"Brokeback Mountain"Annie Proulx was born on August 22, 1935, in Norwich, Connecticut, into a family of farmers, mill workers, inventors, and artists whose ancestors had lived there for three centuries. Because of her father's career in textiles, Proulx's family constantly moved, so she lived in several states, including North Carolina, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island. She earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Vermont in 1969 and then went on to graduate from Concordia University with a Master's degree in Art in 1973 (Info Please). Starting as a Journalist, her first published work of fiction was "The Costums Lounge" and she subsequently published stories in Gray's Sporting Journal in the late 1970s, eventually publishing her first collection in 1988 and her first novel in 1992. Proulx has twice won the O. Henry Prize for the year's best short story (Info Please). In 1998, she won for "Brokeback Mountain," which had appeared in The New Yorker on October 13, 1997.
Brokeback Mountain (short story)
Jack Twist
Ennis Del MarProulx won again the following year for "The Mud Below," which appeared in The New Yorker June 22 and 29, 1999. Both appear in her 1999 collection of short stories, Close Range: Wyoming Stories. Proulx emphasizes a heartbreaking tale of two homosexual individuals who struggle to be together, bound by the norms and rules of society.
I found "Brokeback Mountain" to be a very real and compassionate tale of two cowboys who unexpectedly found love in each other. In a most peaceful setting, away from the world, two cowboys embody one of the most disquieting issues affecting our entire culture. The pain experienced by every character is believable as is the anger. Proulx does a great job of letting Ennis's confusion and his accompanying anger percolate beneath the cloak of social conformity. It is a garment that doesn't...