Book Reviews
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Interior Landscapes: A review of The City Beneath the Snow
The short stories in Marjorie Kowalski Cole's posthumous collection The City Beneath the Snow take readers deep into the subarctic melting pot of Fairbanks, Alaska.
by Michael Engelhard, Mar 04, 2012 -
A life measured in cordwood: A review of Into the Heat: My Love Affair with Trees, Fire, Saws and Men
Cindy Bellinger's memoir, Into the Heat: My Love Affair with Trees, Fire, Saws and Men, introduces us to a determined, 60-something, chainsaw-wielding Western woman.
by Gussie Fauntleroy, Feb 19, 2012 -
Bucking the stereotypes: A review of West of 98
The anthology West of 98: Living and Writing the New American West assembles the thoughts of 67 Western writers.
by Charles Finn, Feb 19, 2012 -
A forbidden road trip: A review of Lamb
Lamb, Bonnie Nadzam's crisp, startling and psychologically intense debut novel, follows two troubled characters on a quest for redemption in the West.
by Jenny Shank, Feb 05, 2012 -
Searching for the truth about American Indians: A review of All Indians Do Not Live in Teepees (or Casinos)
Catherine C. Robbins seeks to go beyond the stereotypes about Native Americans in her essays in All Indians Do Not Live in Teepees (or Casinos).
by Cherie Newman, Feb 05, 2012 -
A second chance at love: A review of Liberty Lanes
Liberty Lanes, Robin Troy's second novel, tracks the lives of a group of senior citizens in a small Montana town.
by Phyllis Barber, Jan 22, 2012 -
From the Old World to the Old West: A review of The Little Bride
Anna Solomon's fascinating first novel follows a young Jewish woman from Odessa, Russia, to the hardscrabble prairie of South Dakota in the late 1800s.
by Jenny Shank, Jan 22, 2012 -
Love and loss on a Wyoming ranch: A review of Lime Creek
Lime Creek, Joe Henry's ravishing first work of fiction, is filled with exquisite snapshots of life on a Wyoming ranch.
by Jenny Shank , Dec 25, 2011 -
Girls gone wild -- 1900s style: A review of Nothing Daunted
Dorothy Wickenden's charming, meticulously researched Nothing Daunted tells the true story of two society girls who went to Colorado to become rural schoolteachers in 1916.
by Erica Wetter, Dec 25, 2011 -
California chronicles: A review of New California Writing: 2011
Editor Gayle Wattawa has assembled an anthology of essays in New California Writing: 2011 that should intrigue even people outside the Golden State.
by Tara Rae Miner, Dec 11, 2011 -
A celebration of Cascadia: A review of Open Spaces: Voices from the Northwest
Open Spaces: Voices from the Northwest doesn't quite work as an anthology, but it features some intimate and thoughtful writing about the Pacific Northwest.
by Gretchen Legler, Dec 11, 2011 -
An unexpected L.A. story: A review of The Barbarian Nurseries
Héctor Tobar's ferocious new novel, The Barbarian Nurseries, stars a Mexican housekeeper who works for a dysfunctional family and accidentally gets caught up in the national fury over illegal immigration.
by Daniel A. Olivas, Nov 28, 2011 -
Dealt a bad hand: A review of Doc
Mary Doria Russell brings the real-life historical character Doc Holliday to imaginative life in her novel, Doc, which focuses on the time he spent working as a tubercular dentist in Dodge City, Kan., long before the OK Corral.
by Jenny Shank, Nov 27, 2011 -
Reluctant assassins: A review of The Sisters Brothers
Patrick DeWitt's new novel, The Sisters Brothers, describes the lives of two 19th-century hit men in a work of modern Western noir.
by Devon Fredericksen, Nov 13, 2011 -
Meditations on craft: A review of What I Learned at Bug Camp
Sarah Juniper Rabkin's new essay collection is the intriguing, wide-ranging What I Learned at Bug Camp: Essays on Finding a Home in the World.
by Melissa Hart, Nov 13, 2011 -
Mapping the Hi-Line: A review of Honyocker Dreams
Writer David Mogen sets out to understand his childhood and his rural ancestors, who lived along Montana’s Hi-Line, just below the Canadian border.
by Andrea Clark Mason, Oct 30, 2011 -
To die fighting: a review of Jesse's Ghost: A Novel
In Frank Bergon's new novel, a young man in California's Central Valley is haunted by the memory of his best friend, whom he murdered.
by Tara Rae Miner, Oct 30, 2011 -
Chronicles of the 'Cowboy Candidate,' a review of Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands
In his thorough history, Roger Di Silvestro delves deep into the early life of the future president, particularly his discovery of the West.
by Martin Connelly, Oct 16, 2011 -
Stories like a bale unrolling: a review of Conjugations of the Verb To Be
Glen Chamberlain's short stories bring to life the people of a fictional Montana town.
by Charles Finn, Sep 18, 2011 -
Survival and opportunism in Butte: A review of The Richest Hill on Earth
Richard S. Wheeler's historical novel dramatizes the rivalry between the "Copper Kings" in 19th century Butte, Mont.
by Karen Rigby, Sep 18, 2011
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