James Carlos Blake is to fiction what John Prine and Steve Earle are to music. His writing is impeccably crafted, and what that craft portrays is a rough and raw Americana. Much of his work mixes history with legend, injecting a very human honesty. He’s been compared to Cormac McCarthy, James Harrison, and other “masculine fiction writers”, but holds more humor than many branded with the label. He examines our country and it’s history of love, but not a young romantic love; his is knowing, weathered, experienced, and that much deeper.
His approaches to narrative are unique. His first book, The Pistoleer, followed the life of South Texas gunman John Wesley Hardin. Each chapter is an anecdote from someone who knew him. He used the same approach for his next book, The Friends Of Pancho Villa. The life of Handsome Harry is told through several “confessions” by John Dillinger’s partner that are often hilarious.
However he approaches the writing, it’s the subject and the subject’s relationship to the times that shine through. Many of his protagonists are violent men who have to be taken on their own terms, such as Missouri border guerilla Bloody Bill Anderson in The Wildwood Boys or the Galveston gangsters in Under The Skin. Usually it’s the characters’ actions that seals their fate, much like the society of their time. His last book, The Killings Of Stanley Ketchel, the poignant and brutal story of the forgotten ragtime era boxer, truly shows this. The book is a favorite of many authors, including Daniel Woodrell.
His latest look at history is a bit more personal this time around. Country Of Bad Wolfes uses Blake’s own ancestors as it follows the lineage of two sets of twins whose lives cover most of the eighteenth century in hunts for fortune and glory in the United States and Mexico. Their adventures intertwine with Mexican President Diaz, whose reign influences his dealings with the family. The book is trademark Blake with rogue heroes, duels, and demons and angels of human nature locked in a violent dance with one another. It’s a look at the United States and Mexico and the bloodshed, politics, and history that lies between the borders.
As a whole, James Carlos Blake’s work has the feel of lived-in legend. It’s a collection of old folk ballads singing to a new present. And I highly recommend you listen.
MysteryPeople welcomes James Carlos Blake to BookPeople to speak and sign Country of the Bad Wolfes on Sunday, January 22, 3pm. We’ll have complimentary beer and snacks on hand. Hope you can join us.
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