have ever accomplished. Reading the short story gave me further insight. Proulx writing is clever and very real, setting her above other writers. The gruff adoration of two cowboys for each other isn’t treated like a Hollywood love story—it’s told as honestly as if Ennis del Mar had sat down and wrote the story himself.

When You Are Engulfed In Flames: David Sedaris

David Sedaris is a short story writer who has gained a bit of notoriety over the years for his sharp wit and keen observation of the dysfunctional family dynamic. In reading some of his previous work, I was entertained and frequently provoked to compare my own dysfunctional family to the family he describes as his own. Sedaris doesn't hide the reality from his readers, rather, he illuminates how dysfunction makes a family what it is. I have never thought of his writing as funny at the expense of his family, but simply shining a light on some of the more humiliating facets of an average American family with the result of loving them all the more.

When You Are Engulfed In Flames is less about his family and more about the world at large. Perhaps it is the focus on others that makes me uncomfortable. Somehow, it's acceptable to point and laugh at your own family, but pointing and laughing at others is just cruel. In this collection of short stories, Sedaris does a lot of travel--Paris, London, America, Japan--and he manages to find something to poke fun of everywhere he goes--hygiene, language barriers, local customs, etc. At least he remembers to mention that he does plenty of things worth poking fun at as well.

The last story in this collection explains the title. It is called "The Smoking Section"; a recount of his efforts to quit smoking after a twenty-some year habit. This may have been my favorite chapter because of my personal relationship with nicotine, or because of the humor. In an effort to change his scenery and habits, Sedaris and his partner Hugh go to Tokyo for three months. It is a common belief that to quit smoking, one needs to change one's habits and hangouts. If only every smoker could afford to pick up and move away for three months!

My overall opinion is that while Sedaris is a witty and humorous writer, this particular collection relies too heavily on making entire cultures the butt of his jokes. Even when it's just a single person, he seems to be pointing and laughing in that big bully way that says "See? At least I'm better than that guy!"

Kitchen: Banana Yoshimoto

Kitchen is translated from the original Japanese novel by a gal called Banana Yoshimoto. This book was gifted to me with the forewarning that it was a bit odd. Death, Love, and Transvestites--oh my! So of course you know I was interested before even cracking the cover!


Kitchen is technically two different stories about completely different people. At first a reader might wonder why these stories were paired. Well, there are the obvious links of death, sorrow, and the love that carries us through the darkest hours. There is also a sense of the mystical in both of these stories. As though there is something surreal in the ugly reality of loss.


Yoshimoto is a brilliant writer. Of course, this being a translation, I can't say that with complete certainty, but it is my opinion that the heart of this novel is well expressed and that heart belongs to the author regardless of any translation. The descriptions are beautifully moving, and the similies that Yoshimoto uses to describe the emotions of each character are poignant and real.


Ultimately the stories in this short volume are about the deep, black sorrow of losing family, and how it takes the love of the living to climb back into the world of light. Sometimes the best love is born of an absolute loss. When someone we love dies, it's easy to forget that there is no real end. Yoshimoto brings the mystical wonder of afterlife into the lives of characters who are so enmeshed in their despair that only an experience with love can remind them to keep living.