Taking the Wall is a selection of short stories about the dreams and aspirations of all the would-be Nascar racers across the southern states of America. Jonis Agee has captured the thrill of winning, but more often the frustration of not being to make it to the big one whether it be car failure, money, or skill. But to these backyard racers, there is always the next one. Maybe the car won't take the wall this time and the frustrated racer will finally win.

Racing is an obsession to them and because of it families will crumble and divorces will ensue. But this does not deter the racer. He will follow his dream to the end.

Three paragraphs really jumped out at me while reading this book of short stories. One in "The First Obligation":

"I mean a whole life can't come down to this collection of furniture and photographs, like a bunch of trophies you win in go-cart for just showing up--what kind of a race is that? I mean the sun's going down, my car engine's blown, and I can't even remember enough of my life to cry good tears over it. I feel like I'm rolling loose, about to hit the wall again, and no one's looking anymore."

And later

"A dream is something you die for," she'd told him, and he'd looked at her, lying drained of blood as if her own dream and not his father's was the thing he should fear. He'd understood then that she loved her husband, that his father hadn't forced her to what was her death bed, she had climbed into it herself. They were lucky, these two people, his parents, he'd come to realize over the next few years. Lucky because they';d been true to their dreams and because they knew what those dreams were. Recognized them out of all the others that must have presented themselves like dancers at the dance."

and finally in the short story, "Mystery Numbers":

"Late summer when Dale Earnhardt had driven into the wall at the start of the Mountain Dew Southern 500, they said he experienced 'a transient alteration of his consciousness.' Tom was thinking he needed one of those, but hoped it wouldn't take a smack in the wall to do it."

These men (and women) always hope that they will be one day up there with the Earnhardts, the LaBontes, the Martins. That is not the main reason, though. It is the car. It is the love of the car and the need for speed. And they keep trying.

This book takes the wall, and keeps going. Flashes of grace illuminate these stories of workaday people who dream of something more. Agee's blue-collar characters come out of the curve in terribly mixed up and out-of-control circumstances, and nearly always manage to grab the wheel and steer the course. If only we all had their sense of direction. Take this book for a spin--it handles well.

Acts Of Love On Indigo Road is an anthology of new and selected short stories by acclaimed author Jonis Agee that poignantly epitomize small-town life, and dealing with daily trials while striving for something more. Humble yet involving narratives fill the pages of this emotional and evocative collection. Acts Of Love On Indigo Road is an impressive and extraordinary anthology which is a "must read" for Jonis Agee fans and admirers.

A wonderful book that starts out slow, then hauls you so into it you can't put it down. Strong characterization...you just get the whole thing in your mind and they are so real. If you want a good read, I recomend this book. You won't be disappointed!

I was born in NE, lived there, then in other remote ranching areas. The people, times, and conditions that are masterfully described in this book are what it is all about. I doubt that those who have lived their lives in cities, on lots, among throngs of people, and within the mainstream of the American culture, can fully realize the truth and character of this story and work. I probably see these people and events through a different window than the author, but she has captured their essence. Read it and live the special life of those who look across rolling hills of nothingness and see everything!

This is the first time I've read, The Weight Of Dreams, or anything by this author. She's managed to put together a powerful, passionate, story; which could make a good movie. Her characters are strong and leave the reader "choosing sides" immediately. (That is, for Ty Bonte, and against Harney Rivers.) I believe I'd like to try her other novels. I wonder if she would write a "follow up" book, to explore if Ty and Dakota got married. I'd also recommend A Thousand Country Roads.

This is a good story with an interesting protagonist and a compelling conflict between small town and corporate America. But Jonis Agee is ill-served by her editor/copyreader, and errors in the most basic of English constructions become too distracting.

The strengths of Jonis Agee as a novelist, her precise observations, her attention to small details, and her complicated, well drawn characters, shine through in this novel. Like "Sweet Eyes," her first novel, "South of Resurrection" peels through the layers of a small town to get at some basic human truths. Agee is particularly effective at portraying a landscape and the people who live on it. Her protagonist, Moline Bedwell, tears through the novel with the past chasing her. The inevitable collision of the past with her return to her home town fulfills the promise of the opening pages.

So boring I couldn't get past the first 20 pages.

At first glance, this books seemed a bit over-written, as if it spent too much time trying to be explicitly sensual, but it grew into a very compelling story about three beautifully flawed characters, Cody, Arthur and Kya. Its description of life in Nebraska's sandhills is engaging. Its ability to transport me, a lifelong city dweller, to an understanding of my father and grandfather's country life is quite an accomplishment. Mozart it isn't. But it is a good read for a good weekend or two, and its words endure.

I really enjoyed reading "Strange Angels" because we live next to the sandhills and the setting is close to "home". I've always thought the sandhills in NE had an exciting history to them. This book is about the coming together of three siblings who all have different mothers but the same father. They've never been close and always felt lost. In this book they find their purposes and goals in life and find understanding for each other. There is a lot of action in the book that keeps you reading. The characters are very strong and make you want to know them more. I don't really like watching Westerns with my husband but I really enjoyed this book!