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The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories
In this book you will meet an Appalachian dragon, a phantom geocacher, a racist halfling, a torturer of paintings, a homicidal gator-man, the devil’s son-in-law, the King of the Tramps, the Wizard of the Blue Ridge, a chicken named Jesus Christ, and the first Haitian Zombie ever photographed, as well as Yuri Gagarin, Harry Houdini, Zora Neale Hurston, Flannery O’Connor, and Sun Records headliners the Prisonaires, live from the Tennessee State Penitentiary in Nashville. The appearance of the Space Brother Bob Solomon is unconfirmed, but we can always hope.
In other words, this is the second fiction collection from Andy Duncan, whom Gardner Dozois calls “a genre to himself.” It includes the World Fantasy Award-winning title story, the Theodore Sturgeon Award-winning novella “The Chief Designer,” and Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, and Shirley Jackson Award nominees, as well as extensive story notes and a new novelette, “Close Encounters.”
In other words, this is the second fiction collection from Andy Duncan, whom Gardner Dozois calls “a genre to himself.” It includes the World Fantasy Award-winning title story, the Theodore Sturgeon Award-winning novella “The Chief Designer,” and Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, and Shirley Jackson Award nominees, as well as extensive story notes and a new novelette, “Close Encounters.”
325 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2012
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162 people want to read
About the author
Andy Duncan
87 books31 followersAndy Duncan is the award-winning author of two novellas—The Night Cache (2009) and Wakulla Springs (with Ellen Klages, 2013, 2018)—and three short fiction collections: Beluthahatchie and Other Stories (2000), The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories (2012) and An Agent of Utopia: New and Selected Stories (2018). He is also the author of non-fiction book Alabama Curiosities (2005, 2009), and co-editor (with F. Brett Cox) of Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic (2004). He has won the 2002 Theodore Sturgeon Award for "The Chief Designer", the 2012 Nebula Award for "Close Encounters", and three World Fantasy Awards. Born in Batesburg, South Carolina, Duncan currently lives with his wife Sydney in Frostburg, Maryland, where he he has taught English as an Assistant Professor at Frostburg State University since 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 22, 2014
Masterful writing and great storytelling by Andy Duncan. Such a pleasure to read, I want to say these are novelletes rather than short stories. The intense detail and imaginative subjects have the concentrated focus of the short story while still evoking the broader scope of a novel. The diversity between stories is amazing also. Southern influence, historical, fantasy, and sci-fi. It is all here, and all quite wonderful.
August 29, 2015
The friend who pushed this on me with a "MUST. READ...NOW" says that Andy Duncan is the Garcia Marquez of Appalachia, and she's right. Each story is a slice of America and Americana and just lovely.
January 8, 2014
I'm not usually a fan of UFO-type stories, but this is a nicely done, wistful tale of an elderly man who's put his former fame as an alleged contactee behind him. But when a lovely woman knocks on his door asking for an interview, the past gets stirred up unexpectedly.
February 21, 2013
Andy Duncan's first collection (Beluthahatchie) is a classic and his new collection is even better. He has a gift for capturing nuances of character, mood and setting, with stories ranging from the whimsical to the tragic. Many of his stories are regional fantasies, with a Southern setting and atmosphere. "Close Encounters" describes the life of a former UFO contactee, a man whose life was once touched by the marvelous but who has since lost faith in what he once believed in, until something happens to change his life once again. "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" explores an amazing literalized version of the hobo paradise described in the old folk song of the same title. World Fantasy award winner "The Pottawatomie Giant" examines a true-life encounter between Harry Houdini and Jess Willard, the former world heavyweight boxing champ, and the ramifications of Willard's reaction on his later life are explored in a unique manner. But the author is equally able to set compelling stories in other countries and eras. My favorite story in the book is the award-winning novella "The Chief Designer," a secret history of the Soviet space program in the 1950s and 1960s, which poignantly captures the triumphs and tragedies in the lives of the program's director and his protégé. This story is simply a masterpiece, so convincingly told that it's hard to believe it wasn't written by someone who lived through that program. I could go on praising all 12 stories in this book because they are all gems, but I'm trying to keep this review relatively short. In summary, Andy Duncan is a truly talented writer and I give this book my highest recommendation.
