Magazine
Close Ties in Big Landscapes
  • Digital Editions are available for our paid subscribers. Please login here.

  • If you wish to subscribe, click here.

September 14, 2015

Our special once-a-year Books and Essays issue, focusing on community and connection. Sarah Gilman finds that closeness means survival in the harsh, vast spaces of Mongolia as well as in the American West. Ana Maria Spagna describes how Maidu Indians came together to reclaim a sacred California valley from a utility company. Plus book reviews and profiles of authors like Erika T. Wurth, Mitchell S. Jackson and Lucia Berlin.

Feature

Claustrophilia: Do wide-open lands bring us closer together?
Claustrophilia: Do wide-open lands bring us closer together?
A writer finds that Colorado small-town life and Mongolian mishaps strengthen her human connections.
Sarah Gilman Essay Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
A displaced California tribe reclaims sacred land
A displaced California tribe reclaims sacred land
The Mountain Maidu return to their valley, but the work of reclamation never ends.
Ana Maria Spagna Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition

Editor's Note

The real work
The real work
Jodi Peterson Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition

Current

Sketching water chemistry on the Animas, hunting mushrooms in the Northwest.
Sketching water chemistry on the Animas, hunting mushrooms in the Northwest.
Hcn.org news in brief.
High Country News Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
A visual artist finds her literary voice in New Mexico
A visual artist finds her literary voice in New Mexico
Bev Magennis once covered houses in colorful tiles. Now she writes novels about murder in the rural West.
Laura Paskus Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
Where agriculture and aesthetics go hand-in-glove
Where agriculture and aesthetics go hand-in-glove
Former Seattleite and author Bryce Andrews writes and ranches in Montana.
Page Lambert Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition

Essays

Notes from the road to bestsellerdom
Notes from the road to bestsellerdom
An author’s promotional book tour includes incontinent owls and posh but uncomfortable luncheons.
Michael Engelhard Essay Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition

Conversation

Writing beyond the reservation stereotype
Writing beyond the reservation stereotype
A Native author creates characters who are making a life in the urban West.
Laura Pritchett Interview Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
Mitchell S. Jackson finds another Portland
Mitchell S. Jackson finds another Portland
An author speaks on growing up black in 1990s Portland and countering his city's hipster image.
Devon Fredericksen Interview Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition

Book Reviews

A look back at a Western artist guild’s colorful history
A look back at a Western artist guild’s colorful history
A review of 'The Denver Artists Guild; Its Founding Members: An Illustrated History' by Stan Cuba.
Gloria Dickie Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
The fall reading list
The fall reading list
Book recommendations for the cold months ahead.
Jodi Peterson Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
Self-published books: What to read
Self-published books: What to read
Some favorite under-the-radar writers and their recent releases.
High Country News Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
The human cost of Westward expansion
The human cost of Westward expansion
A review of 'American Copper' by Shann Ray.
Melissa Mylchreest Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
In the barren Central Valley, a woman unravels
In the barren Central Valley, a woman unravels
A review of 'Into the Valley' by Ruth Galm.
Charles Finn Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
Overlooked author Lucia Berlin gets brought back to the light
Overlooked author Lucia Berlin gets brought back to the light
'A Manual for Cleaning Women,' her posthumous book of stories, reveals a formidable talent.
Jenny Shank Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
How to redefine — and defend — wilderness
How to redefine — and defend — wilderness
A review of a new way to look at what’s wild and what’s not, in Jason Mark’s 'Satellites in the High Country' and Fred Pearce’s 'The New Wild.'
Emma Marris Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

The myriad ways the natural world disappoints, delights and destroys.
The myriad ways the natural world disappoints, delights and destroys.
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Betsy Marston Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition

Dear Friends

A skipped issue and a trickle of visitors
A skipped issue and a trickle of visitors
Plus, a plug for our classroom subscription program and a gun-related correction.
Jodi Peterson Sept. 14, 2015 From the print edition
High Country News Classifieds