Book Review: The Outlaw Album By Daniel Woodrell

I recently received a copy of the new book The Outlaw Album by Daniel Woodrell to review.


The Outlaw Album is a collection of short stories by the author. It contains twelve Ozarkian tales in all. Each story, as the title might suggestion, is centered around a very illegal action - murder, rape, arson, etc. As much as you might want to blame some of the characters in the story for what they've done, I call it poetic justice. You know, the South can be known for taking the law into their own hands throughout the years. Sometimes justice fails, and I hate to say it, but a good ol' fashioned hanging is a lot cheaper on our taxes than life in prison.

Some of the stories had just the right twisted sense to them - such as the abused (as in raped) girl, who left her torturer out in a thunderstorm in a metal wheelchair. Or the first story, where the neighbor is murdered for killing their dog. (can't say I blame him one bit for killing him...)

Yes, I know that's bad of me to even type that. But if it was one of MY dogs, I'd be screaming for a good ol' fashioned tar and feathering, ya know?

The beauty of short stories is you can sit down and read one at a time during your free moments. The Outlaw Album is a different sort of book, some will leave you with a bit of... unease you could say, and others making you just as angry as characters in the story. Deciding whether or not to add this book to your to-read list depends on your personal taste in books, but the stories are good pieces of fiction. Many of the stories have been previously published in magazines and anthologies, so if you are familiar with the author's work, some of these stories might not be new to you.

The Outlaw Album by Daniel Woodrell is a hardcover fiction book published by Little Brown, and Company. It is 176 pages long. The suggested cover price is $24.99, but Amazon has it available for $14.41 as of this posting. It is also available as an e-book for the Kindle and other e-readers.

I received a copy of this book in order to read it and share my thoughts on it. All opinions are my own, and not that of the author(s) or publisher.