LIMBO RIVER by Rick Hillis (The...

LIMBO RIVER by Rick Hillis (The Ecco Press: $9.95). The blue-collar workers in these stories lead grim, humdrum lives, shaped by the barren plains of western Canada and the struggle to wrest a living from that unforgiving land. In “Summer Tragedy Report,” a bright adolescent realizes that the farmers in his family prefer his cruel, thuggish cousin, whom they recognize as one of their own: The narrator, who has a promising future, remains an alien presence in their hopeless world. A series of connected stories focus on Norma, a desperate welfare mother who manages to land a job on an outdoor pipeline crew, but must struggle for acceptance from her male co-workers. The idea of a woman working--or needing to work--on a construction crew is difficult for all of them to assimilate. An awkward dance in a tacky bar becomes a metaphor for their grudging recognition of her status: One worker “watches Norma and Lubnickie dance--the way they move together and apart, trying to keep their balance with all the changing shapes around them.”