This is a short story collection. I always enjoy short stories because you can squeeze them in whenever you have a few minutes, and they don't take the time commitment of a novel. These particular short stories are well-written. The collection is very cohesive. They aren't very cheerful, though, and as usual for Burke, the characters' motives and actions are completely incomprehensible to me. They put me in mind of Kerouac. It is an interesting look at mostly Southern men, although some of the stories are about Southern boys. While their actions are incomprehensible to me, I do enjoy seeing a different life than anything that is familiar to me.
This book probably isn't appropriate for younger readers. Many of the people live in sad, depressing situations that can be upsetting to read about. There is a story that involves child abuse, and many of the stories have talk of violence and prostitutes. There are also a few swear words, but not a lot and not the "big" ones.
It is a pretty short book, so it doesn't take too long to read. And like I mentioned previously, it is easy to fit a story in whenever you have the time, which makes it worth the time commitment.
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