JUBILEE KING

"This could get Western," warns a cowboy in Shepard's debut story collection as he hurriedly drives a team of anxious horses off a Hollywood set before they catch the scent of their co-star, a Kodiak bear. But life never does quite "get Western" for the anachronistic ranchers, horse breeders and other throwbacks of these 12 pieces, which are set in rugged California landscapes hemmed in by sprawl. In the title story, a horse breeder recruits a young Latino worker to go on a midnight digging expedition to find the remains of a horse named Jubilee King. The breeder is involved in an obsessive—and futile—quest for a DNA sample to prove the lineage of the horse's colt, a prized stud in the making. A couple's lavish outdoor wedding is ruined in "Blinkers" when a steed in the processional has a heart attack. "First Day She'd Never See" is about a Sonoma County homeless man trying to sell his '69 Plymouth Valiant to the skeptical yuppie father of a teenage girl who's fallen in love with the junk heap. Shepard is a confident narrator who has a fine eye for ironic details, especially in dialogue. Yet he sketches his characters in broad and familiar strokes; the cowboys and film crew in "Night Shot" deliver some winning lines, but the contrast between the old school tough guys and vapid Hollywood types is disappointingly predictable. Although Shepard crafts his narratives with skill, the collection is suffused with a sentimental longing for an older, wilder California that never quite transcends cliché. (Mar.)

FYI:The writer is the son of playwright and novelist Sam Shepard.