Cruising Paradise: Tales

When it hits, it really does, but this is not as cohesive or consistently good as Great dream of heaven.

Some stories are just downright hilarious. Awesome book, it's like poetry in prose. A great collection of short stories, dialogues, and journal entries. Really. These books aren't my thinh, and I actually enjoyed it.

I bought Sam Shepard's latest -- Day Out of Days -- and found Cruising Paradise on my bookcase and realized I'd never read it despite owning it for more than a decade. I much prefer the earlier work. For one thing, there's only one mention of decapatation. The stories also are more upbeat -- or at least not nearly as dark. If you can buy only one, opt for the oldie.

A great compilation from a writer who sees the world as if it's in the palm of his hand and he's watching it like a snowglobe.

For a guy known as a playwright (and now more as an actor) Shepard has a deft touch with both pacing and narrative in these short not-quite stories. Almost like his one-acts in their brief single-minded approach, Shephard has entered into both old and new territory here. The format is new, the method is new... ah, but the message of a The West as an entity alive as any character -- that's a theme...more

For a guy known as a playwright (and now more as an actor) Shepard has a deft touch with both pacing and narrative in these short not-quite stories. Almost like his one-acts in their brief single-minded approach, Shephard has entered into both old and new territory here. The format is new, the method is new... ah, but the message of a The West as an entity alive as any character -- that's a theme most Shepard readers will both be familiar with... and welcome.   hide

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