Collection Overview

The fantastic new collection of stories from the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain. Fine Just The Way It Is marks Annie Proulx's return to the Wyoming of Brokeback Mountain and the familiar cast of hardy, unsentimental prairie folk.

Story Themes and Settings

The stories are cast over centuries, capturing the voices and lives of the settlers in this sagebrushed and weatherworn country, from native Indian tribes to modern-day ranch owners and politicians, and their cowboy forebears.

Highlighted Stories

A Family Man: An old man nearing the end of his life unburdens himself of the weighty family secrets that were his father’s unwelcome legacy.

Them Old Cowboy Songs: Follows Archie and Rosie, a young pioneer couple, and their hardships in their attempt to homestead in the exposed wintry expanses of the prairie.

Testimony of the Donkey: Finds a young international couple, Marc and Caitlin, struggling with much more modern concerns, and confronting uncertainty as their relationship comes to its end.

Story Characteristics

These are stories of desperation and hard times, often marked by an inescapable sadness, set in a landscape both brutal and magnificent. Enlivened by folk tales, flights of fancy, and details of ranch and rural work, they juxtapose Wyoming's traditional character and attitudes – confrontation of tough problems, prejudice, persistence in the face of difficulty – with the more benign values of the new west.

These are bold, elegant, and memorable pieces, and once more confirm Annie Proulx as one of the most talented, unique short story writers in the language.