The El Paso Red Flame Gas Station and Other Stories by J. Reeder Archuleta

Narrated in a plainspoken style with realistic dialog from the Texas region, Archuleta has cherry-picked eight vignettes from the young life of a boy named Josh. In the first story, Josh's mother Belle quickly leaves her husband, Josh's kind step-dad Cecil, for the refuge of family members and hopes of a better life. In the second story, we find Josh has been abandoned by his "free spirit" mother. As the rest of the stories unfold, there is a melancholy fog that settles over the life that Josh has been presented with. But all the while, the young boy works hard to take care of himself, even helping his high school football team achieve greatness, despite the hardships life throws his way. There is an undercurrent of hopefulness throughout the book. And even when the military shuttles him away to Vietnam, he eventually finds his way back to the town that seems so bleak and unforgiving, yet it is the place he calls home. If I had one complaint, then it would be that the book could have been longer, leaving more room for the stories of the supporting cast to reveal themselves. Otherwise, an excellent collection of stories.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 5 stars.

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