[7] Satan's personal assistant, one Duane Fork, busies himself spreading dust and sulfurous smells for his boss's return from a Milan design fair.

[8] The Devil is piqued by an article in The Onion reporting that a Tenth Circle of Hell had been added to accommodate Total Bastards.

A childless Wyoming couple transfer their affections first to a piglet, then to a chicken, and finally to a sagebrush they fancy to have the appearance of a child.

It consumes livestock, then soldiers, then a local medico, railroad men, surveyors, and most lately a botanist come to investigate its unusual height and luxuriance.

[2] On November/December 2008 issue of Bookmarks, the book received a (3.5 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a summary saying, Though the San Francisco Chronicle had "the disturbing sense that she’s reveling in her characters’ pain," the St. Petersburg Times countered that "Proulx writes with clear-eyed, ironic affection about life in the real West, not the sentimental version".