Women And Other Animals by Bonnie Jo Campbell

 

In this anthology of sixteen stories, Bonnie Jo Campbell explores the lives of those in poverty.  Some work jobs that grind them down or put them in danger, others do anything they can, including injuring themselves, to save what they have.  My favorite story was probably The Smallest Man In The World.  A circus has come through town and those who work there have come to a bar afterwards to drink.  Already there is a beautiful woman, a woman who realizes that her beauty is just a twist of fate and that in many ways she is another freak of nature just as the smallest man is.  

Bonnie Jo Campbell is an American author.  This was her debut work of short stories and my favorite from this collection won the AWP prize.  I always think of her as a Southern author as she writes about people close to the land and farming but she isn't.  Another theme she uses quite a bit are rivers and how they impact the lives of people who live along them.  She was a Guggenheim Fellow and her ability to get into the lives of those who are often ignored by society and the media is her true talent.  This book is recommended for anthology readers.