There is life-before-Brokeback and life-after-Brokeback. I thought this was a great story and read it once and then again right away with my wife on the way back from seeing the eclipse. It is sad, slow and lonesome with an ending that feels like having a horse dropped on you, I imagine. A really great author and amazing read.
You, like me, are probably the kind of person that likes to spend a lot of their time thinking about how horrible life can be for the downtrodden. What an absolute hell life is for people who society ignores, or even worse, persecutes, generally for no good reason at all. Trying to survive in a world where just being yourself openly would be enough invite physical violence from your very community members, the people you at one time thought you could trust. Annie Proulx does an amazing job of describing what it is like keeping a secret from your spouse, a secret so big you're not sure if your partner really even knows who you are, because all they have ever known of you is a lie.
Life is messed up for everyone in different ways but I think that there are lessons to be learned from those that have gone through the most trying situations, even if it is just in stories, and good god is this a roller-coaster of a doozy.
I have not read any other Annie Proulx but will be sure to. I would recommend this short story, it's going for $2 on Amazon and would make for a nice replacement to a movie night (it is very short). Buy two and have a read-in book club book (it is very very short).
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