July 19, 2014
There is this real farmer Buck Nelson who was somewhat famous in the 50s for his stories of alien visits. Now, he goes again on the hunt for flying saucers.
Characterization of that old disillusioned geezer is great and the narrative voice is strong. This ufology story is more about old age, loss, and how you can get disillusioned even by positive occurences. But the second half is somewhat predictable.
Included in The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories and The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection.
Characterization of that old disillusioned geezer is great and the narrative voice is strong. This ufology story is more about old age, loss, and how you can get disillusioned even by positive occurences. But the second half is somewhat predictable.
Included in The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories and The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection.
November 19, 2017
I only read the "Big Rock Candy Mountain" short story that was in this collection for my English class. I really did not like / understand this, and I found it hard to follow along with what was happening, since the writing was so different from what I'm used to.
July 17, 2020
Good collection of stories of fictional versions of real people, with some occasional unreality thrown in.
June 23, 2016
Andy Duncan's magnificent "The Pottawatomie Giant and Other Stories" is one of the most engrossing books I've read in a long time. Lyrical, moving, bittersweet stories populate this collection. Inventive enough for the speculative audiences, but with an eye toward language and character that will make it a rewarding experience for "litfic" readers.
Notes on the short stories in the collection follow. Full disclosure: I've had the pleasure of working with Andy at the Gunn Summer Science Fiction workshop.
A few spoilers follow. I'll keep them minor as possible.
------
"The Pottawatomie Giant": Hard to imagine any story could be closer to my heart than this tale of the "Great White Hope," Jess Willard of Kansas, finding himself in a public confrontation with Houdini and finding the choice he makes there could unspool his life in two very different directions. What is the cost of anger, and what the potential rewards of empathy? A truly moving tale.
"Senator Bilbo": What if Bilbo Baggins shared more than a name with a famously bigoted Senator? If this concept sounds too silly, then you should read the story, which also reflects on the most troubling aspects of Tolkien's own work.
"The Big Rock Candy Mountain": taking its name from the legendary place named in the song, this story begins in what may or may not be paradise, then moves outward from there to ask us to consider how we end up where we are, what price we pay to get there, and what we have to learn if we want to move on. Features a truly frightening sequence on a train that anyone writing horror should read.
"Daddy Mention and the Monday Skull": A prisoner famous for escapes plans another one, with the unwilling help of a one-eyed gator that's not a gator at all. Will he escape, or will he pay a high price for demanding so much of something that's dead but definitely not buried?
"Zora and the Zombie": Zora Neale Hurston is the protagonist of this tale, which traces her famous Haitian research, and posits that maybe she didn't tell us quite everything that happened. A daring, rich tribute.
"Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse": I can't say much about this story without undercutting a lovely reveal. Suffice it to say that anyone who cares about the Southern Gothic tradition or has ever looked with unease upon a chicken will find this worth their time. Come for those reasons, stay for the meditation on the nature of grace.
"Provenance": The shortest story in the collection, about the quest to return art to the descendants of those from whom it was stolen in the Holocaust. Perhaps it hit too close to home for me, but while I was glad to have read it, it did not entirely work for me.
"A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or The Devil's Ninth Question": A young woman, raised in a tourist trap, finds herself on an unexpected journey, where she'll meet ghosts, wizards, and the Devil's son-in-law. A Young Adult tale, charming and complex.
"The Dragaman's Bride": our protagonists from "Diorama" returns to solve the mystery of a missing girl in the Appalachian mountains. Another character from the first tale makes a reappearance, as does magic, more ghosts, and an old man who lives under the mountain and isn't a man at all.
"The Night Cache": Inspired by Poe's "The Gold Bug," this tale follows a young woman as she meets and soon falls for a geocacher. This story (spoiler) makes use of the dead lesbian trope, but not in the way one might expect, and for what seem to me entirely defensible reasons. Some readers may find this problematic, but even so it's well worth the read. A truly terrifying climax is extremely well-earned.
"Close Encounters": An elderly Missouri man has old memories brought back to his mind when a reporter starts asking about his alleged "close encounter" in the leadup to a film bearing that name. Like many of Duncan's stories, this one asks us to consider what it means to have faith, and what might be worth having faith in.
