Discuss: Putting Things Back Together

I found my first Rick Bass book -Winter- in Green Apple Bookstore in San Francisco last Christmas abandoned on the shelf of the dusty environmental section on the second floor next to the (erotica) porn. I’d never heard of him and he’s not well known in Canada. But I was struck by the book’s unadorned prose the minute I opened it. On that same occasion I also bought The Future of Ice: (I was thinking a lot about winter at the time). The pretentiousness of Gretel Ehrlich’s self-conscious lyricism only highlighted the strength of Bass’s non-style which disguises really interesting story- telling about fundamental things in our lives in its sheer non-lyrical, democratic conversationalism. -It makes me think of Abe Lincoln. I’ve been reading my way through Bass ever since and when I saw his name in this issue of Orion I went right for it. I’m glad to know more about the man’s stylistic influences, and -yes- I see a similarity between his voice and that in the only book by Wallace Stegner I know -the Gathering of Zion- a really fine read. There is is something very American about this kind of plain eloquence and I going to look at more Stegner now. If anyone is open to something in a similarly reflective and yet conversational vein from north of the border try Brian Bett’s new book, Trauma Farm. Also excellent. Good piece. Thank you.

Wolf Willow, an autobiographical account of Stegner’s childhood in southern Saskatchewan’s Cypress Hills was my first encounter with his writing.  As good a place to start diving into his works as any, it vividly expresses the change of a natural and cultural environment on frontier prairie country to farmland and permanent settlements.  I’ll never forget Stegner’s powerful depiction of the great 1906 blizzard that wiped out forever the area’s cattle herds, and with it the cowboy culture of southern Saskatchewan.  The change to farming had been accomplished by the time Stegner’s father moved the family there a few year’s later.

It’s wonderful to see Stegner’s work recalled in the clean, honest prose of one of his students.

I’ve been amazed through the years at how little has been written about the sometimes intense autobiographical nature of Wallace Stegner’s novels.  Consider his two most celebrated works. In Angle of Repose, the protagonist creates a narrative from a trove of old letters, as was Stegner doing exactly the same thing.  In Crossing to Safety, the story line owes a huge debt to Stegner’s earlier relationship with the poet Phil Gray and his wife Kay. The result, to our everlasting benefit, is a body of work that might even tell us more about the author than he wanted us to know.
His old student Edward Abbey might have summarized his own life in one book (A Fool’s Progress), but Wallace Stegner told his own fascinating story over and over again.

Wonderful essay, in part, about living/leaving one’s legacy. Thanks!

I read ‘Why I came West’ and then sent it on to Obama, with a personal note.
Here in Washington State we recently were able to get the Sky Valley Wilderness area created for the same reasons Bass is trying to save the Yaak valley.

Without persistent support from the local and national leaders, its a tough road.

Bass should get his video’s on utube showing the area and the struggle and then ask the viewers to write their representatives to support the Yaak Valley wilderness area.

True, I think, is that the thing that endears Stegner’s writing to me is probably its biggest vulnerability for long term obscurity. I’m thinking of his real reverence for, and description of, physical labor. Really, it runs through all of his writing. The labor is redemptive work, even in its failure to achieve. Maybe, especially for that failure.

Rick, I’ve noticed the (presumed)influence of that reverence in your written word as well. Anyone who can devote the pages you have to, say, drill mud, or slicing up a larch, has got Stegner’s muse on his shoulder.

So, now we are, as a country, moving fast away from that reality. What will this augur for Stegner’s body of words? Will our descendants still seek out his descriptions of sweaty labor? Or, will a description of the application of a star drill to a rock face only leave them quizzical?

I sit across a canyon from the Stegner Memorial Bench in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California on land preserved by organizations Stegner started.  I have been privileged to live, work, read and write on this land for 2 years and I am constantly amazed by what I learn from the natural and human neighbors.  Observation, weeding and writing are opportunities for deep thought and free associations.  Stegner, Bass and other authors engage us as readers.  Sometimes they inspire us to share our experiences with people who can’t see or touch the raw land.  We’ve got to do it despite our imperfections and fear of criticism.  One day, I will be pulling yellow starthistle, a condor’s shadow will pass over and the perfect six words will come to me to describe that unique moment of comradeship.