Annie Proulx, Close Range: Wyoming Stories

Aliki Varvogli (University of Dundee)
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This collection of stories was published in the period between two novels:

Accordion Crimes

of 1996 and

That Old Ace in the Hole

of 2002. Annie Proulx has described it as a “side trip”, thus implying that she views novels as her main area of interest and activity, with story collections coming second. In interviews, she has admitted that the reason why she prefers novels to stories is that she finds the latter much more difficult to write. However, having recently moved to Wyoming, she felt a strong need to write about her new surroundings, and the idea of doing so in a collection of tales “seized” her entirely. The book’s epigraph quotes a “retired rancher”, presumably from Wyoming, who said that “Reality’s never been of much use out there”. This sets the tone for a…

1184 words

Citation: Varvogli, Aliki. "Close Range: Wyoming Stories". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 March 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5981, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5981 Close Range: Wyoming Stories 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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