2568 A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain Stories by Robert Olen Butler (read 15 Jan 1994) (Pulitzer Fiction prize in 1993) I have read every book which has won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and this has resulted in my reading some awful nauseating stuff, e.g., The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, The Stories of John Cheever, Rabbit is Rich, Rabbit at Rest, Humboldt's Gift. But occasionally reading the prizewinners does result in my reading stuff really outstanding which I would not otherwise read. This winner is a delight. Clean, clean prose, upbeat, poignant, very little obscenity or scatology, funny at times. I am really impressed. All 15 stories have a Vietnam connection, mostly about Vietnamese in Louisiana. It is great to read such subtle upbeat stories, so deft at catching fine nuances. A thoroughly enjoyable book. ( )

His character descriptions were so vivid I felt as if I really knew the people. I am assuming that these are accurate portrayals of Vietnamese who have relocated to the United States, lbut I don't really know that. I thought most of the stories were quite interesting, but the final and title story did not do much for me. ( )

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This is one of the best books I've read in years. I laughed, I cried, and ate alot of chocolate. I don't know why it's not anthologized more. ( )