From Publishers Weekly
A good man is hard to find, but a good cowboy practically impossible. At least that's what the women in this accomplished, witty and engrossing debut short-story collection discover when they fall 10-gallon-hat-over-spurs for the kind of men who go in for roping cattle, not for romance. In "Selway," among the most gripping of these 12 tales, an intrepid young woman rafts through treacherous white water to keep up with her boyfriend, who is as untamed as the river that nearly kills them. Accompanying Boone ("a hunter of the everything-has-to-be-hard-and-painful-to-be-good variety") through the Alaskan wilderness during sheep hunting season, the unnamed narrator of "Dall" learns about male camaraderie, violence and herself. The cowboy enthusiast in the title story, listening to country music, observes, "The men in the songs were all either brutal or inexpressive. . . . The women were victims, every one." But the women featured here aren't victims: they are smart, funny and likable. A gifted storyteller and a fine writer, Houston brings insight and an original perspective to the heavily trafficked gender divide. Literary Guild selection. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Houston, whose short stories have appeared in such periodicals as Mirabella and Mademoiselle , now has her first collection, the highlights of which are "How To Talk to a Hunter," a story selected for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories, 1990 ( LJ 10/1/90), and "Selway." Though these two stand out, the collection as a whole showcases a fresh, original, strong feminine voice. Houston is almost Hemingway-esque in her spare prose, yet richly eloquent in her descriptions of the Western sensibility. "How To Talk to a Hunter" oozes sensuality and masculinity, while at the same time getting inside the feminine mind in love with a man of few words. Likewise, "Selway" brilliantly shows what the experience of loving an adventurer is like. Houston is a part-time guide in Alaska. This is a strong woman who is wise and cynical but refreshingly optimistic. Her view of man-woman relationships is realistic: wise women get involved with "cowboys" they should know better, but they don't. Recommended.- Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Lib. System, Cal.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
``...I should know better, but I love it when he calls me baby.'' That about sums up the sentiment running through these fresh, highly crafted, image-packed stories by the debuting Houston. Her setting is the West, her protagonists women in their late 20s, rugged, outdoorsy, independent types looking for the love of a good man no less doggedly than are their yuppie sisters; it's only that when the guys out there disappoint--as, according to Houston, guys must--they howl instead of whine. In the collection opener, ``How to Talk to a Hunter'' (Best American Stories 1990), the down-spiraling course of a love affair between the narrator and a classic Houston male (a cowboy who's shared more intimacies with the stuffed mule deer on his wall than he ever will with a woman) trickles out amid amusing aphorisms about the ultimate incompatibility of the sexes. The theme gets replayed in ``Selway'' (from Mademoiselle), though this time in the Deliverance-like action and adventure of a maniacs-only trip down a high-water river, undertaken by the narrator in order to win the love of a professional white-water rafter. It's not until ``Cowboys Are My Weakness'' that the female voices of these stories begin to show some starch. In that story, a woman first discovers the difference between real and ersatz cowboys, then figures out that neither variety is ever going to provide ``the impossible love of a country song.'' And when ``In My Next Life'' finally rolls around, Houston delivers up a rich, sad relationship between two women, one dying of breast cancer, both locked in hopeless affairs with men, both flirting with lesbianism--``Aren't there women who...wake up ready to hold and be held by somebody who knows what it means?'' The author doesn't always search far enough for the reason why smart women behave like dishrags--but most of these stories are fine things from a writer one hopes will come up with a novel before too many suns sink in the West. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

ANNOTATION

The Los Angeles Times calls it a "brilliant collection of stories . . . that strike at the heart. . . . Houston claims for women the terrain staked out by male writers from Hemingway to Richard Ford." Here are 12 shrewd and funny stories about smart women looking for the love of a good man, and men who are wild and hard to pin down.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Pam Houston's critically acclaimed collection of strong, shrewd, and very funny stories, we meet smart women who are looking for the love of a good man, and men who are wild and hard to pin down.

"I've always had this thing for cowboys, maybe because I was born in New Jersey. But a real cowboy is hard to find these days, even in the West," says the narrator in the title story of Pam Houston's critically acclaimed collection. In these strong, shrewd, and very funny stories, we meet smart women who are looking for the love of a good man, and men who are wild and hard to pin down. Our heroines are part daredevil, part philosopher, all acute observers of the nuances of modern romance. They go where their cowboys go, they meet cowboys who don't look the part — and they have staunch friends who give them advice when the going gets rough. Cowboys Are My Weakness is a refreshing and realistic look at men and women—together and apart.

Author Biography: Pam Houston teaches in the graduate writing program at the University of California at Davis and contributes regularly to Elle and O. She lives in Creede and Denver, Colorado.

FROM THE CRITICS

San Francisco Chronicle

These are the stories that might have emerged had an intelligent woman followed Hemingway around.

Publishers Weekly

A good man is hard to find, but a good cowboy practically impossible. At least that's what the women in this accomplished, witty and engrossing debut short-story collection discover when they fall 10-gallon-hat-over-spurs for the kind of men who go in for roping cattle, not for romance. In ``Selway,'' among the most gripping of these 12 tales, an intrepid young woman rafts through treacherous white water to keep up with her boyfriend, who is as untamed as the river that nearly kills them. Accompanying Boone (``a hunter of the everything-has-to-be-hard-and-painful-to-be-good variety'') through the Alaskan wilderness during sheep hunting season, the unnamed narrator of ``Dall'' learns about male camaraderie, violence and herself. The cowboy enthusiast in the title story, listening to country music, observes, ``The men in the songs were all either brutal or inexpressive. . . . The women were victims, every one.'' But the women featured here aren't victims: they are smart, funny and likable. A gifted storyteller and a fine writer, Houston brings insight and an original perspective to the heavily trafficked gender divide. Literary Guild selection. (Jan.)

Library Journal

Houston, whose short stories have appeared in such periodicals as Mirabella and Mademoiselle , now has her first collection, the highlights of which are ``How To Talk to a Hunter,'' a story selected for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories, 1990 ( LJ 10/1/90), and ``Selway.'' Though these two stand out, the collection as a whole showcases a fresh, original, strong feminine voice. Houston is almost Hemingway-esque in her spare prose, yet richly eloquent in her descriptions of the Western sensibility. ``How To Talk to a Hunter'' oozes sensuality and masculinity, while at the same time getting inside the feminine mind in love with a man of few words. Likewise, ``Selway'' brilliantly shows what the experience of loving an adventurer is like. Houston is a part-time guide in Alaska. This is a strong woman who is wise and cynical but refreshingly optimistic. Her view of man-woman relationships is realistic: wise women get involved with ``cowboys'' they should know better, but they don't. Recommended.-- Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Lib. System, Cal.

San Francisco Chronicle