West Bound

Stories of Providence

Robert F. Gish

These interlocking stories cover the migration of JJ, his wife Naomi, and their son Otis from Tulsa to their settlement in Albuquerque; Otis’ coming of age amid the shifting fortunes of his family and friends; and events in other peoples’ lives at the same place and time. Gish creates a world where the workings of Providence are hard to fathom and their outcome often hard to bear, though we must accept them because our lives are built upon them. From the Tulsa race riots of 1921 to Buck’s last coon hunt, the reader never finds a place to rest, though rough justice is always at work.

“These stories hearken back to what we often think of as a ‘more innocent time.’ Yet life was difficult and the world was always uncertain and changing. Robert Gish has captured time and place in Oklahoma and New Mexico with a deep love and a sorrowed heart for what was and what might have been. The people are alive, striving, tragic, often humorous. These are authentic and poignant blues whose melodies will play in your mind long after the book is finished.”—John Nichols, author of The Milagro Beanfield War

6 x 9 inches • 135 pages • ISBN 0-9753486-4-7 • $15.95