Blood Lake and Other Stories

Jim Krusoe sits on the weathered edge of reality to describe the view from both sides beautifully. His writing is sharp, original and entertaining. He captured a jaded reader's belief in the surreal tales layed out here, and left me wanting more. Fantastic.

These stories are so different. The author succeeds at making the reader believe entire imaginary worlds. A very interesting, different, read.

Jim Krusoe's Blood Lake and Other Stories is the wittiest collection of tales I've ever read, and more. For on top of and above the wit is a style and voice, and occasional whopping metaphor, that make for dizzying satire. Krusoe's fictional worlds compare to those of Kafka, Donald Barthelme, and Raymond Roussel, his reviewers observe. Some of his characters resemble the posturing, fraudulent whackos found in Woody Allen. Then there's the morphine addict pharmacist who buys at zoo auction a female gorilla that becomes his lover; and the unlucky night nurse who confesses, "I like hospitals and I like the sick, and of all the times that I can be with them, my favorite is the night shift, those hours from eleven to seven, when everyone's asleep." "Another Life" is a story whose narrator, an elderly bear, resides at the National Institute of animal Narrative, where he was "... trained by well-meaning scientists to operate a typewriter." In these tales there is thundering satire that smacks of the saturation bombing carried out over 200 years ago by Swift, yet has been terribly silent since. Simultaneously erudite, sobering, and farcical, Blood Lake and Other Stories will make you laugh, cringe, and cry, as Krusoe the writer does so many things so maddenlingy well.

This is a strange, rich, memorable book; by the end of it I had that feeling of being moved to another place, and wanted to reread to understand more. It is full of texture, layers, ideas; anyone who likes unconventional fiction should check it out. Jim Krusoe guides his stories with a masterful hand.

Jim Krusoe creates fascinating characters, then spins them through wonderful stories. The writing is vivid--this book has stayed with me for days.