JESUS OUT TO SEA: Stories
James Lee Burke
Simon & Schuster
Fiction/Short Stories
ISBN-10: 1416548564
ISBN-13: 9781416548560

I remain in awe of James Lee Burke. Despite the occasional yet persistent flaws in his books --- a tendency to rush his endings, a manifestation of a seemingly pathological dislike of the wealthy --- his work remains arguably unsurpassed by contemporary authors. Burke mines much of the same territory explored by Erskine Caldwell and, more recently, Cormac McCarthy --- the plight of the underclass in the rural south --- but is more poetic than the former and more accessible than the latter.

JESUS OUT TO SEA is a collection of Burke’s under-appreciated short fiction, gathered from a diverse number of sources and publications --- everything from Confrontation to Esquire to Amazon Shorts. The underdogs who populate these stories seem infused with details of Burke’s own past, whether it be a retired college professor who runs afoul of bikers in “A Season of Regret” or the young man who, deprived of a responsible father figure, takes matters into his own hands in “Texas City, 1947.” The atmosphere is at best grim, reaching the nadir of its abyss, in the hair-raising “Mist,” in which a widow struggles to escape addiction, and the apocalyptic title story, concerning the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Even at his darkest, however, Burke’s collection is shot through with a beauty and clarity that is simultaneously painful and a joy to behold. Such a state makes it difficult to pick a favorite. “Water People” describes the work of drilling oil and the people who do it with such accuracy that it seems as if one will be forever haunted by its imagery, particularly when filling up the gas tank in a weekly ritual heretofore taken for granted. The triumph over adversity against seemingly insurmountable odds is an old theme yet in “The Molester” is freshly and impressively presented.

It is, perhaps, “Texas City, 1947” that is the highlight of JESUS OUT TO SEA. Excerpted from Burke’s A STAINED WHITE RADIANCE, this is a dark coming-of-age tale in which the author, with just a few lines of dialogue, brings a sad story of the separation of a father and son to a sorrowful conclusion, full of loss but without apparent bitterness or anger.

JESUS OUT TO SEA is a brilliant introduction to those who have been attracted to Burke’s writing but are reluctant to dive into his myriad novels, which comprise the Robicheaux mythos. It is also an indication that an investment of time into an investigation of those works will provide a welcome rate of return.

   --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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