Author Review: Donald Ray Pollock

I was going through my ever growing “to be read” list recently, when I came across the ominous sounding The Devil all the Time, by Donald Ray Pollock. As with most of the titles on that doughty list of mine, I couldn’t remember what initially attracted me to the book or what earned it a spot. I did, however, notice that there is a new Netflix movie adaptation of the same name and decided to give the novel a shot before checking out the movie. I admit that I had been in a bit of a reading slump before turning to this new (to me) author, but the brilliant, disgusting, descriptive, weird, and all around compelling prose of Donald Ray Pollock was sufficient to catapult me to new heights of literary enjoyment.

The Devil all the Time had everything: serial killers, hillbillies, traumatized war vets struggling to cope with life’s tribulations, preachers with suspect morals, and small-town desperation all masterfully woven into one storyline. Pollock’s work has been characterized by various niche subgenres such as “Hillbilly Gothic,” “Appalachian Noir,” and even “Hick Lit” and I found myself to be an instant fan. After zipping through The Devil all the Time, I looked Pollock up in the Carnegie-Stout catalog, hoping to find a plethora of similar tales of violence and desperation, of beauty and redemption penned by my newest literary obsession. Alas, I found only two such desolate dramas: Knockemstiff and The Heavenly Table.  

 

Knockemstiff is a set of loosely interwoven short stories that take place in the same Southern Ohio holler that is the setting for The Devil all the Time and the real-life birthplace of Pollock. The Heavenly Table is the account of a trio of desperadoes who refuse to let something as trivial as the law prevent them from improving their lot in life. Both sagas are unforgettable and impossible to put down.

In brief, if you’re a fan of gritty, dark, Gothic Noir stories, if you’re a fan of such authors as Brian Panowich or Joe R. Lansdale, or if you simply looking to escape a dreaded reading slump, give Donald Ray Pollock a read. He may not be the most prolific author around, but he seems to pump out a new masterpiece every 3-5 years, so it would seem that we’re about due for another.     

~Ryan Bankson, Circulation Services