Bumper Crop
by Joe R. Lansdale
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This collection of 26 stories contains some of Joe R. Lansdale's favorite and most violent dark horror tales. "God of the Razor" introduces the dark god behind serial killers. A martial arts fight to the death between a reluctant champion and a sadistic alpha male, is featured in "Master of Misery." Human sacrifice, to ensure prosperity or as a coming-of-age ritual, are themes of "On a Dark October" and "Duck Hunt." In "The Fat Man," young boys learn the hard way that some mysteries should show more not be investigated. Many of the tales are truly weird, such as "Chompers," the story of the false teeth with an appetite. All stories are individually introduced by Lansdale, who explains the humorous, weird, and sometimes sad genesis for each. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Confession time: I'm not a huge horror fan. Yes, I read the occasional short piece and keep up with the trends in the field, but when it comes to leisure time reading, I don't seek it out. The chills and thrill and outright scares don't push the same buttons in my reptilian hindbrain that they do in true fans of the genre. That said, it's time to pull up a chair as I tell you why you need to go out and buy Joe Lansdale's creep-fest collection, Bumper Crop.
I'm a great admirer of Lansdale's writing prowess. That, in a nutshell, is why I'm willing to read pretty much anything put out under his byline. And he writes some damn horrific stuff, things that I wouldn't go within a hundred miles of otherwise. But Lansdale has such a natural skill show more with the written word that I'm enraptured by the raw elegance of his storytelling down to the sentence level. He writes with such an unabashed confidence--treats the most hideous subjects with a reverent tenderness, shovels the most rancid cow pies with the straightest face--that there's almost no way a reader can't fall under his spell.
So what I'm basically saying here is that Bumper Crop is Lansdale's version of a Greatest Hits album, right? Wrong. High Cotton is his Greatest Hits. Top to bottom, it's a better book, with better stories. If you don't own it, you should track it down post-haste. What Bumper Crop amounts to is the literary equivalent of a Best Of record, gathering those popular album cuts and B-sides that weren't really hits, but have proven their popularity in workman-like fashion over the long haul. Taken together, the two books comprise a pretty definitive overview of Lansdale's short fiction career. show less
I'm a great admirer of Lansdale's writing prowess. That, in a nutshell, is why I'm willing to read pretty much anything put out under his byline. And he writes some damn horrific stuff, things that I wouldn't go within a hundred miles of otherwise. But Lansdale has such a natural skill show more with the written word that I'm enraptured by the raw elegance of his storytelling down to the sentence level. He writes with such an unabashed confidence--treats the most hideous subjects with a reverent tenderness, shovels the most rancid cow pies with the straightest face--that there's almost no way a reader can't fall under his spell.
So what I'm basically saying here is that Bumper Crop is Lansdale's version of a Greatest Hits album, right? Wrong. High Cotton is his Greatest Hits. Top to bottom, it's a better book, with better stories. If you don't own it, you should track it down post-haste. What Bumper Crop amounts to is the literary equivalent of a Best Of record, gathering those popular album cuts and B-sides that weren't really hits, but have proven their popularity in workman-like fashion over the long haul. Taken together, the two books comprise a pretty definitive overview of Lansdale's short fiction career. show less
Well... overall, I was entertained, but honestly, most of these stories just sort of gave me a "hmpf" when I finished them. They weren't bad, but they just didn't do it for me. I like Lansdale's western stuff, his straight horror stuff, and his Hap & Leonard stuff. The fantasy, or more slap-sticky horror items don't hit me like his other stuff. For me, the highlight of this collection is the last tale, "Master of Misery". It reappears in a different form in the H&L book "Captains Outrageous". Cool to see it in it's "original" form.
Bumper Crop was a bit of a mixed bag. There were some stories that I really enjoyed, and some that were complete duds that I wanted to get past quickly, hoping that the next story would be better. In general and in this short story collection, Lansdale has a very easy going and pleasing style. I think he leans on a first person narrative a bit more than he should to my liking. Because of this easy going style, this collection was a breeze to get through. Mostly, the problem was that some of the stories were just out there, and I didn’t get.
My favorite story in the collection was the final one. Lansdale put to good use his extensive martial arts background in crafting a tightly written tale about a kickboxer going through hard times show more living in a tropical locale after he inadvertently killed a competitor in a kick boxing match. The villain in this story is a Muay Thai fighter, who is a complete and utter bastard, and treats his girlfriend absolutely horribly. He lures the story’s hero into a battle to the death—a fight that is completely unsanctioned with no witnesses other than the girlfriend. To add to the epicness of this confrontation, a massive tropical storm is about to hit the island. This had a great setup and a great climax.
Carl Alves - author of Battle of the Soul show less
My favorite story in the collection was the final one. Lansdale put to good use his extensive martial arts background in crafting a tightly written tale about a kickboxer going through hard times show more living in a tropical locale after he inadvertently killed a competitor in a kick boxing match. The villain in this story is a Muay Thai fighter, who is a complete and utter bastard, and treats his girlfriend absolutely horribly. He lures the story’s hero into a battle to the death—a fight that is completely unsanctioned with no witnesses other than the girlfriend. To add to the epicness of this confrontation, a massive tropical storm is about to hit the island. This had a great setup and a great climax.
