Western Book Roundup

Bozeman Launches New Community Reading Program

The first One Book-One Bozeman joins a number of other regional community reading programs when it kicks off this week, featuring Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracey Kidder. The program, organized by "A host of volunteers and community partners, including the Bozeman Public Library, the Bozeman Public Library Foundation, Hopa Mountain, MSU, and Yellowstone Public Radio," according to its website, will include a series of varied events now through October 15, such as book discussions, a photo exhibit (opening September 5 at the Bozeman Public Library), cooking lessons, and storytelling and writing workshops for kids.

One highlight: on October 9, Dr. Michael Iseman of Denver's National Jewish Medical Center will discuss his research on multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, and the work of Paul Farmer, the subject of Kidder's book.

Watch for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's announcement of the next One Book, One Denver selection next week. They've been accepting book nominations from the community on their website, so it will be interesting to see this year's pick.

Also in the Roundup: The Democratic Convention gave a boost to the Tattered Cover, and the University of New Mexico Press launches a fall reading series.

New West Book Review & Interview

Rafael Chacón’s Biography of Montana Architect A.J. Gibson

The Original Man: The Life and Work of Montana Architect A.J. Gibson
by Hipólito Rafael Chacón
The University of Montana Press, 164 pages, $35

A.J. Gibson is one of Montana’s most beloved and famed architects. Paradoxically, he is – at least as far as the scant written historical record goes – also its most unsung. In fact, the only biographical material related to Gibson’s life published before September's release of Rafael Chacón’s The Original Man: The Life and Work of Montana Architect A.J. Gibson, was part of a multi-volume set released in 1914.

Rafael Chacón will discuss his book at Missoula's University Congregational Church of Christ on September 14 (11:30 a.m.) and at Fact & Fiction on September 16 (7 p.m.). The book will also accompany a traveling exhibition of the same title that features architectural models, facsimiles of drawings and photographs. Organized by the Montana Museum of Art & Culture, the exhibition will be on view September 18 through October 19 at the Holter Museum of Art in Helena.

Western Book Roundup

Books and Politics Mingle in Denver

The intense media focus on Denver this week for the Democratic Convention is casting some light on the city's bookstores, too. As Shelf Awareness noted, the Tattered Cover was featured in two articles recently. Kathy Baruffi of USA Today interviewed Tattered Cover manager Tamra Monahan about her ten favorite places in Denver (she doesn't name her own bookstore, but Coors Field and the Denver Art Museum make the list.)

And Bookselling This Week checked in with the Tattered Cover about the special displays the store has planned during the convention. The store, just a few blocks away from the Pepsi Center, is going all out, selling, "souvenirs, including nonbook items like the official Democratic National Convention T-shirt and mug, politically themed gifts, and other convention-related items." They are also featuring a display of books that should be on the Western "Reading List for the President-Elect." Jeff Lee of the Rocky Mountain Land Library surveyed authors and bookish folks of the region to come up with the list, and contributors included Rick Bass, Barry Lopez, Laura Pritchett, and, well--me.

The Tattered Cover's website also lists a slew of appearances by authors of political books this week, but the highlight in my view is today's Michael Chabon event. Okay he's not a political writer, but he happens to be in town, and will speak at 11:30 a.m.

Also in the Roundup: Another Boulder bookstore closes, a Missoula writer fears for her safety after Random House cancels publication of her book about one of Muhammad's wives, Texas university presses, and more.

Wesern Writers

An Interview with Greg Lemon

Greg Lemon grew up in La Grande, Oregon, and after college, moved to Missoula in 1998 to work with the Forest Service's Technology Center. He attended graduate school in journalism at the University of Montana, and after graduating in 2004, he took a job with the Ravalli Republic newspaper in Hamilton. This year Lemon published his first book, Blue Man in a Red State, a biography of Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. I recently interviewed Lemon via email about how he became interested in politics, how he came to write the book, and what he learned about Schweitzer in the process of writing the biography. Lemon will discuss his book at the Borders in Bozeman on September 6 (2 p.m.).

New West: How did you start writing about politics?

Greg Lemon: I started writing about politics at the Ravalli Republic newspaper in Hamilton. I was the natural resources reporter, but we didn’t have a large staff, so I took on politics as well. I never really wanted to cover politics, but once I got into it I liked it. Politics is about people and I think the best political reporters remember that.

Western Book Roundup

Western Books I Can’t Wait to Read

Jane Ciabattari at Critical Mass, the National Book Critics Circle's blog, recently interviewed one of my favorite writers, ZZ Packer, in advance of her August 28 appearance at a fundraiser for Katrina victims. They discussed Packer's links to New Orleans, but what interested me most was this tidbit: "The novel I’m finishing (yes, finally, finishing!) concerns the Buffalo soldiers, and the regiment whose storyline I follow were mustered in just outside of New Orleans and the whole first third is set there, so I’ve been NOLA-centered for quite some time."

Packer has been working on this Buffalo soldier novel for a while—when I interviewed her for The Onion back in 2003 during her tour for her story collection Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, she said she already had written several hundred pages, and she was planning to spend some time in New Mexico writing and researching some settings.

Ever since then, I have been waiting for word of when this novel was going to be published. But, impatient as I am to read it, I respect her for taking all the time she's needed when other writers might have rushed a manuscript in such hot demand through completion. Packer's forthcoming Buffalo soldier novel tops my list of books with western settings that I am most eager to read. Also on my list is the eventual debut book of Daniel Orozco, a short story writer who teaches at the University of Idaho.

Also in the Roundup: A Colorado woman brings libraries to Nicaragua, and an insider's report from this year's Denver Publishing Institute.

Western Book Roundup

Nick Arvin Editorializes and a Denver Fiction Anthology

With the Democratic convention coming up, everybody in Denver seems to be thinking about politics these days, and writers are no exception. Denver novelist Nick Arvin (who I interviewed last year) wrote an editorial for this weekend's Rocky Mountain News about Barack Obama's skills as a writer, which predated his political ambitions. Arvin's thesis:

"I'd like to suggest that the fact that Obama is a writer -- not just a typer of e-mails and compiler of legal briefs but a writer of literary quality with the ability to craft compelling narrative and interrogate his own feelings on the page -- tells us some things about him that are worth considering as he competes for the presidency. These ideas flow from a few simple observations about writers generally."

And speaking of the Rocky, in contrast to all the bad news about book review sections disappearing from newspapers across the country, the Rocky's Editor-in-Chief John Temple has announced an innovative fiction contest, "A Dozen on Denver."

Also in the Roundup: Joyce Carol Oates' JonBenet Ramsey novel, Daniel Grandbois reads in Boulder, and a British take on the best Western novels.

Western Book Roundup

Western Writing About Running: Any Thoughts?

I just finished reading an insightful memoir by one of my favorite writers, Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, in which he discusses how long distance running has enhanced his life and ability to write. The book doesn't have much to do with our region, but at the end, Murakami (who runs a marathon every year) writes a funny anecdote about the experience he had running in Boulder:

"One other memory I hold dear is running high up in Boulder, Colorado, with Yuko Arimori, the Japanese silver medalist in the marathon at the Barcelona Olympics. This was just some light jogging, but still, coming from Japan and running all of a sudden at a height of ten thousand feet was very tough—my lungs screamed, and I felt dizzy and terribly thirsty. Miss Arimori gave me a cool look and just said, 'Is something the matter, Mr. Murakami?'"

This prompted me to think that with so many avid runners in the mountain West, there must be some great literary writing about running set here. But as I pondered this, I was only able to come up with one example—Rick Bass's beautiful short story "Fires," from his 1997 collection In The Loyal Mountains. So does anyone out there know of any other remarkable stories or books about running in our region? If so, let me know!

Also in the Roundup: the Boise Nonfiction Writers host Courtney White, and the High Plains Book Awards adds a category for regional writing by women.

Western Book Roundup

LA Times Ends its Book Review and Colorado Seeks A Poet Laureate

As many have noted, the Los Angeles Times published its last freestanding book review section this weekend. That leaves the San Francisco Chronicle as the only paper west of the Mississippi with a separate newspaper book review section (the New York Times Book Review, Washington Post Book World, and the Chicago Tribune's books section also remain). Although the LA Times will incorporate some book criticism into the rest of the paper, its coverage of books will diminish. That's unfortunate, given the attention to Western books that the paper has provided, such as Nick Owchar's recent piece for the Times' book blog, Jacket Copy, analyzing Jim Harrison's introduction to a new edition of James Welch's The Death of Jim Lonely. (According to the National Book Critics Circle's interview with editor David L. Ulin, Jacket Copy and other online features will continue.)

Also in the Roundup: the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association announces its annual regional book award winners, Colorado puts out the call for a poet laureate, poet Maria Melendez reads in Salt Lake, and more on Rick Bass's Why I Came West.

Western Writers

An Interview with Steven Wingate

Steven Wingate's debut book, Wifeshopping, is a collection of witty, insightful stories centered on men's quest for love and marriage. Wingate has been teaching composition and creative writing at the University of Colorado since 2001, and last year he won the Bakeless Prize for fiction sponsored by the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, which included the prize of his collection's publication by Houghton Mifflin. Amy Hempel, who judged the contest, wrote in her introduction that his stories' success "comes from Wingate's surpassing skill as a writer, and his vision of what can happen when we are made to forfeit a fantasy." I recently interviewed Wingate via email about his knack for evoking varied settings in his stories, the writing advice he gives to his students, and how the Bakeless Prize changed his life. Wingate will appear at the Tattered Cover (LoDo) on July 30 (7:30 p.m.), Poor Richard's Bookstore in Colorado Springs on August 7 (5 p.m.), and the Boulder Book Store on September 9 (7:30 p.m.).

New West: When did you move to Colorado and what brought you here?

Steven Wingate: I was born in New Jersey and moved to Colorado Springs at age thirteen. My father had always wanted to move out to Colorado—drawn no doubt by the mythology of personal renewal that has been drawing people to the West forever—and after he died when I was just shy of eleven, my mom decided to move us here.