News & Author Interviews
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Western Book Roundup
Aryn Kyle in The Atlantic, and Portland’s Edgy Writing Conference
The Atlantic's summer fiction issue is out, and it includes a new story by Missoula's Aryn Kyle, who launched her career in that magazine in 2004 with "Foaling Season," which won a National Magazine Award. She later extended that story into her first novel, The God of Animals. Kyle's new story, "Nine," also features a young protagonist, and Kyle's deft way with children as characters is one of the subjects of an interview by Jessica Murphy Moo featured on The Atlantic's website. They also discuss the University of Montana's MFA program, which Kyle calls "an invaluable experience," and how Kyle was inspired by the changes in her home town, Grand Junction, Colo., to extend "Foaling Season" into the novel it became.
The Rocky Mountain Land Series at the Tattered Cover in LoDo will feature Courtney White on Tuesday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. White shared an excerpt from his new book, Revolution on the Range: The Rise of a New Ranch in the American West, with New West readers earlier this year.
Also in the Roundup: Portland's "Writer's Edge" Conference, and Montana State's new literary magazine seeks submissions.
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Western Book Roundup
Denver Book Burglar Sentenced
Last year I mentioned the arrest of the Denver booknapper, Thomas Pilaar, who checked out about 1,400 books and DVDs from Denver-area libraries and attempted to sell them online. Pilaar pleaded guilty to theft and last week was sentenced to "10 years in prison and ordered to pay $53,549 of restitution," according to Tille Fong of the Rocky Mountain News. During the year between his arrest and his sentencing, it seems that the formerly moustached Pilaar took the time to further cultivate his facial hair.
I can't think of a way to segue gracefully into the non-felon portion of today's Roundup, so I guess I'll just proceed: Steven Wingate emailed to point out a new book deal for a fellow Colorado writer, Irene Vilar. Matthew Thornton of Publishers Weekly reported that Vilar recently sold her memoir Impossible Motherhood to Other Press.
Also in the Roundup: David Wroblewski's continued success and Albuquerque's Cary Herz is honored.
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Western Book Roundup
Nonprofit Bookstore Opens in Bend and New Missoula Lit Mag Launches
Idealistic optimism in the book world is not dead: David Jasper of the Bend Bulletin reported that Kilns Bookstore, a nonprofit enterprise, opened in Bend over the holiday weekend. (Via Shelf Awareness.) Jasper writes, "The opening comes just more than a month after The Book Barn, a 35-year-old shop in nearby downtown, closed due to declining sales and stiff competition from online retailers such as Amazon."
Rick Bass recently reviewed Stephen Trimble's new book, Bargaining for Eden: The Fight for the Last Open Spaces in America for the Boston Globe.
Denise Hill at the NewPages blog noted the arrival of the premier issue of a new literary magazine called The Oval, published by University of Montana undergraduates.
Also in the Roundup: the Virginia Quarterly Review publishes a new story by a Casper author, the Colorado Book Award finalists are announced, and Denver's David Sirota tours.
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New West Book Review
Lonely Hearts: Steven Wingate’s “Wifeshopping”
Wifeshopping
By Steven Wingate
Houghton Mifflin, 208 pages, $12.95
The men in Steven Wingate's engrossing, entertaining debut story collection Wifeshopping are looking not just for love, but for marriage. They're not adverse to commitment, but they are particular, seeking the ideal woman for whom to forsake their days of youthful flings. This ultimate woman never quite materializes for Wingate's protagonists, who reject their girlfriends and fiancées because they don't like used clothes or don't agree that they should get rid of a stranger's mementos found buried in the backyard. But more often, their women reject them for being too pompous, for proposing marriage too early or for trying to rush them out of their rituals of mourning for past loves. Wingate, who lives in Lafayette, Colo. and teaches at the University of Colorado, sets his stories across the country, from Denver to Thermopolis, Wyo., to Rockport, Mass., to Miami (and vividly evokes each of these varied settings), but the problems that plague his characters are the same everywhere—they're not-quite-perfect guys trying to create something lasting and meaningful with not-quite-perfect women.
Steven Wingate will discuss his book at the Tattered Cover (LoDo) on July 30 at 7:30 p.m., and at Poor Richard's Bookstore in Colorado Springs on August 7 at 5 p.m.
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New West Book Review & Interview
Carl Haywood’s Innovative Take on Explorer David Thompson
Canadian David Thompson is considered by some to be one of the shrewdest explorer-mapmakers to ever chart or trek a course. Following quickly on the heels of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, Thompson is widely credited as being the first person to set up a commercial trading post in Montana, a northwestern business venture called Saleesh House. Several opinions have always existed relating to the post’s precise location.
Shunning foregone historical conclusions, Carl Haywood, author of Sometimes Only Horses to Eat ($24.95, Stoneydale Press), has not only raised serious questions about Thompson’s travels in northwestern Montana, but he has offered new interpretations of his own that certainly command confutation.
Carl Haywood will discuss his book at David Thompson Days in Thompson Falls, Mont. on July 4-5, at the Libby Public Library in Libby, Mont. on July 14 (7 p.m.), at The Corner Bookstore in Sandpoint, Idaho on July 19 (1 p.m.), and information on his other regional appearances is available on his website.
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