That Old Ace in the Hole
by Annie Proulx
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Assigned to locate land in the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma that can be purchased and converted into pig farms for his employer, Bob Dollar meets the residents of Woolybucket and comes to respect their fierce desire to retain their land.Tags
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Bob Dollar takes a job as a land scout for Global Pork Rind to locate industrial hog farms in the Texas panhandle. Since hog farms are so unpopular, he must go undercover, and presents himself as a scout for a luxury home real estate developer. He bases himself in the town of Woolybucket, lodging in an old cowboy bunkhouse and getting to know all the oldtimers in town. Proulx uses this thinnest of plots to relate episodic stories of the old cowhands from the earliest days of the twentieth century through the present day. The novel is full of eccentric and colorful characters (including the eponymous Ace Crouch, repairer of windmills) whose stories meander and criss-cross with each other over the years. Like Proulx's masterpiece The show more Shipping News, the sense of place, in this case the Texas panhandle rather than Newfoundland, is as important an element as the characters or the plot.
I'm really sorry I let this languish on my shelves for so long. Highly recommended.
4 stars show less
I'm really sorry I let this languish on my shelves for so long. Highly recommended.
4 stars show less
from James:
"His large hand rose and smoothed the coarse mustache that Bob thought resembled a strip of porcupine." I had to read that line out loud to my wife.
This book has everything I love in a novel: good writing, images and characters you get to know and miss when it's over...and even some cowboy poetry for good measure:
They say an old cowboy just ain't no good.
His campfire has went out,
Though he done all he could.
Time that he went up the spout.
I'm a little embarrassed to say I've not read Annie Proulx before. I'm not sure why, though in retrospect I may have been intimidated--I've always been told she's depressing, but that was not this book.
The story is wide-ranging with a bevy of characters, though not so many as to be show more overwhelming. Bob Dollar, our protagonist, is a young man trying to make his way in the world. He is utterly committed to his new job (finding locations for large-scale hog farm sites) despite its obvious problems (especially the stench). From Oklahoma, he travels to the Texas panhandle--very much a character in its own way here--and get immersed in the small towns and culture.
Proulx does a fantastic job of capturing the time (the not so distant past) while giving homage to the history of the region. I've never been to that part of Texas, but I feel like I've just spent some quality time there.
I highly recommend That Old Ace in the Hole. show less
"His large hand rose and smoothed the coarse mustache that Bob thought resembled a strip of porcupine." I had to read that line out loud to my wife.
This book has everything I love in a novel: good writing, images and characters you get to know and miss when it's over...and even some cowboy poetry for good measure:
They say an old cowboy just ain't no good.
His campfire has went out,
Though he done all he could.
Time that he went up the spout.
I'm a little embarrassed to say I've not read Annie Proulx before. I'm not sure why, though in retrospect I may have been intimidated--I've always been told she's depressing, but that was not this book.
The story is wide-ranging with a bevy of characters, though not so many as to be show more overwhelming. Bob Dollar, our protagonist, is a young man trying to make his way in the world. He is utterly committed to his new job (finding locations for large-scale hog farm sites) despite its obvious problems (especially the stench). From Oklahoma, he travels to the Texas panhandle--very much a character in its own way here--and get immersed in the small towns and culture.
Proulx does a fantastic job of capturing the time (the not so distant past) while giving homage to the history of the region. I've never been to that part of Texas, but I feel like I've just spent some quality time there.
I highly recommend That Old Ace in the Hole. show less
That Old Ace in the Hole features Bob Dollar, a hapless recent university grad from Denver, Colorado. Armed with a diploma and a desire to work at a position better than clerk at his Uncle Tam's junk shop or a lightbulb inventory manager, Bob more or less aimlessly stumbles into a job scouting out hog farm sites in the Texas Panhandle for a company called Global Pork Rind. Since hog farms are not exactly pleasant to have next door or otherwise upwind, Bob's task is to clandestinely infiltrate a Panhandle community and do his scouting under the radar.
That's how Bob finds himself in Woolybucket, Texas crashing for $50 a month in the rundown bunkhouse of the ever-loquacious LaVon Fronk. Bob's sure that scouting out a site for GPR will be show more a piece of cake, especially considering he's bunking with the town gossip who surely will give him some tidbits about who's looking to sell out of failing, too-dry ranch land. Soon, though, Bob is losing sight of his purpose as he falls into Woolybucket's rhythms and begins to find that, this place, seemingly destined for hog farms and drought, is beginning to feel like the home he never had.