Carl Alves - author of Battle of the Soul show less
Not bad batch of mostly really short stories. Reads like a Ramones album, if you don’t like the current song there’s a different one coming up in 2 minutes. These are mostly good to average with one real stinker, Fire Dog.
It's hard to not enjoy a Lansdale novel. Or in this case a Lansdale collection of short stories. Everything he writes is extremely enjoyable. They are just pure fun and this is no exception. The collection contains twenty six excellent short stories with the only negative being that you've most likely read several of them elsewhere. I know that I did. Many of the stories are pretty short too. With twenty six stories and not even 200 pages and each story has one page of an author's note, you can see that some are really short. Even with all that and it not being a completely new collection, it still is a must read. My favorites of the bunch are listed below.
"The Man Who Dreamed" - An old man who sees the future does his best to improve show more it
"Pilots" (with Dan Lowry) - Two sets of life's victims do their best to adapt to regular life
"Listen" - A fun story of someone who is permanently ignored and forgotten
"Bestsellers Guaranteed" - How to write a best selling novel
"Master of Misery" - A man is pushed into a fight he does not want show less
"The Man Who Dreamed" - An old man who sees the future does his best to improve show more it
"Pilots" (with Dan Lowry) - Two sets of life's victims do their best to adapt to regular life
"Listen" - A fun story of someone who is permanently ignored and forgotten
"Bestsellers Guaranteed" - How to write a best selling novel
"Master of Misery" - A man is pushed into a fight he does not want show less
Joe Lansdale, as he has stated, started his writing career in short stories. His objective was not only to make a living but to find his style and hone his craft. And that is basically what we get in Bumper Crop. This collection represents Joe Lansdale before he refined his politically incorrect, horrifically comic imagination.
I want to grade this as a 2 star book. There are a few good stories here. You just have to wade through many, very short, average stories. But I think it only fair to look at it as it is: an introduction to a very good writer’s early work. You can see the Mojo story telling lurking beneath these stories, and I find that very interesting.
I want to grade this as a 2 star book. There are a few good stories here. You just have to wade through many, very short, average stories. But I think it only fair to look at it as it is: an introduction to a very good writer’s early work. You can see the Mojo story telling lurking beneath these stories, and I find that very interesting.
http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2007/01/bumper-crop-by-joe-r.html
Bumper Crop is Joe R. Lasnsdale’s follow up to High Cotton. While High Cotton features the Mojo Storyteller at his most outrageous, Bumper Crop is in, I won’t say a gentler, but a less extreme vein.
Bumper Crop is Joe R. Lasnsdale’s follow up to High Cotton. While High Cotton features the Mojo Storyteller at his most outrageous, Bumper Crop is in, I won’t say a gentler, but a less extreme vein.
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Author Information
Joe R. Lansdale was born in Gladewater, Tex. in 1951. He attended Tyler Junior College, the University of Texas at Austin, and Stephen F. Austin State University. Lansdale has also had a varied career, having worked as a bouncer, a bodyguard, a transportation manager, a custodian, and a karate instructor before becoming a fulltime writer in 1981. show more Lansdale's written work includes several novels and more than 200 short stories. Although his favorite genre is fantasy, with suspense a close second, he has also written mysteries, horror, science fiction, and westerns. Some titles include Rumble Tumble, Dead in the West, The Nightrunners, Cold in July, By Bizarre Hands and The Drive-in (a 'B' Movie with Blood and Popcorn. Made in Texas) . In addition, Lansdale has edited the short-story anthologies Best of the West, The New Frontier: Best of the West 2, and Razored Saddles. Lansdale has received five Bram Stoker Awards from the Horror Writers of America, including one for "The Night They Missed the Horror Show." He has also been awarded the British Fantasy Award and the American Horror Award. Joe Lansdale and his second wife, Karen, have two children. They live in Nacagdoches, Tex. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Belongs to Publisher Series
Golden Gryphon (32)
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Contains
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Bumper Crop
- Original publication date
- 2004
- Important places
- Texas, USA
- Dedication
- To my son, Keith
- First words
- High Cotton, previously published by Golden Gryphon Press, contained what I believe to be among the best of the best stories I've written. [Foreword]
Richards arrived at the house about eight. [God of the Razor] - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The waves rolled over him with great pressure, the door cracked and shifted, started to break up, then the knob came away in his hand. [Master of Misery]
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- Contains:
[Foreword: The Remains of My Days …]
The God of the Razor
The Dump
Fish Night
Chompers
The Fat Man
On a Dark October
The Shaggy House
The Man Who Dreamed
Walks
Last of the Hopeful<... (show all)br>Duck Hunt
Down by the Sea Near the Great Big Rock
I Tell You It's Love
Pilots—with Dan Lowry
In the Cold, Dark Time
Bar Talk
Listen
Personality Problem
A Change of Lifestyle (with Karen Lansdale)
The Companion (with Keith Lansdale and Kasey Jo Lansdale)
Old Charlie
Billie Sue
Bestsellers Guaranteed
Fire Dog
Cowboy
Master of Misery
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 188
- Popularity
- 173,335
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.79)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 2
