The Name of the Nearest River

This debut collection pulls readers into rural Kentucky and hammers them with the despair and frustration that drive his fierce, battered denizens of the Bluegrass State: coal thieves, demolition derby drivers, punk teens, and “tavern-brave” hicks, all aiming to break off a tiny slice of the world. In the title story, two men go looking for the drowned body of a man to settle a score with the drowned man's corpse. “The Evening Part of Daylight” also shatters the sacred when an offended groom punches his bride in the face and then has to deal with the angry masses, while in “Winter in the Blood,” a pair of cattle killers embody the senselessness of murder. Taylor's command over his characters is as remarkable as his sharp, evocative prose. The bleak Kentucky landscape is drawn in grays and browns with an unforgiving yet loving eye; the descriptions of the countryside alone make Taylor's stories worth digging into, but with his characters and all of their petty grievances and desperate hopes, this first-time author inspires a mix of wonder, love, and pity for his sick, sad characters. (Apr.)