Proulx's Woolybucket is full of outsized characters whose parents and grandparents and great grandparents before them have their histories woven inextricably into the Panhandle. In his adventures, Bob finds himself chatting with a quilting circle of ladies who produce one quilt per year depicting a religious scene to be raffled off at the town's Barbwire Festival. He works part time for Cy Frease who opened his restaurant, the Old Dog, because he was sick and tired of "the pukiest shit-fire-and-save-the-matches goddamn grub this side a the devil's table." He listens to LaVon Fronk go on about the history of ranching in the Panhandle in between town gossip. He listens to old-timer Tater Crouch's barely true memories of his cowboying youth. Proulx brings to life a community, a way of life, a landscape that seems to be utterly unique and unfailingly entertaining. Proulx imbues the town with personality and captivating characters who get themselves into some ridiuculous small-town situations, but it never comes off as too quaint or sugary-sweet like some small town stories that seem to try too hard. Rather, it's easy to fall in love with the people who have staked out a tough life in the Panhandle, who have steely strength below their mostly friendly and welcoming exteriors. I was so absorbed in Proulx's small town and so in love with its characters that when the book ended, I was sad to see them go.
In case you couldn't tell, I loved That Old Ace in the Hole. It is a story that serious and funny at the same time. The people are real, if exaggerated, and the rip-roaring tales they tell smack of the sort campfire-side story-telling that I've always loved. show less
That's how Bob finds himself in Woolybucket, Texas crashing for $50 a month in the rundown bunkhouse of the ever-loquacious LaVon Fronk. Bob's sure that scouting out a site for GPR will be show more a piece of cake, especially considering he's bunking with the town gossip who surely will give him some tidbits about who's looking to sell out of failing, too-dry ranch land. Soon, though, Bob is losing sight of his purpose as he falls into Woolybucket's rhythms and begins to find that, this place, seemingly destined for hog farms and drought, is beginning to feel like the home he never had.
Proulx's Woolybucket is full of outsized characters whose parents and grandparents and great grandparents before them have their histories woven inextricably into the Panhandle. In his adventures, Bob finds himself chatting with a quilting circle of ladies who produce one quilt per year depicting a religious scene to be raffled off at the town's Barbwire Festival. He works part time for Cy Frease who opened his restaurant, the Old Dog, because he was sick and tired of "the pukiest shit-fire-and-save-the-matches goddamn grub this side a the devil's table." He listens to LaVon Fronk go on about the history of ranching in the Panhandle in between town gossip. He listens to old-timer Tater Crouch's barely true memories of his cowboying youth. Proulx brings to life a community, a way of life, a landscape that seems to be utterly unique and unfailingly entertaining. Proulx imbues the town with personality and captivating characters who get themselves into some ridiuculous small-town situations, but it never comes off as too quaint or sugary-sweet like some small town stories that seem to try too hard. Rather, it's easy to fall in love with the people who have staked out a tough life in the Panhandle, who have steely strength below their mostly friendly and welcoming exteriors. I was so absorbed in Proulx's small town and so in love with its characters that when the book ended, I was sad to see them go.
In case you couldn't tell, I loved That Old Ace in the Hole. It is a story that serious and funny at the same time. The people are real, if exaggerated, and the rip-roaring tales they tell smack of the sort campfire-side story-telling that I've always loved. show less
Frankly, because of my experience with both the other Annie Proulx novels I've read, I was a little reluctant to even begin reading her 2002 novel "That Old Ace in the Hole." I found both "The Shipping News" and "Accordion Crimes" (well written as they are) to be a little too somber, almost depressing, to suit my tastes, but this one was a very pleasant surprise.
"That Old Ace in the Hole" is the story of one Bob Dollar, a young man from Denver so desperately in need of work that he takes a job as a scout for the Global Pork Rind company. Bad as that company name is, the job is even worse. As scout, it is up to Bob to find Texas Panhandle ranchers and formers willing to sell their acreage to him regardless of what his company plans to do show more on the purchased property. Because the massive hog farms run by Global Pork Rind are so ruinous to the environment and so unpleasant for the neighboring farms, Bob is encouraged to lie and cheat in any way necessary to get these aging ranchers to sign their names on the dotted line.
Bob Dollar, though, finds himself enjoying life in little Woolybucket, Texas, so much that he just can't quite bring himself to disclose his real purpose in the town. This premise allows Proulx to tell the history of the region through the wonderful characters she creates for the novel (men and women Bob Dollar is trying to deceive into selling their property), all of them descendants of those who settled that part of the state when Indians were still a constant danger.
Proulx's writing (and certainly her plot) reminds me a bit of the kind of comic novel that Larry McMurtry writes. I think that McMurtry fans will easily take to this novel and that they might even be surprised that someone out there can even top Mr. McMurtry on occasion in this type of story. I come away from "That Old Ace in the Hole" thinking that I have been underestimating Ms. Proulx's work. I look forward to reading more from her. show less
"That Old Ace in the Hole" is the story of one Bob Dollar, a young man from Denver so desperately in need of work that he takes a job as a scout for the Global Pork Rind company. Bad as that company name is, the job is even worse. As scout, it is up to Bob to find Texas Panhandle ranchers and formers willing to sell their acreage to him regardless of what his company plans to do show more on the purchased property. Because the massive hog farms run by Global Pork Rind are so ruinous to the environment and so unpleasant for the neighboring farms, Bob is encouraged to lie and cheat in any way necessary to get these aging ranchers to sign their names on the dotted line.
