Purple Flat Top: In Search of a Place

This is a wonderful book. Perhaps the only reason for not giving it a perfect score is because it isn't quite as perfect as some of Jack Nisbet's other books. I expect that it might have been his first full-length book. Even so, the flow and feeling of this book is certainly Nisbet. Reviewers have praised "Purple Flat Top" as a nature book and a book about place. It is all of that, but more. It is foremost a book about people; as are all of Nisbet's books. The place is the area near Chewelah, a town on the Colville River in northeastern Washington State. The nature is the geology, plants, birds, weather, and all else that creates a place. The people are equally varied; miners, Native Americans, a fascinating old junk collector, teachers, falconers, and the rest that characterize a community. Jack Nisbet takes the individuals and makes each real and special. Junk collectors may seem common place; but this man is much more than that and the reader knows it from the moment Nisbet introduces him: "A lone man sat on a milk crate in front of the rubble, patiently whacking old mortar off a brick with a mason's trowel. As he rocked forward, his bald head shone like burnished leather." Dozens of writers have described the eruption of Mount St. Helens. "Purple Flat Top" gives the sound, look, feel, and taste of the ash cloud that moved eastward following the eruption. Each of these essays is equally a unique creation. Jack Nisbet is a superb writer; to read one of his books is to treat yourself to indulgence.

Alice Joyce's editorial review pretty much says it all. This is a very good book. The subtitle "In Puruit of a Place" is what this book is all about. This is a collection a short stories or accounts of places, people, and subjects of the Inland Northwest. Jack Nisbet shows great insight into the concept of "place" and conveys it well. Hate to make a comparison between authors, but Nisbet's narratives in this book are on a par with Ivan Doig's "place" narratives. Nisbet's writing style is different than Doig's, but the ability to describe the essence of a the sense of a place is also highly crafted and well-focused. This is a must read for this genre pertaining to the Pacific Northwest.