Caution: Men in Trees: Stories

I was recommended Darrel Spencer by my Creative Writing Professor at Brigham Young University. His writing style is filled with details without being verbose. He captures scenes with the word economy of a poet but the attention to detail of nonfiction. Very easy, enjoyable reading and a great look at the intermountain west (from Utah to Nevada and beyond). I recommend "It's a Lot Scarier If You Take Jesus Out of It". It's the story of a young man who's ex commits suicide and he falls for a clerk at a store who looks like her. Touching, funny, and makes a good point about human nature

The best word I can think of to describe this writing is punchy. Spencer artfully packs so much into quick and lovely sentences. His stories evoked much thought for me about his characters. I wasn't always sure I liked them (the characters), but they were always real. I'd definitely recommend this book.

No one writes with more pathos about modern life than Darrell Spencer. His characters are brave but muddled, and the troubles about which they must be brave are generally too absurd (the sign painter whose employee misspells "entertainment" and provokes a cranky Las Vegas mob boss, or the ex-Mormon jogger whose devout neighbor wants to pray for his hamstring in the temple) to find much comfort--or nobility--in their lives. What's remarkable about Spencer, though, is that he finds nobility in the mundane, mostly by giving voice to the perplexed Mormons (and faithless but still looking-for-faith Mormons), puzzled husbands, fabric store clerks, trailer park host, and deaf people who suffer, joke, and survive in these stories. If you like short stories, you absolutely must read "Late-Night TV" and "It's a Lot Scarier if You Take Jesus Out."