"The Chief Designer": A brilliant novella about the Soviet rocket program, politics, faith, and mentorship, it follows to characters, the eponymous designer and his apprentice, over the course of decades. Deeply researched and realized, it asks us to consider how the choices of the past shape our present and future, for good and ill.
Notes on the short stories in the collection follow. Full disclosure: I've had the pleasure of working with Andy at the Gunn Summer Science Fiction workshop.
A few spoilers follow. I'll keep them minor as possible.
------
"The Pottawatomie Giant": Hard to imagine any story could be closer to my heart than this tale of the "Great White Hope," Jess Willard of Kansas, finding himself in a public confrontation with Houdini and finding the choice he makes there could unspool his life in two very different directions. What is the cost of anger, and what the potential rewards of empathy? A truly moving tale.
"Senator Bilbo": What if Bilbo Baggins shared more than a name with a famously bigoted Senator? If this concept sounds too silly, then you should read the story, which also reflects on the most troubling aspects of Tolkien's own work.
"The Big Rock Candy Mountain": taking its name from the legendary place named in the song, this story begins in what may or may not be paradise, then moves outward from there to ask us to consider how we end up where we are, what price we pay to get there, and what we have to learn if we want to move on. Features a truly frightening sequence on a train that anyone writing horror should read.
"Daddy Mention and the Monday Skull": A prisoner famous for escapes plans another one, with the unwilling help of a one-eyed gator that's not a gator at all. Will he escape, or will he pay a high price for demanding so much of something that's dead but definitely not buried?
"Zora and the Zombie": Zora Neale Hurston is the protagonist of this tale, which traces her famous Haitian research, and posits that maybe she didn't tell us quite everything that happened. A daring, rich tribute.
"Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse": I can't say much about this story without undercutting a lovely reveal. Suffice it to say that anyone who cares about the Southern Gothic tradition or has ever looked with unease upon a chicken will find this worth their time. Come for those reasons, stay for the meditation on the nature of grace.
"Provenance": The shortest story in the collection, about the quest to return art to the descendants of those from whom it was stolen in the Holocaust. Perhaps it hit too close to home for me, but while I was glad to have read it, it did not entirely work for me.
"A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or The Devil's Ninth Question": A young woman, raised in a tourist trap, finds herself on an unexpected journey, where she'll meet ghosts, wizards, and the Devil's son-in-law. A Young Adult tale, charming and complex.
"The Dragaman's Bride": our protagonists from "Diorama" returns to solve the mystery of a missing girl in the Appalachian mountains. Another character from the first tale makes a reappearance, as does magic, more ghosts, and an old man who lives under the mountain and isn't a man at all.
"The Night Cache": Inspired by Poe's "The Gold Bug," this tale follows a young woman as she meets and soon falls for a geocacher. This story (spoiler) makes use of the dead lesbian trope, but not in the way one might expect, and for what seem to me entirely defensible reasons. Some readers may find this problematic, but even so it's well worth the read. A truly terrifying climax is extremely well-earned.
"Close Encounters": An elderly Missouri man has old memories brought back to his mind when a reporter starts asking about his alleged "close encounter" in the leadup to a film bearing that name. Like many of Duncan's stories, this one asks us to consider what it means to have faith, and what might be worth having faith in.
"The Chief Designer": A brilliant novella about the Soviet rocket program, politics, faith, and mentorship, it follows to characters, the eponymous designer and his apprentice, over the course of decades. Deeply researched and realized, it asks us to consider how the choices of the past shape our present and future, for good and ill.
March 28, 2015
An excellent collection. The first two stories describe mid-20th century southern [USA] white racism with candor, and 'Daddy Mention and the Monday Skull' returns to the subject from a different perspective. It's the authenticity of the voices of the well rendered characters that gives enjoyable richness to these and the other stories. Part of this comes from using first person narrators with country dialects, and some from the detailing of the mundanities of their lives: meal preparations, for example.
The collection includes the title story, which won a World Fantasy Award, and 'Close Encounters,' which won a Nebula Award.
The reviewed edition is pictorial cloth, featuring an eye-catching assembly of images by Chris Roberts.
