The Lost Salt Gift of Blood

Simply put, a gem. The richest, most vivid and heartbreaking imagery I've had the pleasure of reading in a long, long time. Beautifully crafted. Highly recommended.

This is a collection of wonderful stories told by a master story teller in the old tradition. Unlike most other collections of stories these live in your ear. Most others live on the page. And these are truly American stories, but unlike anything you'll find in popular anthologies of contemporary North American short stories, because they reach far back into our immigrant consciousness in an elastic, unpretentious way. I choose Alistair MacLeod over John Updike any day to describe what it means to me to be American.

The raw emotional power I encountered within these stories sprang the off page like a fist, fracturing my complacency over and over. Nothing but Hemingway compares to Macleod's writing style.Uncomfortable truths lie here, expressed with such skill and economy that they elude memory, leaving the uneasy feeling that one has looked too deeply into a troubled soul and seen more than one should; it's hard to believe that the events described didn't happen, if not to the author, at least someone known to him.I believe there is no other writer in the English language with this mastery of short fiction.

On the surface 'The Lost Salt Gift of Blood' appears preoccupied with tragedy and death. However, read a little deeper and one finds it to be very life affirming. The themes of family, traditions, relationships, death, isolation and endurance echo throughout the short stories. The thematic parallels are skillfully woven into the fabric of the novel, highlighting that indeed, no one story can stand alone. It is worth reading!

Written with great care, precision and meaning. You must read between the lines to get the most out of the book. Although all the stories revolve around death, grief, and pain, the focus on the life of the characters, rites of passage, and relationships is truly inspiring. I really enjoyed this book.