Bozeman News

Words for the Western Landscape

In his introduction to Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape, editor Barry Lopez writes, “The land beyond our towns, for many, has become a generalized landscape of hills and valleys, of beaches, rivers and monotonous deserts…almost without our knowing it, the particulars of these landscapes have slipped away from us.” Published this year in a paperback edition by Trinity University Press, Home Ground (480 pages, $19.95) seeks to preserve terms that describe the natural landscape by compiling definitions written by accomplished writers.  Over the next several weeks, New West will feature excerpts from Home Ground.  Today’s term is “bull pen,” as described by Larry Woiwode.  Woiwode is an award-winning, North Dakota-based author of such books as What I’m Going to Do and Indian Affairs.

Western Book Roundup

I recently reviewed Brian Leung’s heartfelt historical novel Take Me Home for the Dallas Morning News.  Set in a rough mining town in Wyoming, the book tells the story an improbable love affair that develops between a white woman and a Chinese man. 

Leung’s novel got me thinking about the many books published over the past year or so that address the theme of Chinese miners in the Old West.  There’s The Poker Bride: The First Chinese in the Wild West by Christopher Corbett (which I reviewed for New West) and Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon, by R. Gregory Nokes. That Idaho massacre is central to Dana Hand’s novel Deep Creek (which David Abrams reviewed for New West), and Chinese miners had a cameo role in Ivan Doig’s Montana mining novel, Work Song (which Abrams reviewed for New West and I reviewed for the Dallas Morning News).  All of these books are worth checking out for anyone who has an interest in Chinese immigrants in the Old West, or who is just looking for a good read.

Also in the Roundup: Jackson Hole Review is revived with a call for submissions, Temple Grandin’s new book, and Boulder Book Store’s generosity.

New West Children's Book Review

When my daughter and I look for picture books at the bookstore or library, we follow one rule: Does it look funny?  We’re not interested in the messagey books.  We like the weird ones that make us giggle.  You can tell just by looking at the cover of David Wiesner’s Art & Max (Clarion Books, ages 4 to 8, 40 pages, $17.99) that it’s going to be funny, with a tall, dignified horny toad gripping brushes and a palette and standing back-to-back with a messy, bug-eyed shorter lizard against the backdrop of a saguaro-filled desert like they’re about to have a showdown.

They do have a showdown through their artwork, in a delightful story that Wiesner tells mostly through his detailed, engaging illustrations.  As the story opens, Arthur, the pretentious horny toad, is working on a portrait.  The enthusiastic Max, the smaller lizard, zooms into view and announces, “I can paint too, Arthur!” Arthur tells him, “You, Max? Don’t be ridiculous.” When Max asks Arthur what he should paint, Arthur suggests, “Well…you could paint me.” And Max does, literally.

The book gets funnier with each of Max’s missteps, as Arthur turns all kinds of colors, then leaks them until he’s transparent, then unravels.  We giggled a lot over this one, even though it does sneak a message in there: there are no rules or boundaries for creativity. Art & Max would make a great gift for any child who loves to draw and paint.

FALL MUSKIES NOT FOR WUSSIES

Beware of Muskie Fever. It can ruin the life of a perfectly normal fishaholic.

And contagious? You betcha. I caught it even before I went anywhere near water where the mighty muskellunge lurks. Then, last year, I finally had my first chance at a muskie, and what an introduction! Six long days and 8,600 casts without a single hook-up. (Click here to read the gory details.)

But even such a royal butt kicking can’t come close to curing Muskie Fever. Instead of giving up and going back to trout, I couldn’t wait to go back for another beating. Catching a muskie was high on my life list, so it had to happen. All I needed was a better time and place, eh?

Legislation

Locavore bigwigs Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food,” and Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation,” sent a letter of support, calling the bill “the most important food safety legislation in a generation. The Tester amendment will make it even more effective, strengthening food safety rules while protecting small farmers and producers. We both think this is the right thing to do.”

The Northern Plains Council, a Billings-based organization that lobbies for family-owned farms, also applauded Tester.

“Northern Plains members wrote letters, made phone calls, sent e-mails, met with congressional staff and submitted letters to the editor urging Senator Tester to introduce his amendment and calling for its passage,” the group wrote in a press release.

Backcountry Skiing

“When the lead climber was approximately 100 feet from the summit the entire slope whoomped...The slide sounded like a jet engine taking off.”

The hard slab snow caught all three and dragged them over exposed talus for about 300 feet. The entire slide took less than 10 seconds. “Luckily we were stopped by the talus and escaped the 1,000-plus-foot slide that ran out on the flat area below the peak. None of us were buried, however we all sustained massive bruising, scrapes and one skier cracked two ribs. We collectively lost three poles and broke one binding so that one skier had to ski all the way out on just one ski.”

Western Book Festivals & Conferences

The 2010 Western Literature Association Conference
Where: The Prescott Resort, Prescott, Arizona
When: Oct. 20-23, 2010
What: This annual conference is a forum for academics and independent scholars working on the literature of the American West, as well as a showcase for Western creative writers.
Cost: $110-$200, depending on events attended.

The Western Literature Association is a scholarly, not-for-profit organization that was founded in 1965.  Its annual conference is held in a different Western city every year.  While the WLA started as a small community of scholars, it has grown into an organization of hundreds of members, and its 2010 annual conference featured 230 scholars and creative writers presenting on over sixty panels covering all aspects of Western literature and culture.  This year’s conference was hosted by Gioia Woods of Northern Arizona University, and the theme was “Western Performances.” Registrants were encouraged to present material that spoke to the performative nature of Western identity.  Each year the WLA honors a Western Writer with its Distinguished Achievement Award: in keeping with this year’s theme of performance, the 2010 winner was writer, director, and Chicano activist Luis Valdez. 

Guest Post

When PBS’ “Nature” called Gianna Savoie in 2008 and asked if she’d be interested in making a film about the wolverine, her first reaction was exhilaration at the thought of creating a documentary on a little-known animal. Her second was trepidation: How do you make a movie about an animal that is impossible to find?

The tensions between the mystery, the quest for knowledge and the intense personality of wolverines hold together the film that Savoie eventually created. From the extraordinary commitment of the scientists who track wolverines through Montana and Alaska with barely a hope of ever seeing the animal, to the quirky and energetic antics of the two captive kits who provide most of the film’s footage of actual wolverines, “Wolverine: Chasing the Phantom” is an hour of pure gulo charm. Getting to an hour, however, was nearly as epic as some of the wolverine feats the film documents.

SASKATCHEWAN FISHING LODGES

I’ve had all kinds of fishing experiences, and some of them--perhaps too many of them--have been in somewhat primitive, if not brutal, conditions. Roughin’ it is okay, I guess. I’ve done plenty of it, but now, as I get older every year, I’ve discovered that a little relaxation and indulgence goes just fine with fishing.

Which is one reason I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Selwyn Lake Lodge.

Western Book Roundup

The best books of the year lists are starting to appear in time for holiday shopping, including those of Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog, Publisher’s Weekly, and Library Journal.  The novel Matterhorn by Oregon native Karl Marlantes is in Amazon’s top ten, and The Lonely Polygamist by Idaho’s Brady Udall is on the PW list.  Justin Cronin’s novel The Passage, whose action swings through Colorado, is in the Library Journal top ten. 

I’ve still got a few books to read before I can make the calls for my annual Best Books of the West list—check back in early December for that.

• As I mentioned last week, Oprah and her best bud Gayle went fly fishing with the help of the Bozeman-based fishing guides Brian and Jenny Grossenbacher, authors of Fly Fishing Montana: A No Nonsense Guide to Top Waters.  About.Com interviewed Brian Grossenbacher about the experience.  He explains that the Oprah show camera crew selected a spot for them to fish on the Merced river in Yosemite that was not actually very good for catching fish: