The Boar

Dustjacket art by Mark A. Nelson. Interior art by Keith Minnion.

It's the Great Depression in East Texas, and a fifteen year-old boy has to face down a wild boar that threatens his family. But if his Dad, a tough carnie wrestler, can't stop the beast, what hope does a kid who wants to be a writer have?

"The Boar takes place during the Depression, a time that fascinates me. I grew up with parents who had survived the Depression, so I felt I had an idea what it was all about. Hearing about the Depression was part of my everyday life. Also, it affected how my parents thought, lived, and acted. Some of that was passed on to me. When I sat down to write The Boar it was not my intent to try and write a great novel of The Depression. I wanted to write a small book that took place during this time, in the East Texas river bottoms, and had a simple plot with a simple resolution. The father in here, like my Dad, wrestled at fairs. Otherwise, he bears no resemblance to my father. Still, there is an echo of my Dad in the book. Anyway, through my interest from the depression, my connection to it through my parents, growing up in East Texas, time I spent in the bottoms, as well as some hog experience, and the desire to write a simple story, this developed."

– Joe R. Lansdale