I'm reading Rebecca Solnit's The Faraway Nearby right now. She lives in San Francisco and writes on a variety of topics. Out of her extensive list of publications, I've read Savage Dreams: A Journey into the Landscape Wars of the American West, and A Field Guide to Getting Lost. Her writing soars over my head but I can touch the writing with my fingertips, and so I learn.
The Faraway Nearby is comprised of essays about the telling of stories. She has a way of going all over the map in her books, but ties it all together by the ending. Have faith. The essays cover Solnit's own life, and her mother's Alzheimer's. I love that she says, "Place is a story" because I have a friend who likes to argue with me about whether or not place can be a character. "Place as a story" will drive him to further rhetorical heights.
The other book I'm reading is a memoir titled: Badluck Way written by Bryce Andrews. Andrews, fresh out of Seattle and some travels, gets a job on a ranch of 20,000 acres in Montana. The Sun Ranch is worth looking up for its modern environmental approach to ranching. However, note that the Sun Ranch has been sold, so maybe it couldn't exist with the area's abundant wildlife and still pay the bills. Montana is a place full of extremes and should make for a great story. I'm sure the young man telling the tale will go through some major changes as he matures. It's a more enjoyable read since I love this kind of story, and love anything about nature. Very accessible and I'm learning in a different way as I turn the pages.
The Faraway Nearby is comprised of essays about the telling of stories. She has a way of going all over the map in her books, but ties it all together by the ending. Have faith. The essays cover Solnit's own life, and her mother's Alzheimer's. I love that she says, "Place is a story" because I have a friend who likes to argue with me about whether or not place can be a character. "Place as a story" will drive him to further rhetorical heights.
The other book I'm reading is a memoir titled: Badluck Way written by Bryce Andrews. Andrews, fresh out of Seattle and some travels, gets a job on a ranch of 20,000 acres in Montana. The Sun Ranch is worth looking up for its modern environmental approach to ranching. However, note that the Sun Ranch has been sold, so maybe it couldn't exist with the area's abundant wildlife and still pay the bills. Montana is a place full of extremes and should make for a great story. I'm sure the young man telling the tale will go through some major changes as he matures. It's a more enjoyable read since I love this kind of story, and love anything about nature. Very accessible and I'm learning in a different way as I turn the pages.
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