McLean, Robin
Entry updated 31 October 2022. Tagged: Author.
(? - ) US attorney, potter and author whose two collections, Reptile House (coll 2015) and Get 'em Young, Treat 'em Tough, Tell 'em Nothing (coll 2022), contain tales in various genres, often insightful in a gonzo manner that opens up sharp lines of perspective into agitated lives. Her first novel, Pity the Beast (2021), applies a abstract but vivid take on the Western to illuminate the violent experiences of its protagonist, which can be seen in a rawly Feminist light, in language and imagery that at points reflects Cormac McCarthy's apocalyptic Blood Meridian (1985). Her reflections on her life begin to shape the generic frames through which the tale can be understood (see Postmodernism and SF), including Ruins-And-Futurity visions combining the deep past and a moderately distant future after the savageries of Climate Change, with the Great Plains, once again a seabed, are known as the West Sea. [JC]
Robin McLean
born Peoria, Illinois
works
- Pity the Beast (Sheffield, South Yorkshire: And Other Stories, 2021) [hb/]
collections and stories
- Reptile House (Rochester, New York: BOA Editions, 2015) [coll: pb/]
- Get 'em Young, Treat 'em Tough, Tell 'em Nothing (Sheffield, South Yorkshire: And Other Stories, 2022) [coll: pb/]
links
previous versions of this entry