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Rating: 
Summary: Loneliness
Review: "The Watch" is a long story placed third in the collection. It is a tale of loneliness. A man and an older man, his father, have a store that has almost no customers. An exception to the general trend is Jesse, a cyclist, who stops for cokes and comes to be an expected presence in the life of the younger man. Jesse is aware of the fact that he is expected and begins dimly to resent the fact. The older man runs off to the fever camps and the younger man and Jesse pursue him and finally manage to carry him home. Jesse feels guilty when the older man ends up being chained to the store to keep him from running off again. A gallery of characters are featured in the stories. Along with the diverse characters, out of the way geographical places are described. Mostly the places are exrremely to the south or to the north. There is the unpublished writer and teacher from Jackson State who feels annoyed with someone who attended Millsaps. The geometry teacher who teaches in a sort of frustration in Houston and tells stories of WallWalla Washington is portrayed. The teacher drives a corvette. When he appears all bruised, he tells the students he fell out of his car and his wife drove away in it. Kirby, the narator, and Trish appear in several of the stories. Kirby and the narrator met in college. The style is laconic, indirect, artful.
Rating:
Summary: Loneliness
Review: "The Watch" is a long story placed third in the collection. It is a tale of loneliness. A man and an older man, his father, have a store that has almost no customers. An exception to the general trend is Jesse, a cyclist, who stops for cokes and comes to be an expected presence in the life of the younger man. Jesse is aware of the fact that he is expected and begins dimly to resent the fact. The older man runs off to the fever camps and the younger man and Jesse pursue him and finally manage to carry him home. Jesse feels guilty when the older man ends up being chained to the store to keep him from running off again. A gallery of characters are featured in the stories. Along with the diverse characters, out of the way geographical places are described. Mostly the places are exrremely to the south or to the north. There is the unpublished writer and teacher from Jackson State who feels annoyed with someone who attended Millsaps. The geometry teacher who teaches in a sort of frustration in Houston and tells stories of WallWalla Washington is portrayed. The teacher drives a corvette. When he appears all bruised, he tells the students he fell out of his car and his wife drove away in it. Kirby, the narator, and Trish appear in several of the stories. Kirby and the narrator met in college. The style is laconic, indirect, artful.
Rating:
Summary: casts a spell
Review: One of my favorite short story collections. The language is beautiful. The characters, settings, and actions are all so persuasive, and complement each other so well. Finally, the stories are MOVING--not just witty or clever or inventive. Bass' stories have it all!
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly fresh and timeless stories
Review: The stories in The Watch are both youthful and wise. Rick Bass is a master of the short story form and this collection is a wonderful representation of his earlier works of fiction. Highly recommended for someone looking to get into contemporary literary fiction. Back in '92, the book captured me.
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