I Hate To See That Evening Sun Go Down: Collected Stories (edition 2003)

William Gay’s stories have gravity, intensity, and a deep sense of place. His characters learn the hard way “that sometimes in life you go through doors that only open one way.” Many of them have reached the end of the line in one manner or another, often involving violent death.

People treat each other with cruelty but somehow retain their dignity, most of the time. Marriages are broken, people are deeply wounded. Stubborn old men are featured. In Sugarbaby a man takes stubbornness to the extreme – and this is after he shoots his wife’s dog off the porch because he “just couldn’t stand that goddamned yip yip yip.” An apparent suicide on a couple’s property reveals an unknown aspect of their relationship in A Death in the Woods. An old man whose son has put him in a nursing home returns on his own to find his house rented to a “loafer” in the title story, which also has some of the more amusing episodes in the collection.

Gay has created his own town of Ackerman’s Field and a wild forest area called The Harrikin, based on his native Tennessee. He describes nature with passion: “Beyond the Rorschach trees the heavens were burnished with metallic rose so bright it seemed to pulse.” “The horizon had almost merged with the darkness. It was dissolving rapidly, like a horizon cut from paper and dropped into acid.”

William Gay's South is a distinct place with a character of its own and stories that have strength and resonance. ( )

There wasn't much diversity in the emotion department in this collection. All the stories were filled with sad, depressing or gloomy feelings. While most of the stories were engaging, I did become tired of experiencing dreariness. And, the lack of quotation marks was not helpful either. However, overall I enjoyed the writing, especially the fact that Gay was able to draw me into his stories even when I knew they were not going to turn out well. The average rating of all 13 stories correlates with my general feelings by the end of the book.

Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy ( )

Gay's stories, like his novels, are atmospheric, dark, and deeply satisfying. It's the voice, though, that grabs. After one paragraph you know you are in the hands of an assured, confident writer. In addition to a formidable vocabulary (stygian?) he reinvents language, creates compounds that make poetic sense : hearthammer, foldup, halfbent. In later books, more dashes appear to legitimize his creations, which is a shame, but what can you do? If kittens, rainbows and bloodless murder mysteries are your favorite things, steer clear of this southern gothic writer who shrinks from nothing. "The Paperhanger" in particular, is not for the faint of heart. ( )

Gay's stories, like his novels, are atmospheric, dark, and deeply satisfying. It's the voice, though, that grabs. AFter one paragraph you know you are in the hands of an assured, confident writer. In addition to a formidable vocabulary (stygian?) he reinvents language, creates compounds that make poetic sense : hearthammer, foldup, halfbent. Later, more dashes appear to legitimize his creations, which is a shame, but what can you do? If kittens, rainbows and bloodless murder mysteries are your favorite things, steer clear of this southern gothic writer who shrinks from nothing. "The Paperhanger" in particular, is not for the faint of heart. ( )

Absolutely amazing writing...made me want to read short stories again. ( )