I am mystified that, to my knowledge and as of early 2015, this has only been published in the UK. It deserves the widest distribution.
The collection includes the title story, which won a World Fantasy Award, and 'Close Encounters,' which won a Nebula Award.
The reviewed edition is pictorial cloth, featuring an eye-catching assembly of images by Chris Roberts.
I am mystified that, to my knowledge and as of early 2015, this has only been published in the UK. It deserves the widest distribution.
June 19, 2016
Once upon a time, a young man was kidnapped by aliens. Now, he's an old man and has spent his whole life getting past that abduction and trying to live something like a normal life in the very rural county he lives in.
The protagonist is well written and well built. You have no trouble seeing the world, how it looks to him, and how the encounter in his youth helped shape him, and continues to.
The story itself though, seems a bit linear and predictable. There isn’t really anything to make you think it’s going to turn out differently than it does. That may or may not be a bad thing. I don’t mind knowing how things will turn out in advance if the author is going to take me on a twisty, unpredictable route to get there. Once all the pieces are in place here, there isn’t a lot of doubt about the story’s path, though.
The protagonist is well written and well built. You have no trouble seeing the world, how it looks to him, and how the encounter in his youth helped shape him, and continues to.
The story itself though, seems a bit linear and predictable. There isn’t really anything to make you think it’s going to turn out differently than it does. That may or may not be a bad thing. I don’t mind knowing how things will turn out in advance if the author is going to take me on a twisty, unpredictable route to get there. Once all the pieces are in place here, there isn’t a lot of doubt about the story’s path, though.
June 21, 2013
I loved Andy Duncan's previous collection Beluthahatchie, so I was dismayed to find myself struggling with this collection. Reading the author's story notes, it became clear that all of the stories I misliked (because I honestly only found one or two to actively dislike), most of which seem to be from the start of the book, are based on actual history or people. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was about this particular stories that made them fail to resonate with me; perhaps the adherence to history, or the open-ended nature of the biographical nature.
As the book goes on, more of the stories are fictional, or fictionalised, and they reminded me what I loved about Duncan's work. A mixed bag, then, and not the Andy Duncan book I would recommend to newcomers.
As the book goes on, more of the stories are fictional, or fictionalised, and they reminded me what I loved about Duncan's work. A mixed bag, then, and not the Andy Duncan book I would recommend to newcomers.
June 12, 2012
I finished my first read through most of The Pottawatomie Giant. I say most because I read "Unique Chicken" three times and "Diorama" and "Dragaman" twice, so 'first read' wouldn't be accurate. Love this collection of short stories. Duncan is masterful.
About halfway in, I thought "I'm going to need more copies..." And I started making lists. People to whom I should send copies, before they steal mine; where the good copy will go in the bookshelves (next to the O'Connors? Vexing the Dubus?). Duncan has poured Appalachia into my science fiction and it's a great mix.
About halfway in, I thought "I'm going to need more copies..." And I started making lists. People to whom I should send copies, before they steal mine; where the good copy will go in the bookshelves (next to the O'Connors? Vexing the Dubus?). Duncan has poured Appalachia into my science fiction and it's a great mix.
December 10, 2012
Great storyteller, using Southern folklore and mashing it up with fantastic fiction and historical events. I was particularly taken by the twisty turns of "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" and "A Diorama of the Infernal Regions". Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary fantasy.
June 15, 2014
I really enjoyed the story (I don't think it is a full-length book). I paused while reading it to check up on the article about extraterrestrials being real in the April 7,1952, LIFE magazine issue that was mentioned, and sure enough, the article was absolutely in there.
November 11, 2014
This is enjoyable enough so far. But compared with Duncan's earlier collection, the stories seem rather cluttered and longwinded, with less of the exhilarating delirium of Beluthahatchie. The Night Cache is sweet though.
June 15, 2016
Excellent stories. I finally got a hold of Beluthatchie and Other Stories as well as The Night Cache and I can't wait to read them. I thoroughly enjoyed Wakulla Springs, too. The world needs more Andy Duncan stories.
August 27, 2016
Spot-on characterization and simple, honest theme. Perfect length for a short read on the train, and a sharp ending.
March 24, 2015
Read from "Nebula awards showcase 2014".
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews