![]() He bears the cross, literally and metaphorically, for his life has been one long procession of sin and failure. The best story in the collection – and you can expect to see it reprinted in anthologies for … oh … perhaps the next hundred years – is “The Five Wounds.” Serial loser and absent father Amadeo gets to play the condemned Jesus in his town’s pageant. And the characters, usually young, female and on the cusp of some hard-earned wisdom, are unforgettable. The ten stories that make up Night at the Fiestas, set in the badlands or sometimes just sleepy lands of New Mexico, resonate with pain and fear and lives gone awry. ![]() The writing is measured and beautiful, witty yet restrained, and there’s not a single dud among these tales. ![]() As debut collections go, give or take the odd Junot Diaz or Ray Carver, this is about as good as it gets. ![]()
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