21 Nov Books: Reading the West

Matt Pavelich has done something wondrous in The Harrows: A Novel of the American Century (Bar R Books, $24.95). This five-generation story of the Harrow family rolls off the pages with such liquid grace and poetic clarity that one feels a new Montana classic has just been penned, one fitting a list shared by A.B. Guthrie Jr.’s The Big Sky, Debra Magpie Earling’s Perma Red, and Ivan Doig’s This House of Sky.

From Charlie and Dove, who begin the family farm on Square Butte Bench on the eastern high plains of Montana in the early 1900s, to young Elizabeth, who returns to the homestead in the present day, the multifaceted characters drive this story of love, loss, struggle, and survival through decades of the changing American West. Their individual tales take the reader from their Montana farm to Great Falls and Helena; Minnesota; Europe; Morocco; Japan; Hollywood, California; Portland, Oregon; and all the way back. Their personal lives unfold with the kaleidoscopic backdrops of both World Wars, the Great Depression, Vietnam, racial strife, and the COVID pandemic — building an epic story that gives truth to this novel’s subtitle.

By reading this book, one really is treated to a vivid experience of “the American century,” with all its changes, sorrows, aspirations, and failures — but also, its joys and redemptions.

However, the sheer immensity of this book never takes away from its closeness. The generations of Harrows all feel like people we know, people we are. Their intertwined lives become laced with our own, as if these are our parents and grandparents, our brothers and sisters, our children. Pavelich creates a world that easily becomes our world, and we are all the richer for it.

Of Note

A History of Montana in 101 Places: Sites and Stories from the Montana Historical Society (Montana Historical Society Press, $29.95) by Ellen Baumler, Christine Brown, Martha Kohl, and Kirby Lambert reveals the fascinating tales behind Montana’s landmarks, natural formations, storied buildings, and significant sites. Vividly photographed by Tom Ferris, the entries include a broad spectrum of achievements, struggles, and changes wrought by Indigenous, early-immigrant, and modern Montanans. The book is a perfect complement to the Historical Society’s 2020 book, A History of Montana in 101 Objects. Together, they bring the state’s past vibrantly and compellingly into the present.

A too-often ignored reality of Western history is revealed in Jim Wilke’s Frontier Comrades: From the Fur Trade to the Ford Car (University of Nebraska Press, $27.95). Narratives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals from the 1800s to the 1920s illustrate the existence, and quite often acceptance, of sexual preferences and lifestyles beyond the typical assumptions of history books and popular culture alike. Wilke provides a rich and fully realized historical background and context for each of the book’s stories, showing how the people highlighted were an integral part of the fabric of the West rather than anomalies or outliers. In a time when the LGBTQ+ community is often under attack in our country, this book is an important reminder that this community isn’t new — they’ve always been a part of our shared story.

Success stories and frank warnings are highlighted in Saving the Big Sky: A Chronicle of Land Conservation in Montana (Oregon State University Press, $50) by Bruce A. Bugbee, Robert J. Kiesling, and John B. Wright. Packed with inspiring photography by Kevin League and informative maps by Kevin McManigal and Hannah Shafer, this fascinating book includes contributions from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Apsáalooke educator and historian Shane Doyle, scientist and emeritus professor of ecology Steve Running, and journalist Todd Wilkinson. Chapters on land stewardship, Native voices, ranching, homesteading, land subdivision, and conservation — as well as each geographical region of the state — provide a full and detailed examination of environmental conservation in Montana. This beautiful and illuminating volume is a worthy addition to the literature of natural history in the West.

Russell Rowland offers a stark and vulnerable look at the perils of Western masculinity in his new memoir, Be a Man: Raised in the Shadow of Cowboys (56 Counties Press, $23.95). By exploring his family history, childhood memories, struggles with alcohol, insecurity, and violence — as well as his pathways of recovery — Rowland provides a framework for understanding how the perceived stoicism and toughness of the men of the West often leads to depression, abuse, and high rates of suicide. He expands this picture by looking at the history, literature, and films of supposed cowboy culture, also giving hopeful examples 
of people in his life who break that mold, finding that empathy and emotional openness lead to a healthier way of living. The book is sometimes painful, sometimes downright sad, but always insightful and, ultimately, healing. The men raised on John Wayne movies and a never-back-down ethic would benefit greatly from this book, as would the people who struggle to be in the lives of such men.

Ree Rozier spins a delightful story of brotherhood and family in Like a Brother (Cash Creek Farm Publishing, $12). This middle-grade novel gives a nuanced and caring look at children in the foster-care system, their struggles with loneliness and fitting in, and the families they hope to find. The characters will steal your heart, the plot is full of adventure, and the writing is a joy to read. This is a perfect book for 
middle-graders and beyond who are needing to feel that family, friendship, and overcoming the obstacles of life are all within their reach.

Marc Beaudin is a poet, theater artist, and bookseller based in Livingston, Montana. He is the author of These Creatures of a Day, Life List: Poems, and Vagabond Song: Neo-Haibun from the Peregrine Journals, and his work is widely anthologized in publications dedicated to environmental and social justice.