Saturday 10 May 2014

Last Fair Deal Gone Down by Ace Atkins - a short story review

According to the Ace Atkins website this short story was lost for years until it was found on an old floppy disc.

It fits right in with his first novel, Crossroad Blues, actually, in 2008, this short was included as bonus material, in a 10th anniversary edition of Crossroad Blues.

In it we see Nick unravel the unfortunate death of a beloved sax man after discovering that the saxophone is missing from his room.

Look up book report #42 to see my review of CB.  Since first reading it I discovered the HBO series Treme and learned to love New Orleans.  I got a wonderful sense of place from this short story and really enjoyed it. I got the sense that Atkins was ready to tell a fully fleshed out story when he wrote this one.

A very nice addition to the cannon.  I wish I knew more authors who wrote novels AND short stories with their characters. Sometimes it's nice to get a small bite from a bigger world.

No comments: