E. Annie Proulx's "The Half-Skinned Steer" and Close Range: Wyoming Stories have received mostly good reviews from critics. The reviewer for Kirkus Reviews notes that the story is one of two in the collection that particularly displays "Proulx's trademark whipsaw wit and raw, lusty language." Likewise, in his article for Progressive, Dean Bakopoulos calls the story "one of the highlights of this wellcrafted collection" and says that the tale "sets up all the themes that dominate this volume: The struggle of hope against nature, mortality, and despair." In her book, Understanding Annie Proulx, Karen Rood notes that "Mero's trek evokes the traditional, mythic associations of the westward journey toward death, as he makes his solitary pilgrimage back in time as well as distance toward his boyhood home." Rood also notes that while this "powerful" story is "about an ending, it is also about returning to one's...