About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

This collection of short stories by Brian Ames is one of the few items I've reviewed that I just can't recommend to anyone.



Pros

• Some of the stories involve hunting.

Cons

• Most of the tales seem pointless and inconclusive.
• Left me wondering why I read it.

Description

• Contains 22 stories in 169 pages.
• Not all of the stories are about hunting.
• It's just too strange and pointless for my taste.

Guide Review - Book - Smoke Follows Beauty

Blowing Smoke, With Little Beauty

This book is one of the few I've ever read cover to cover without feeling that I got something for my trouble. It almost seems an exercise in ego to publish such downright weird and pointless stories. I do wish I could be kinder to this book, but I can't.

The author is capable of vivid description and character development, but that's not enough to make it worth reading. His abstractions, apparently meant to be poetic, hold little appeal.

Most of the stories end abruptly and left me wondering, "What's the point? Why would anyone write this?" And that's why I can't recommend it... I found the tales unsatisfying and empty, so much so that I often ended them shaking my head in disgust. Add this one to your "don't bother" list.