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True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen by Lance Richardson
This first biography of the only writer to have ever won the National Book Award in both fiction and nonfiction, is appropriately epic, in detail and scope.
To say that Matthiessen (1927–2014) lived an extraordinary life is to put it mildly. A co-founder of The Paris Review, he developed environmental/nature writing in a way that forced it to be taken seriously, and widely read, through books like The Snow Leopard and Wildlife in America. He played an important role in introducing Zen Buddhism to the US, pre-dated Timothy Leary as a pioneer of LSD research, and was at the forefront of myriad social activist causes, including work with Cesar Chavez. He spent decades trying to secure the release of Leonard Pelletier and bringing the plight of Native Americans to a wide audience.
Refusing to let himself be pigeonholed as a nature writer, he returned again and again to fiction, notably in Far Tortuga, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, and the NBA-winning Shadow Country. For someone who would become an ordained Zen priest, and practitioner of zazen (seated meditation), he always seemed to be contradictorily in motion: traveling the world on journalism assignments, for literary research, teaching and speaking engagements and participating in social activism demonstrations. Who else but Peter Matthiessen would turn down an invite to the “Party of the Century” (Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball) because he was too busy?
Journo Lance Richardson provides an unsparing and detailed account that doesn’t dodge Matthiessen’s involvement with the CIA, his three marriages and many affairs, relationships with his children, publishers, editors and agents, the lawsuits that plagued him after publishing In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, his mercurial moods and occasional naivete. A magisterial look at one of the towering figures of 20th century literature.
Adult Non-Fiction pr8018863
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Joyride more than lives up to its title in this look back at the evolution of a writer, from small alternative weeklies in Portland, through stories placed with Outside, Esquire, Vanity Fair and eventually as staff writer for The New Yorker.
Orlean’s work infamously wanders and takes long detours for digressions, but she presents her life chronologically to give us a real understanding of a career, and life, marked with indefatigable curiosity and wonder. Catnip for both fans of her work and those looking to chart a similar career path.
Adult Non-Fiction pr8032819
Birds of Maine by Michael DeForge
Originally appearing as a webcomic, DeForge gives us a deadpan absurd satire of a utopian colony on the moon, established by birds that have fled a human degraded earth. Any world where librarian and historian are the most honourable professions is one for me. Life as a hot pelican doesn’t seem bad either.
Graphic Novel pr6611518
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Bread of Angels by Patti Smith
The author of the National Book Award winning Just Kids takes us all the way back to her childhood, through her development as an artist through to the present day.
Smith’s childhood was one of frequent moves, near Dickensian levels of poverty and a blossoming imagination. Fans will enjoy reading about the years filled in here, not covered in her other writings, but this is also a great read for anyone that enjoys memoirs of interesting and unusual lives, particularly those of an artist. But this isn’t just the story of an artist, but that of a daughter, wife and mother.
Smith’s writing is so accessible that it’s easy to imagine her telling the story from your kitchen table or in a dank and cozy bar somewhere. This is a gift, from a 79 year old still writing with full command of her craft.
Adult Non-Fiction pr8096324
The Killing Stones by Ann Cleeves
Cleeves launches a new series with a familiar character, Detective Jimmy Perez, who has left Shetland for a new posting in the Orkney Islands.
Why he was hired is beyond me, given the trail of murders that invariably follow in his wake, no matter how windswept, bare and sparsely populated the location. This time, it’s the body of Jimmy’s friend Archie Stout, found in the wake of a violent storm, whose head has been bashed in with a rune covered Neolithic story stone.
Fresh series or not, there is nothing new here, but that’s a large part of the charm of Cleeves’ writing and her legion of fans are sure to be happy that Perez is back on the page.
Adult Fiction pr7958559