The stories in "Hardwater Country" are not easy to categorize. Many have rural settings; some do not. Most are narrated by a male character; some are not. Some are written in a terse, broken staccato; some flow easily and naturally. None is boldly dramatic. Each deals with moments and details in routine days of mostly unexceptional lives.

The artistry of Frederick Busch consists of stripping away conventions of setting, plot and description, and carrying the reader swiftly into the crevices of particular lives. There is a sense of physical intimacy created between reader and characters, not for the purpose of revealing shocking or unspeakable mysteries, but in order to show the subtle shifts in mood and behavior that compose the rhythms of life.

Robert Kiely, "Entertainments and Absurdities: 'Hardwater Country'," in The New York Times Book Review (© 1979 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), July 1, 1979, pp...