Rating: 
Summary: Bullseye
Review: Full of zip and twinkle, "That Old Ace in the Hole" marks the return of the Annie Proulx readers relish as opposed to the depressing presenter of "Accordion Crimes" and "Postcards." In this novel, she focuses her sights on the Texas Panhandle, a place of constantly-alarming weather, frequently-alarming characters, and a strange beauty. Young Bob Dollar has the first job is his career, scouting land for a Global Pork Rind hog operation. He is advised to look for god-forsaken places where elderly residents are longing to sell up and move out and whose offspring would not return to the area even if someone held a gun to their heads. But because of possible inexplicable opposition to placing a hog operation in the comminuty, Bob must scout surreptitiously. Wind-blasted, lightening-stricken Woolybucket, Texas, would seem to be the perfect find, but one where Bob's cover story of scouting property for a development of luxury homes has the locals scratching their heads. But while they're scratching, they're talking, spinning tales of generations of quirky Woolybucketites that have Bob enthralled. Abandoned by his parents at his Uncle Tam's thrift shop in Denver at the age of eight, Bob does not have many generations to look back on. For that reason he must make this job work. He must find the perfect spot for a Global Pork plant. Reading Annie Proulx, you almost feel as if you're discovering the English language all over again. Uncle Tam's roommate Bromo Redpoll, has "glary eyes and a rubbery mug" and a strange chest. There are people named Rilla Nooncaster and Freda Beautyrooms. You have entered strange territory here, and it is worth while to take it slowly and enjoy the sights. This is a comic novel and as such does not have the depth or emotional resonance of "The Shipping News." "Old Ace" is filled with great stories, but it will not grab you by the heartstrings and give your world a twirl.
Rating: 
Summary: they can't all be perfect
Review: Has there ever been a writer so consistently amazing with such a high percentage of disappointments? The raw and haunting poetry of Ms. Proulx's prose - often undercut with effortless and welcome humor, and in equal measure, gorgeously scarred with casual, unsettling, and necessary violence - never, ever, fails. Hands down, the best voice out there. But, looking at her current body of work ("That Old Ace in the Hole" included: "The Shipping News" and "At Close Range" excluded) I can't help but feel that often we are listening to a matchless voice in search of a melody, or, at least, an elusive narrative arc. There are myriad glorious anecdotes on display in "That Old Ace in the Hole," shot through with her transcendent talent for idiom and her pitch perfect sense of space, but they just float, anchorless, in a "novel" with only a half heartedly developed trajectory. Read "This Old Ace in the Hole." (And yes buy it - at her worst (and this ain't that) Ms. Proulx certainly deserves the dignity of a sale). Then read her short story "Brokeback Mountain" (presented in "At Close Range." Buy that too.) The lazy effulgence of the novel pales in contrast to the shocking, inevitable economy of the short story. Perhaps "That Old Ace in the Hole" might have been better rendered as a book of short stories - Ms. Proulx would have been spared the obviously tedious task of tying the whole mess together. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Delicious
Review: Having read all of Proulx' work, I was thrilled by this book and can't wait for the next one. I am a jazz musician and Proulx is one of the few writers I have ever read whose prose is like music to me. It is so artfully crafted and so original. It reminds me of a great solo. Her slowly building, but ever tightening story of a hapless advance man for a company trying to site hog factories keeps you keenly interested in the fabulously mundane lives she illuminates. The final scene brings a tapestry of the region together in a way that only Proulx can -- a climax of imagery and emotion that left me out of breath and fully satisfied.
Rating:
Summary: Delicious
Review: Having read all of Proulx' work, I was thrilled by this book and can't wait for the next one. I am a jazz musician and Proulx is one of the few writers I have ever read whose prose is like music to me. It is so artfully crafted and so original. It reminds me of a great solo. Her slowly building, but ever tightening story of a hapless advance man for a company trying to site hog factories keeps you keenly interested in the fabulously mundane lives she illuminates. The final scene brings a tapestry of the region together in a way that only Proulx can -- a climax of imagery and emotion that left me out of breath and fully satisfied.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't seem like the same author
Review: I adore every one of Annie Proulx's works of fiction. Except this one. It is little more than a series of short anecdotes, almost none of which rises to the level of any of her previous writing. The main character, whose sole reason for existence in the book is to drive around and listen to people talking, is as flat and dry as the Texas panhandle she writes about. The storyline of his inner conflict about his job and the issue of pig farms never really gets into second gear. This would be okay if it was written with the same unique and artful use of language that is the trademark of Proulx's writing. But it isn't. After the striking, monumental beauty and passion of her Close Range stories, it doesn't seem like the same author.
