“Dim eyes down the length of the bar swivel in our direction, the ripple effect of their cattle-prodded curiosity is like an old television warming up, weird distortions yielding to something banal and dull.”–From the story “The Eggman,” by Jim Ruland.
I’m reading Jim’s story collection Big Lonesome right now and I’m really impressed by his voice (this strange cocktail of hard-boiled pulp and surfer sage that straddles generations and genres) which, for some weird reason, makes you trust that he’s going to take you on an interesting ride and possibly show you something special that you haven’t seen before.
Chris Heavener is the editor of Annalemma.
Jim Ruland is a beast!