Rating: 
Summary: Bleak, hilarious, and redemptive
Review:
Bob Dollar is pretty much a loser, but he's not a crook. He finds himself hired as a scout by Global Pork Rind, and his job is to look for farms that the company can swindle the owners out of in order to put in hog farms. He doesn't really want to do it and manages to stall his employers for pretty much the entire book, meanwhile endearing himself to most of the colorful locals and becoming rather fond of them himself.
It's all set in small towns in the Texas Panhandle, which, if Proulx is to be even half-believed, is populated by people with odd names (LaVon Grace Fronk, Jerky Baum, Habakuk van Melkebeek and Freda Beautyrooms, for starters) who live in towns with names with names like Wooleybucket. Keeping pace with Bob Dollars growing love for the harsh and unforgiving region, readers find themselves really caring about these tough characters. Dollar's house of cards comes tumbling down at the end, but he ends up somehow floating to the top of the deck and, while we don't see prosperity in his future, we do see a kind of peace.
Annie Proulx has another winner here.
Rating:
Summary: 'Alle molens vangen wind'
Review: 'All mills catch the wind', is the translation of the Dutch motto of Annie Proulx latest novel, and as a Dutchman, and a devoted reader of her books, I couldn't resist buying it.
To my surprise, reviews of this book tend to be not so positive. To me, admittedly it's not as great as The Shipping News, but how could one improve on that novel? But it's a great book, vintage Annie Proulx.
I read it as a kaleidoscope of life and people and stories from the Texas panhandle, like Postcards was a kaleidoscope of large parts of the USA.
So, its scope may be smaller than Postcards, its characters are unforgettable, real, and very very funny. As a Dutchman I was struck by Habakuk van Melkebeek, the Dutchman in the book, who speaks nearly correct Dutch, with just a few spelling mistakes in the writing, a rare thing when Dutchmen are put on the stage in an American novel. He clearly is a Netherlands character, but also fully adapted to panhandle life.
Over the years I have traveled many parts of the US and I've grown to love it and the people that I've met. This book makes me look forward to visiting the panhandle, although ... I'll make sure to be low profile. Strangers are few and conspicuous over there, and appear not to be liked that much all of the time.
Rating: 
Summary: Novelist takes the easy way out
Review: Annie Proulx infuriates me! I don't think there's a mass market writer today who creates character and dialogue that entertains as deeply...it's just too bad she doesn't bring the same talent to character development and plot. Her ability to convey quirky (although completely cartoonish) characters is admirable, and I do think her dialogue writing is completely unmatched.
This story is about a young man adrift (Bob Dollar) who, despite any prior experience, takes a job scouting properties for corporate hog farms in the Texas panhandle. The way this is all presented is complete and total B.S., and you don't have to have any experience with corporate agriculture to know this. It doesn't take too many pages to know that you are being force fed a yarn here and the facts just don't matter.
As a rural dweller, I appreciate the problem of corporate agribusiness, and I admire a novelist for attempting to explain those problems in a fictional form. But Proulx spends a lot of time presenting arguments on both sides of the issue only to swoop down upon her characters at the end and illogically solve all their problems for them. I don't know of a novelist of her skill who becomes so impatient with her characters and can't fight the urge to prod them around like chesspieces.
A decent read if only for the dialogue.
Rating:
Summary: Should have been short stories
Review: Annie Proulx is a remarkable writer, and this book is remarkably written. Which is why I know it should have been a much better book than it actually is. Annie Proulx with "The Shipping News," a magnificent book, proved that she is capable of much, much more. One of the main problems with this book is the lack of a strong, central, and believable plot. Basically, Bob Dollar is sent to Wooleybucket, Texas to scout sites for Global Pork Rind, an evil multinational coporation. Why he is doing this is a mystery to me. He falls in love with the Texas panhandle and the people there, but still somehow wants to make it into hog country, an industry that pollutes the air and water. That aside, Bob is a hilarious character. As far as I can tell, he never does do any work, despite his stated dream of buying land for GPR. This book is actually filled with a parade of interesting and funny (and funny-named) characters. But since this is a novel, that is more of a liability than an asset. I was hard-pressed to keep up with who was who. This book should have been in the short story format. The stories of the Dutch windmill expert making it big, the possibly-gay uncle who loves all things plastic, the first Fronk to come to Wooleybucket, and the woman in love with Ruby Loving all would have made wonderful stories, without trying to lump them into some mangled, barely-there plot. It seemed Proulx herself wasn't comfortable with the novel format either. The conclusion of the book attempts to tie up all the loose ends in one fell swoop and in the attempt eschews reality. From any other author, I may have enjoyed this book a bit more. But I expect more from Proulx, and so should you.
Rating: 
Summary: A weak effort from a gifted writer.
