Rust and Bone: Stories

“Like a gleeful bull in the china shop of staid and worthy CanLit, Davidson is defining his own literary identity by shattering conventions.”

—National Post

“[Rust and Bone] is a superb collection from a young writer who already feels fully formed. The stories give off an air of confidence, the kind of confidence one expects in the works of veterans like Alice Munro or William Trevor, as if Davidson is fully aware of what he can do and knows how to achieve his ends.”

—Edmonton Journal

“Rust and Bone gives Canadian fiction a healthy body shot.”

—Calgary Herald

“Davidson … is a fine young writer with a keen sense of the absurd and a bracing, biting wit.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Davidson matches his stellar, energetic descriptions of physical confrontation with subtle, quirky explorations of human motivation.”

—Booklist

“Stark oppositions often pack the punch in these gritty tales about American tough guys on the ropes.… This salty collection more than whets the appetite.”

—The Guardian

“Davidson’s debut collection engages the Hemingway-esque tradition of terse prose describing toughened men who suffer while hiding their scars.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Davidson’s forceful debut collection arrives like a jab to the jaw.… He is as adept at the humorous interplay of personality in a sex addicts anonymous meeting as he is in describing a vicious dogfight. There are also quiet moments of grace. Even when Davidson pushes the limits of what a reader can stomach, he never loses our attention or our empathy. Recommended as a young writer to watch.”

—Library Journal

“Confident.… Impressive.… Rust and Bone might be described as ‘promising’ were it not already such a finished piece of work.”

—The Times Literary Supplement

“Craig Davidson is a young author who already displays the surefootedness of a seasoned pro … these tightly balled, arrestingly visceral explorations of machismo’s dark recesses uncoil with concussive power.”

—The Sunday Times

“This collection of stories by Canadian Craig Davidson sears the senses on contact.… Davidson has whittled his prose down to bare expression, eschewing pronouns and articles for a clean, spare feel, suited to the calculated violence of the stories … he manages to deal with substantial issues such as infertility, loss, and addiction in a way that indicates a latent sensitivity underlying the sheen of brutality.”

—The Bloomsbury Review