High Cotton: Selected Stories of Joe R. Lansdale
High Cotton is a collection of short fiction by Joe R. Lansdale, initially published in 2000. In his introduction, Lansdale cites it as the "Best of Lansdale", and has called this work a companion piece to the 2004 collection Bumper Crop. Initially issued as a hardcover, it has been reissued as a trade paperback.
He provides a brief introduction before each story, offering a description of his intent, and contextualizing each within the history of his career.[1][2]
Contents
The collection contains:
- "Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland" {originally published in Midnight Graffiti, Fall 1989}
- "Booty and the Beast" {originally published in Archon Gaming (1995)}
- "By Bizarre Hands" {originally published in Hardboiled #9 (1988)}
- "By the Hair of the Head" {originally published in Shadows #6, ed. Charles L. Grant (1983)}
- "Drive-In Date" {originally published in Night Visions 8 (1991)}
- "Dog, Cat, and Baby" {originally published in Masques #2, ed. J. N. Williamson (1987)}
- "The Fat Man and the Elephant" {originally published in By Bizarre Hands (1989)}
- "Godzilla's Twelve Step Program" {originally published in Writer of the Purple Rage (1994)}
- "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" {originally published in Night Visions 8 (1991)}
- "The Job" {originally published in Razored Saddles, ed. Joe R. Lansdale & Pat LoBrutto (1989)}
- "Letter From the South, Two Moons West of Nacogdoches" {originally published in Last Wave #5 (1986)}
- "Mister Weed-Eater" {previously published by Cahill Press, 1993}
- "My Dead Dog Bobby" {originally published in The Horror Show, Summer 1987}
- "Night They Missed the Horror Show" (winner of Bram Stoker Award) {originally published in Silver Scream, ed. David J. Schow (1988)}
- "Not from Detroit" (based on scene from The Nightrunners) {originally published in Midnight Graffiti, Fall 1988}
- "The Phone Woman" {originally published in Night Visions 8 (1991)}
- "The Pit" {originally published in The Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction, ed. Ed Gorman (1987)}
- "The Steel Valentine" {originally published in By Bizarre Hands (1989)}
- "Steppin' Out, Summer, '68" {originally published in Night Visions 8 (1991)}
- "Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back" {originally published in Nukes, ed. John Maclay (1986)}
- "Trains Not Taken" {originally published in RE:AL Spring (1987)}
Reception
The Denver Post wrote that it "serves as a good introduction to Lansdale's fiction... The tales are as weird and hard-edged as we've come to expect from Lansdale."[3] The Rocky Mountain News called it his best collection.[4] Fantasy & Science Fiction reviewed it, noting it is a compilation of "the stories that built Lansdale's reputation as one of the most audacious writers to come out of the eighties... High Cotton is only for the strong at heart, the fearless reader who can face its powerful subject matter as unflinchingly as did the author."[5]
References
- ^ Lukowsky, Les (July 2000). "High Cotton: Selected Stories of Joe R. Lansdale", Booklist 96 (21): 2013–14.
- ^ D'Ammassa, Don (October–November 2000). "High Cotton", Science Fiction Chronicle 22 (1): 56.
- ^ Shindler, Dorman T. (September 24, 2000). "Author Lansdale poised for national spotlight", The Denver Post, p. H8.
- ^ Graham, Mark (October 8, 2000). "High Cotton: Selected Stories", Rocky Mountain News, p. E4.
- ^ De Lint, Charles (January 2001). "High Cotton: Selected Stories of Joe R. Lansdale", Fantasy & Science Fiction 100 (1): 26.
- v
- t
- e
- Savage Season (1990)
- Mucho Mojo (1994)
- The Two-Bear Mambo (1995)
- Bad Chili (1997)
- Rumble Tumble (1998)
- Veil's Visit: a Taste of Hap and Leonard (1999)
- Captains Outrageous (2001)
- Vanilla Ride (2009)
- Devil Red (2011)
- Hyenas: a Hap and Leonard Novella (2011)
- Dead Aim (2013)
- Briar Patch Boogie: A Hap and Leonard Novelette (2015)
- Honky Tonk Samurai (2016)
- Hap and Leonard Ride Again (2016)
- Hoodoo Harry (2016)
- Coco Butternut: A Hap and Leonard Novella (2017)
- Rusty Puppy (Hap Collins and Leonard Pine) (2017)
- Hap and Leonard: Blood and Lemonade (2017)
- Cold Cotton: A Hap and Leonard Novella (2017)
- Jackrabbit Smile (2018)
- The Elephant of Surprise (2019)
- The Big Book of Hap and Leonard (2019)
- Of Mice and Minestrone: Hap and Leonard: The Early Years (2020)
- Born for Trouble: The Further Adventures of Hap and Leonard (2022)
- Act of Love (1981)
- Texas Night Riders (1983)
- Dead in the West (1986)
- The Magic Wagon (1986)
- The Nightrunners (1987)
- Cold in July (1989)
- Tarzan: The Lost Adventure (1995)
- The Boar (1998)
- Freezer Burn (1999)
- Waltz of Shadows (1999)
- The Big Blow (2000)
- Blood Dance (2000)
- The Bottoms (2000)
- A Fine Dark Line (2002)
- Sunset and Sawdust (2004)
- Lost Echoes (2007)
- Leather Maiden (2008)
- All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky (2011)
- Edge of Dark Water (2012)
- In Waders from Mars (2012)
- The Thicket (2013)
- Paradise Sky (2015)
- Fender Lizards (2015)
- Hell's Bounty (2016)
- Bubba and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers (2017)
- Jane Goes North (2020)
- More Better Deals (2020)
- Big Lizard (2020)
- Moon Lake (2021)
- The Donut Legion (2023)
- On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks (1989)
- Bubba Ho-Tep (1994)
- Something Lumber This Way Comes (1999)
- Under the Warrior Star (2010)
- Christmas with the Dead (2010)
- A Bone Dead Sadness (2012)
- The Ape Man's Brother (2013)
- Hot in December (2013)
- Prisoner 489 (2014)
- Black Hat Jack (2014)
- By Bizarre Hands (1989)
- Stories by Mama Lansdale's Youngest Boy (1991)
- Bestsellers Guaranteed (1993)
- Electric Gumbo: A Lansdale Reader (1994)
- Writer of the Purple Rage (1994)
- The Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent (1996)
- Private Eye Action, as You Like It (1998)
- Atomic Chili (1998)
- The Long Ones (1999)
- Triple Feature (1999)
- High Cotton: Selected Stories of Joe R. Lansdale (2000)
- For a Few Stories More (2002)
- A Little Green Book of Monster Stories (2003)
- Bumper Crop (2004)
- Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories (2004)
- The King and Other Stories (2005)
- The God of the Razor (2007)
- The Shadows, Kith and Kin (2007)
- Sanctified and Chicken Fried (2009)
- Unchained and Unhinged (2009)
- The Best of Joe R. Lansdale (2010)
- Deadman's Road (2010)
- By Bizarre Hands Rides Again (2010)
- Trapped in the Saturday Matinee (2012)
- Bleeding Shadows (2013)
- A Pair of Aces (2014)
- The Tall Grass and Other Stories (2015)
- Dead on the Bones: Pulp on Fire (2016)
- Terror is Our Business (2018)
- Crawling Sky (2013)
- Jonah Hex: Shadows West (2014)
- Retro-Pulp Tales (2006)
- Son of Retro Pulp Tales (2009)
- Mark Stone: MIA Hunter