Review: Annie Proulx is an American treasure. She burst on the literary scene with The Shipping News, an acclaimed first novel, then topped herself with Close Range, one of the best short story collections ever produced by an American author. The stories in Close Range, all set in Wyoming, are hard-edged and brutal, crackling with the energy of a true original. The tales are filled with dark characters engaged in a desperate battle with the winds and storms and loneliness that Wyoming unleashes to batter them day after day. They face an even more savage enemy when they must deal with themselves and with each other. Proulx writes like a female Jim Thompson as she describes their fate. It is hard to believe that the same writer produced THAT OLD ACE IN THE HOLE. It is a slow, meandering tale with pointless episodes that have little in common except that they all happen in the same geographic area. It purports to capture the ongoing battle for the soul of the Texas/Oklahoma panhandle region between the longtime residents and the giant corporations seeking to find a home for the massive hog farms that have been banned in almost every other state. What is actually does is open to debate. Nothing much happens, although Proulx is too gifted a writer not to spark the reader's interest from time to time. Her approach is the problem. She uses joke names for characters and places to such an extent that it destroys any tension or pace. Among the characters are: Ribeye Cluke, Ruhama Bustard, Tambourine Bapp, Zubie Keister, a couple named Xylo and Siobhan, Bromo Redpoll, Rope Butt, Advance Slaughter, and Ponola Dough, along with cities named Teemu, Woolybucket, and Mobettie, and that is just in the first 50 pages. It lends a sitcom air to the proceedings and drives home the point that she has completely failed to capture the character of the one area of the country that most resembles the Old West. Write this effort off to an artist testing her skills and missing the mark. If you want to experience the Proulx magic, get Close Range and settle down to enjoy a great writer at the top of her game.
Rating:
Summary: A DEFT AND ABLE READING
Review: Arliss Howard, who directed and starred in "Big Bad Love" (2002), gives a deft and able reading to Annie Proulx's latest tale set in the great southwest, the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas. Howard's take on the slight twang and pacing of voices native to this part of the world is on target. A Pulitzer Prize winner for "The Shipping News," novelist Proulx can paint a character inside and out with the best of them. Such is the case with our narrator, Bob Dollar, whose parents dropped him on a Colorado doorstep when he was 8-years-old. He grows into manhood a bit unfocused and unchallenged. Bob does land a paying job with Global Pork Rind, a company that dispatches him to the hinterlands in search of large sections of land, ranches, that can be bought by Global Pork and converted to hog farms. He is cautioned that most take a dim view of hog raisers for neighbors so he must be very circumspect in looking around. He comes upon Woolybucket, Texas (don't you love that name? Welcome to Woolybucket! But, I digress. No five, four, three, two or even one star motels there, so he rents a dilapidated bunkhouse from a widow, LaVon Fronk, and hires out to Cy Frease, proud proprietor of the Old Dog Café. There's a lot to be learned for Bob - beyond the historical documents that LaVon has stashed in her house. The locals aren't dweebs or ineffectuals; they're a proud lot who want to hold on to their land no matter what. Does Bob get their land or does their land get to Bob? Listen to this tale rich in portraits of working class America and see. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: Not On Par With Annie's Prior Work- -But Still Not Bad
Review: As a fan of Annie Proulx's prior works (especially Wyoming Stories!) I have become accustomed to superbly writtten, rich stories. Here, the writing is pretty good, but not on par with Annie's prior works. The story on the other hand is, at best, a quirky but somewhat entertaining yarn. So while true fans will probably enjoy this book, don't expect anything approaching the quality of Proulx's prior works.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to par for Proulx
Review: As usual, Proulx's latest novel presents an intriguing web of characters and history and landscape. Although she has crafted her words as artfully as ever, "That Old Ace in the Hole" lacks the depth of character and plot of her previous novels. The characters in "That Old Ace" told compelling stories that just didn't seem to get anywhere. While it's still a good read, "That Old Ace in the Hole" simply doesn't measure up to the complexity of Proulx's excellent previous novels, including "The Shipping News," "Postcards," and "Accordion Crimes."
Rating:
Summary: Proulx at her subtle best
Review: Astonishing as it seems, this rambling tale by Annie, chock full of anecdotes and Texas scenery rates as her best in my book. If Texas is as laid back and whimsical as Proulx and Larry McMurtry paint it, then more power to the lone star state. Who says a novel needs a plot? This endearing tribute to old style Americana deserves our attention in an age dominated by headline grabbing catastrophes, ghoulish foolishness, and purposeless tragedy. Congratulations to Annie for daring to bring us back to simpler times that still exist in our hearts and our heartland.
Rating:
Summary: Blah
Review: Blah.
Proulx's obviously a research hound. But in this book her facts and histories own the day. Same of course is true with all her work, but here it is not seamless, they don't complement. It's like she's searching for a story to fit all she learned hanging out in the panhandle. She integrates the two better in her equally (fictionalized) fact-dense Accordian Crimes. If she weren't the prose master she is, I wouldn't have stuck with this one. Much of sub-plots are predictable: Tam's jewlery motherlode. Or simply meaningless: Orlando passing through Wooleybucket -- is marketing guy for fart records truly a missed opportunity? Then there are the Why Bothers?: Bob almost driving off a cliff. And the Unanswereds: Bob never did pick up Lavon's son from jail; what of the animosity there? Just like the storm that briefly threatens the Barwire Festival at the end, the book whips up into a frenzy of an ending that simply dissipates and it's over, with a final nod to her source material. The Novel here never finds its soul. Proulx is an exceptional writer, prose writer, crafter of words, whatever. If you don't know them, Postcards is exceptional beyond Shipping News. Her short stories are masterfully crafted without being "overburdened" by the research that is so obviously important to her work. Maybe she should keep it short, like the vingettes of Postcards. Or check back into another tone of voice like Accordian Crimes, that had a much darker edge compared to all her other work.
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