Rating:
Summary: Rich writing, but a weak plot
Review: I bought the book knowing that Proulx's writing style would keep me engaged. It did. But the plot just was not believable, and too romantic. Near the end, I felt myself rushing to finish the book. In my view, the Shipping News remains her one and only world-class book.
Rating:
Summary: And i thought I had a dumb job
Review: I found reading this book difficult; many times I had to begin a paragraph again, but I absolutely honor and revere Annie Proulx as a writer. Now that I've finished it I want to join an 'Ace in the Hole' club because I think reading this book through somehow separates the men from the boys. An accomplishment! She's done a marvelous job of describing an area and people and a culture but I don't find myself caring much about the people and Bob Dollar seems one of the least interesting characters I've ever met, although very real. I love The Shipping News, and I'll keep reading all her books because of that one. I threw Postcards across the room after the final brain aneurysm (I picked it up and finished it however!). Annie Proulx is a wonderful treat for her brilliant use of the language, whatever she writes.
Rating:
Summary: Home is where the tumbleweed is.
Review: I have not read this book, only listened to it on CD. The first time I listened to it, all the description of the land drove me a little buggy. I kept waiting for the dialogue, especially as read by Arliss Howard in wonderful, varied voices and accents. This book has many likeable characters, including the protagonist, Bob Dollar, a young man trying to find his way in the world, who has the unfortunate job of scouting hog farm sites in the Texas Panhandle for Global Pork Rind. Bob knows nothing about life, hog farms, the Panhandle natives, or how to close a deal, but he loves to read and listen to stories about the history of the Panhandle and the Great Plains. Other interesting characters are Bob's Uncle Tam, who runs a thrift/junk shop in Denver and whose passion is bakelite plastic "art" pieces; LaVon Fronk, Bob's landlady, who has been compiling the Woolybucket County Rural Compendium for the past 13 years and has LOTS of stories to tell, but not all at once; Cy Frease, who runs the Old Dog Cafe, serves one hot meal a day, befriends Bob and lets him eat for free in exchange for helping in the cafe; and Tater and Ace Crouch, two brothers with differing views of hog farming: it makes Tater sick and he just wants to get away from it, while Ace has a well-articulated philosophy about the inherent destructiveness of such an enterprise. The thing is, the land is as much a character in this story as any of the people. I understood this by the time I finished listening to it for the first time, which prompted me to immediately listen to the entire 6 hours again, this time paying far more attention to the description. I like what happens to Bob Dollar in the desolate, dusty little town of Woolybucket. It's not a cliff-hanger or a nail-biter, but it's a sweet story about some real people trying to figure out what matters in life. I like what they came up with. If you're patient and let the feel of the place wash over you, I think you will, too.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't disagree with the naysayers more
Review: I loved Shipping News! I was interested in Postcards. I was lukewarm to Accordion Crimes. Close Range was just short of brilliant! That Old Ace in the Hole is Annie at her mesmerizing best. I as a rule don't care for "western" stories, but written by Annie even a Pig in a poke story is well handled. For those who are saying it isn't well done, DO BETTER! I review books for a major newspaper and give this book a 5 star review because it is purely entertaining. Is there environmental propaganda in it? Yes, but it is an issue that should be reviewed closely no matter what side of the issue you fall on. It is a wonderful character driven story and I recommend it whole-heartedly!
Rating: 
Summary: Not representative, cultural wise, of the PanHandle of Texas
Review: I read the Shipping News which I really liked (The movie was terrible) and Close Range which was even better.
This book was a loser for several reasons:
1) It feels like several short stories strung together to try to make a novel.
2) The charcters (especially the protagonist) are poorly developed.
3)Charaters and situations are supposed to move the plot along. Here we have a number of characters and situations that contribute nothing to the development of the plot.
4) It's preachy. I'm in complete agreement with her about the dangers of agribusiness but I don't need to be hit over the head with it. The CEO of Global Pork Rind reminds me of Mr. Burns from the Simpsons.
5) She couldn't decide if she was writing a satire, a novel, or a polemic.
I should have stayed away when I saw that the only favorable review they could find for the back cover was from People magazine.
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