Bone Deep in Landscape, Volume 5: Writing, Reading, and Place

This is a phenomenal book written by a phenomenal author. Her writing is mesmerizing, especially for those who've lived in similar places and experienced the grandeur and the hardships that one experiences living in the Northwest. I was offered an opportunity at a fellowship studying Western literature under Mary Clearman Blew's tutelage a couple of summers ago. I found her insight into Western literature as a whole, man's connection to the landscape, and living in the "Real West" fascinating. She is a true storyteller and a voice for those of us who see ourselves intrinsically linked to this place we call home. On a side note: My favorite Blew short story is "The Sow in the River," which can be found in the book _A Circle of Women_. Excellent reading!

I read Mary Clearman Blew's collection of essays over the last weekend and found it to be wonderfully descriptive of the western experience both historically and in current times! It especially describes the experience of rural western women well: their strengths and the challenges they have faced. As a social worker I found her final essay about the experience of a single mother as foster parent balancing the demands of author, educator, mother, grandmother and foster parent to be beautifully written. Ms. Clearman Blew's sense of space and the elements is moving. The reader feels she is there with the author in each of the essays.