Captain Kentucky should be an American treasure. He's already a treasure in his native commonwealth.
The problem is he is published so seldom that he's easy to overlook. Sure, he writes stories for literary mags and such, but he has just one published novel to his name, along with a few collections of short stories.
I recently found this one, published way back in 1996, in a used book store. It was a pleasurable find. It is, without doubt, a trio of remarkable stories.
McClanahan follows the writer's cliched advice -- write what you know. And what McClanahan knows is the denizens of rural, small-town Kentucky. He writes about them with wit, with warmth, and with wonder, although he also is guilty of being a bit over-the-top with his descriptions.
These stories feature fictional Burdock County -- the Asparagus Bed of the Commonwealth. Not because anyone in the county actually grows asparagus, but they admire the fact that the vegetable grabs the best part of the garden for itself -- and "civic-minded Burdock Countians like to suppose they're at least as discriminated as a stalk of asparagus," McClanahan writes.
And the stories feature a cast of characters that will make you smile, despair, and laugh out loud as they go about their sorry lot in life, trying to muddle through as best they can.
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