The Man Who

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Matador for an advance copy of this collection of short stories from a very accomplished writer.

Short story collections usually share a theme of some sort, be it horror, dragons, science fiction, or even sad people of a certain generation trying to figure out where their lives went off the rails. Most don't offer contemporary stories of modern relationships, westerns tales and a story about spies, traitors and deception. The characters are all different, some taciturn, some lost, some confused and many lying to the reader, and themselves. The theme that links these stories is , the stories are very good, going in places one does not expect and sometimes places readers don't want them to go. Another theme could be that the writer asks a lot both themself and from the readers, the writer putting in the effort, hoping the reader will put in that effort while reading. The effect is a group of stories that remain with the reader long after the book is closed and placed away. The Man Who by Thom Cree features stories about loss, for people, places, relationships and loyalty, all told in a very unique way and style.

The book consists of six stories and one longer novella. Four of these stories are westerns, the modern western as shown in the acknowledgements to modern portrayers of the west. A boy sees his family destroyed by Comanche, leaving him alone and voiceless. A hunter tracks a wounded stag, and finds a wagon train that he sits among. A son buries a father, remembering his past, and the acts his father did for him. The novella is a spy stories, mixing real people and events, with real terminology, and that broken feeling that all characters in a John le Carré seem to bear, a story that becomes familiar as one reads on.

The stories have an impact that are all exclusive to their own story There is a sparseness to the writing, a lack of punctuation, with sentences and paragraphs that go one for long periods. There is also a lot of imagery, making the stories seem more like poetry than short stories, with lots of environment descriptions and a strong feeling for the locale. Information is doled out carefully, dates given to explain events, but nothing is dropped incautiously, there is a deliberateness to what is told, and what is not shared. Readers might have to work a little harder to get at wat Cree is working too, and looking for, but the enjoyment one gets is worth the effort.

Recommended for readers who have grown tired with the usual tales. The stories seem simple in description, but there is a lot going on, and a lot that will be left in the reader's mind when completed. A very diverse and interesting collection.

The Man Who by Thom Cree is a diverse short story collection covering stories from traditional westerns to Russian espionage. As with most short story collections, this is hard to give a rating, with some stories being hits and others misses. This collection in particular is difficult to rate because of the vast diversity in the kinds of stories included, but I'm happy to say that I enjoyed the collection for the most part.

Based on the table of contents, the book is broken into three different themes of stories: Historical Western, Contemporary, and Cold War Espionage. I found that the author's talented writing style was on full display in the four historical western stories. They were all uniquely rich, complex, and deeply engaging if not terribly brutal at times. I appreciated how the prose complemented what we would call "flowery" language of the time (think Ulysses Everett from O Brother, Where Art Thou). The hyper-focus on the individual experience from seemingly random people of that time painted a really interesting picture of what life might have been like. Is it authentic? I don't know, I don't really care. I enjoyed them all.

The contemporary stories I remember less of. There were only two of them, and they didn't stick with me. I remember being surprised that the bordering on purple prose didn't carry over to the contemporary stories, and I think that's a testament to the author's versatility.

Lastly we have the cold war espionage, this was actually one story, and took up most of the book. I suppose it was less of a short story and more of a novella, but I have mixed feelings about it. While a high level summary of the story might lead one to think it was very engaging and fast paced, I found myself confused and struggling to keep the characters straight in my head for the majority of the time. It all came together nicely in the end, but the confusion I had made this story really drag on for me.

Overall, a mixed bag when it came to the stories, but I enjoyed the collection as a whole. I find myself wishing there were more western stories, and I would have really liked to see more installments in the contemporary category, but this was very strong.

First let's address the cover of this book. It's definitely an eyecatcher and will cause anyone browsing for their next read to pick it up out of curiousity. Once reading the stories, you'd find it's a reference to one of the stories and depicts exactly the "visual" I had while reading. It takes some skill for an author to create those visuals.
THE MAN WHO contains four short stories and a novella. If you had to assign a genre, they are mostly westerns, which is a genre I maintain is very under rated. The stories may have a western background but they are more about the person/ people who populate the story. How each responds to the situations in which they find themselves. I found each story an excellent read and the book as a whole pretty outstanding. Thom Cree skillfully builds the stories and lets them shine on their own. Their short length may lend to the fact that there is no extras added to them just to make them book length. Spare, but definitely worth the time I spent reading them. I've not read any of Cree's back library, but I'm on my way to check them out. Definite 5 star read.