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I first read a Joe R. Lansdale story in an anthology entitled NIGHT VISIONS. It was one of a series of volumes published by a wonderful and sadly defunct company named Dark Harvest. Dark Harvest, as might be gathered from its name, published horror literature, and was so reliable that one could pick up any title it issued and be happy.
I'd never heard of Lansdale before NIGHT VISIONS, and after reading his stories in that volume I never have never forgotten him. Lansdale's work effortlessly cuts across genres; while he tends to find himself classified in the western, horror, and suspense genres, his work and his talent are too big and too strong to be confined to any one area. He writes like an angel with the mindset of Hieronymus Bosch. If there were a soundtrack to his novels, it would be ZZ Top fronted by Trent Reznor, with The Sons of the Pioneers on vocals. While Lansdale's work is set in this world, he's definitely writing about the part of the town where the buses run few and far between, if at all.
SUNSET AND SAWDUST combines all of the finest elements of Lansdale's talents, making the Depression era East Texas towns of Camp Rapture and Holiday the setting for a dark morality tale with Biblical overtones. The story begins with Sunset Jones killing her husband Pete in self-defense in the midst of a devastating windstorm. The late departed Pete was the constable of Camp Rapture and the son of Marilyn Jones, three-quarter owner of the sawmill which is the lifeblood of the town.
No one is more surprised than Sunset when her mother-in-law proves to be unexpectedly understanding of Sunset's actions, and sees to it that Sunset succeeds Pete as town constable. Sunset, to everyone's surprise, actually takes her duties seriously, and while there are those who are extremely uncomfortable having a woman filling the duties of the office, she manages to acquire a grudging respect from the citizens, particularly after she assists law enforcement in Holiday to defuse a particularly violent situation. The bizarre discovery of the bodies of a woman and a newly born baby on the property of the only black landowner in the area, however, lead Sunshine into an investigation that individuals in both towns would rather not see completed.
Lansdale is known for creating frightening but realistic characters, and he is at the top of his game here, introducing the unlikely pair of McBride and Two as well as the enigmatic Hillbilly. Another of Lansdale's stylistic trademarks, colorful metaphors and turns of phrase, are in good supply here, peppered throughout the narrative like the Burma Shave highway signposts of old. The outcome of the apocalyptic ending is, as usually the case with Lansdale, impossible to predict; it seems at times as if Lansdale himself is surprised at the denouement. This, perhaps, is at it should be.
After more than twenty years of writing, and at a point in his career where a less enterprising writer could happily phone in an annual novel, Lansdale continues to challenge and to surpass himself. This is a work by an American treasure who has yet to receive his full and rightful due.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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