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A review by juliechristinejohnson
Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins
3.0
Stories I admired, but with which I felt very little emotional connection. Exceptional technique, but curiously absent of heart. The characters were distant, disheartened, sad creatures, dried up, like hollows in the desert where water once stood.
Highlights included Ghosts, Cowboys, a channeling of Watkins' family history, when her father sat at the right hand of Charles Manson; Rondine Al Nido, the collection's most true and fragile, about two young girls gambling their innocence in Las Vegas, although the use of "our girl" to refer to the story's central character felt like a writing workshop affectation; Man-O-War, exquisite in its pain and loveliness.
It is impossible to remain unaffected by Watkins's astonishing skill. She coaxes and teases the short story into doing her will. But the hard iron that becomes pliable under her pen too often remains cold to the touch.
Highlights included Ghosts, Cowboys, a channeling of Watkins' family history, when her father sat at the right hand of Charles Manson; Rondine Al Nido, the collection's most true and fragile, about two young girls gambling their innocence in Las Vegas, although the use of "our girl" to refer to the story's central character felt like a writing workshop affectation; Man-O-War, exquisite in its pain and loveliness.
It is impossible to remain unaffected by Watkins's astonishing skill. She coaxes and teases the short story into doing her will. But the hard iron that becomes pliable under her pen too often remains cold to the touch.