Bob Dollar, though, finds himself enjoying life in little Woolybucket, Texas, so much that he just can't quite bring himself to disclose his real purpose in the town. This premise allows Proulx to tell the history of the region through the wonderful characters she creates for the novel (men and women Bob Dollar is trying to deceive into selling their property), all of them descendants of those who settled that part of the state when Indians were still a constant danger.
Proulx's writing (and certainly her plot) reminds me a bit of the kind of comic novel that Larry McMurtry writes. I think that McMurtry fans will easily take to this novel and that they might even be surprised that someone out there can even top Mr. McMurtry on occasion in this type of story. I come away from "That Old Ace in the Hole" thinking that I have been underestimating Ms. Proulx's work. I look forward to reading more from her. show less
The book is paced in a style that seems true to its setting: slow and steady. It takes its time to describe the scene and helps you feel the character of the town. I really liked that about the book, even though I thought I wouldn't when I began reading.
Bob Dollar is trying to buy land for hog farms for a big corporation (which is itself a character in the novel) in a small town where folks ('folks' is more appropriate than 'people') are nostalgic about the old ways and the simple ways. He's a good character: has depth and compassion and struggles with the direction of his life. Very likable.
It's been a while since I read [book:The Shipping News], but I see a similarity in it to this book, similar in a way that if you liked the one show more you'll probably like the other without thinking you're reading the same thing again.
Both books are set in small very rural places in which a 'newcomer' is the protagonist and gets to know (and love) the community and all its eccentric ways. Weather has a place in each book, too. show less
Bob Dollar is trying to buy land for hog farms for a big corporation (which is itself a character in the novel) in a small town where folks ('folks' is more appropriate than 'people') are nostalgic about the old ways and the simple ways. He's a good character: has depth and compassion and struggles with the direction of his life. Very likable.
It's been a while since I read [book:The Shipping News], but I see a similarity in it to this book, similar in a way that if you liked the one show more you'll probably like the other without thinking you're reading the same thing again.
Both books are set in small very rural places in which a 'newcomer' is the protagonist and gets to know (and love) the community and all its eccentric ways. Weather has a place in each book, too. show less
A novel set largely in the Texas/Oklahoma panhandle, this is another winner from Proulx.
Despite what feels like a slightly rushed "Hollywood" ending, this is classic stuff; sharply etched characters set in relief against a wide-open, largely inhospitable landscape.
So many of Proulx's characters struggle with change, and [book: That Old Ace in the Hole] is no exception.
She manages to stuff this book with an interesting history of the Texas Panhandle without bogging down the plot, and hints at the challenges soon to face this region.
Despite what feels like a slightly rushed "Hollywood" ending, this is classic stuff; sharply etched characters set in relief against a wide-open, largely inhospitable landscape.
So many of Proulx's characters struggle with change, and [book: That Old Ace in the Hole] is no exception.
She manages to stuff this book with an interesting history of the Texas Panhandle without bogging down the plot, and hints at the challenges soon to face this region.
I'm re-reading this right now and I simply don't want it to end. Annie Proulx is the only person that could ever get me to read a book that includes cattle ranching, pig farms, and hairy spiders.
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Author Information
43+ Works 35,161 Members
Edna Annie Proulx was born in Norwich, Connecticut on August 22, 1935. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 1969 and earned an M. A. from Sir George Williams University in Montreal in 1973. She was a journalist, wrote nonfiction articles for numerous publications, and was the author of several "how-to" books before beginning to write show more fiction in her 50s. She became the first woman to win the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, for her debut novel Postcards. Her novel The Shipping News won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award in 1994. Accordion Crimes, published in 1996, won the Dos Passos Prize for literature. She also won the O. Henry prize for the year's best short story twice; in 1998 for Brokeback Mountain and in 1999 for The Mud Below. She has written more than 50 articles and stories for periodicals and edited Best American Short Stories of 1997. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- That Old Ace in the Hole
- Original title
- That Old Ace in the Hole
- Original publication date
- 2002
- People/Characters
- Bob Dollar; Ace Crouch; LaVon Fronk; Cy Frease
- Important places
- Oklahoma, USA; Texas, USA
- Epigraph
- Alle molen vangen wind.
- Dedication
- This book is for Jon and Gail
Muffy and Geoff
Morgan
Gillis
and for
Doug and Cathy
with the hope that all their chickens
will be prairie chickens - First words
- In late March Bob Dollar, a young, curly-headed man of twenty-five with the broad face of a cat, pale innocent eyes fringed with sooty lashes, drove east along Texas State Highway 15 in the panhandle, down from Denver the day... (show all) before, over the Raton Pass and through the dead volcano country of northeast New Mexico to the Oklahoma pistol barrel, then a wrong turn north and wasted hours before he regained the way.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)LaVon owed him the story behind the photograph showing the deep scars on her grandfather's back.
- Original language*
- englanti
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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