"A Rube's Story" by Bazarov. There are many reasons to dislike this story. It's difficult to read because it attempts to convey a heavy dialect that will be unfamiliar to many readers. It's about a mother fucker, and even the dictionary doesn't like mother fuckers. But there are also good reasons to like this story. If the reader takes the trouble to read carefully, the story conveys the accent and dialect of the protagonist very effectively. And that protagonist is "the boss-man a' motherfuckers."

When I received this story from the author, I was upset because it contained a large number of little squares sprinkled throughout the text. This is how my computer registers "unrecognized characters." I sent a message to the author pointing out my problem, and he simply sent me another copy of the same thing. Frankly, I thought he was an illiterate fool who would go away if I asked for a good copy. When I eventually received my third copy, I decided to try replacing all the unrecognized characters with apostrophes; and it became clear to me what the author was trying to do. I was dealing not with typographical errors or with a computer foul-up, but with dialect.

Writing dialect effectively is difficult - and so is reading it. It's necessary for the reader to slow down and pretty much look at each word - at least until the flow starts coming naturally. In addition to using a dialect that differed from mine, I found that the author was expressing the ideas of a man whose outlook on life and modes of thinking were a lot different than mine. And so I said to myself, "It's the Christmas holidays. Why not spend a couple of hours expanding my horizons by reading in an unfamiliar dialect about a guy fucking his mother!"

To put it kindly, the story focuses on the exploits of a young gentleman who was initially uninterested in sexual intimacies with his mother but whose ardor was aroused when he came across some magazines containing letters "from fellers who'd been feedin' their mothers a steady diet a' sausage an' these women who'd been treatin' their lil' boys with pleanty a' candied fruit." To tell you more would run the risk of ruining your enjoyment of this story. I might mention, however, that near the end of the story the narrator wonders what life will be like "in 'bout ten years when her bush be sprouted out with the gray hairs an' her ass startin' t' sag t' the floor." My own assumption is that 'long 'bout that time he'll start plowin' th' field of L'll Sadie, who should sho'nuff have a right fine bush of her own by that time.

This is an extremely literate tale about an illiterate and dysfunctional family. The author carries off the dialect exceptionally well. I recommend absolutely none of the activities in this story. In real life I would suggest that Mama pull the trigger on the 45. But I really enjoyed this story. (Rating: 10)