Having Everything Right

Kim Stafford's Having Everything Right is a beautiful nature book, full of quiet observation and fine, original description. I could have been satisfied with that, but the pleasing bonus is Stafford's openness, both to himself and to the reader, about his reactions, "random" associations, memories and plans evoked by what he sees and hears. Whether poetic, quirky, amusing, really unique or just nuts, he puts his thoughts out there in a way that opens the reader to him and his subject. The transparency of the observation increases the transparency of the subject. A book to read over and over.

Kim Stafford is a natural storyteller. By that I mean he has an inherent gift for telling stories, and he pays attention to nature. In HAVING EVERYTHING RIGHT, the author takes a moment to look around him, at a place you or I might notice and walk past, or not notice at all. What he discovers he relates with skill. His essays resonate with interest, care, humor and sometimes even awe. In some ways it is a quiet book, but offers surprises and delight. Surely you will come away with an appreciation of how stories are not just published in books or magazines, but are part of who we are, and where we are.