International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award

In small Ozark towns like West Table, Missouri, what you are is where you're born. And if you're born in the Venus Holler section of town, what you are isn`t much . For Bev Merridew, who can turn a trick as easily as she can roll a joint, life in Venus Holler is tolerable. For her nineteen-year-old daughter, Jamalee, a life guaranteed to be the replica of her mother`s isn`t good enough. With her tomato-red hair and her barely contained rage, she has plans, and they don`t include Venus Holler. What they do include - indeed, depend on - is her drop-dead beautiful brother, Jason. But Jason may just be a country queer, and in the hills and hollows of the Ozarks, that is about the most dangerous thing a man could be. Into their midst comes Sammy Barlach. With too many entries on his rap sheet, he`s passing through on his way to nowhere, looking to be a loser in new surroundings. Jamalee thinks he might be the muscle she and Jason need.
Daniel Woodrell comes from a long line of Ozarkers, extending back before the Civil War. Raised in Missouri and Kansas, he did a stint with the marines, returned to the States to follow his thumb for a few years, then enrolled in the University of Kansas. His first novel, Under the Bright Lights, was published in 1986, and since then, there have been four more, including Woe to live on ( currently being filmed by director Ang Lee with a script by James Schamus). Daniel Woodrell lives with his wife, Katie Estill, in West Plains, Missouri.

Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell Nominated by:

Tomato Red by
Daniel Woodrell

Nominated by: