Hey, guys, I have Covid. I am taking Paxlovid but so far no improvement. Yikes! Probably won't be around the rest of the week. How long does this last George and Tracy who have had this version.
"Cranked, Bill Crider from DAMN NEAR DEAD
"Cranked" was from the first collection of geezer noir from Busted Flush Press. Bill was nominated for an Edgar Award (2007) for it in the best short story category. In "Cranked" we have a meeting of four individuals at a roadside convenience store about to be robbed. Karla has escaped a meth fire and is on the run, Royce and Burl, the two bumbling, giggling robbers, are hopped up on meth, and Lloyd has run away from a hospital while his daughter is getting him a cola. These are four tough characters and yet the story has a lot of humor and grace in it. Few writers can pull off humor and violence (and there is plenty of both) as well as Bill did. Bill went on to write another story about Karla, who he took a liking to. I think you can read both of them on kindle for a few bucks. This first collection was edited by Duane Swierczyncki, who was just starting out then. He did a great job of luring good writers in here.
17 comments:
You know, Patti, I've never read Crider's short stories. I need to do that.
A great tale, but one expects no less from Bill.
I agree, this was a good one, and whenever Bill put humor in his stories, it worked. I still remember Sheriff Rhodes going for an unintended "rodeo" ride in one of the later books.
Bill signed my story, "To Jeff - who's not a geezer (yet)." 18 years later,,,that's a different story, I'm afraid.
*sigh*
I miss Bill.
I've been alternating three short story collections - Lydia Davis's (mostly) very short stories in CAN'T AND WON'T, Lee Child's non-Reacher stories in SAFE ENOUGH, and Barry Malzberg's self-chosen collection, COLLECTING MYSELF: THE UNCOLLECTED STORIES.
I should add that Patti had a story in DAMN NEAR DEAD 2, which Bill edited.
Patti--take care and get more medical help if you need it (and other No Kidding beseeching)...I was hospitalized with mine in 2023, and the infusion did the trick.
Thanks for pulling Bill's story out for SSW...with luck, none of us are DND yet.
No medical advice from me. Just wishing you the best and get over this damn thing fast.
Can't believe I saw the story but not what was above it. Feel better! I know it took George weeks to feel back to normal.
I added it later, Jeff. My first round in 2020 it lasted six weeks. I am hoping for less this time. Thanks all.
So sorry you have Covid, Patti. It really knocked Glen and I out for a while. We both had symptoms for 10 or 11 days. Glen was better after that, but I had extreme fatigue for another two weeks and had to sleep a lot of the time, although the other symptoms were gone. Glen had a fever, which was the first sign for us that it was serious. I never had a fever. Neither one of us took Paxlovid.
I hope you get much better very soon.
Back again. I have both of the DAMN NEAR DEAD short story collections and have read some stories from both of them ... but not all. I did read this one and I liked it a lot. I want to read more of Bill Crider's stories and I have some of them on the Kindle.
The paxlovid is making me nauseated however sore throat is gone. Thanks all.
Fun will refuse to stop till it does, and I hope the nausea passed/passes quickly. My C19 definitely felt like a combo of strep throat with the worst flu I've had.
I've read good things about Paxlovid's effectiveness.
I bought a copy of DAMN NEAR DEAD for my library but see that it has since been withdrawn. It is possible I bought the used copy and have it at home.
Like many other people, much of my reading was guided by Crider's recommendations and mentions.
Mine's finally up...if nothing else (and there's always something), the distractions of watching Drumpf assemble his cabinet of imbecile criminals and try to ensure he can get them in without Senate oversight is...remarkable, to say the least.
https://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2024/11/jorge-luis-borges-karen-joy-fowler.html
Duane S. was already a reporter for some years, working on the PHILADELPHIA CITY PAPER (or possibly the P WEEKLY, the two free tabloids still extant when I moved up in '96, but I think CP), when he started publishing cf novels.
Bill Crider is an author who wrote many novels that are worth revisiting.
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