Annie Proulx has written some of the most original and brilliant short stories in contemporary literature, and for many readers and reviewers, “Brokeback Mountain” is her masterpiece. Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, come together when they’re working as sheepherder and camp tender one summer on a range above the tree line. At first, sharing an isolated tent, the attraction is … casual, inevitable, but something deeper catches them that summer. Both men work hard, marry, and have kids because that’s what cowboys do. But over the course of many years and frequent separations this relationship becomes the most important thing in their lives, and they do anything they can to preserve it. The New Yorker won the National Magazine Award for Fiction for its publication of “Brokeback Mountain,” and the story was included in Prize Stories 1998: The O. Henry Awards. In gorgeous and haunting prose, Proulx limns the difficult, dangerous affair between two cowboys that survives everything but the world’s violent intolerance.
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Heartbreaking.
I loved these short stories set in rural North America.
Loved the movie but the book was better.
Loved the western setting and tough characters who slowly open up.
Annie Proulx has a way with descriptions unlike any author I know.
Reading this novel gave me a different feel for the characters that the film almost accomplished. I find that the words, phrases written about Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, make them tangible. Like you can see Jack, across from you and witnessing the perk of something new an excitement best kept in check, and the eagerness of taking the next …
Great story if it were only longer……………..
I’ve been meaning to read this short-story ever since I fell in love with the film years ago. Well, I finally read it 13 years later. The movie incorporated every piece of this story, even the dialogue and noteworthy quotes. Having experienced the film first, I didn’t gain anything further from the reading experience. The movie adaptation actually …
Gay literature was one of my first book obsessions. This thirty page short story was the last book in this genre I ever read. And yes, it was put out as a paperback book when the movie came out. I read it three times, then went to see the incredible movie with some friends of mine. I love this story. I loved the movie. It is one of the most …
This is but one story in a two volume of connected short stories.; CLOSE RANGE and BAD DIRT. It gives a modern view of the great West and it is not all glorious.
I’ve read Annie Proulx in the past and found her writing often haunting & disturbing. Brokeback is of this genre but realistic and I “hurt” for the characters major and minor. The motion picture was superb and quite touching; however the novel is grittier and I found myself transported emotionally differently from Ang Lee’s superb movie. A …
If I summed up Brokeback Mountain in three words, what would they be? Raw Emotional Real! Love w/such deep emotion. My favorite scene is Ennis holding Jack from behind, melted my heart! Great read for adults, such raw emotion!
Long before the movie came out, I read the title story in an anthology, and it stuck with me in a way that is unusual for a short story. I remember feeling surprised when I got to the last few paragraphs and realized that it was a love story–the writing and the angle are so original that I didn’t catch on earlier. And that’s what makes it a great …