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Clackamas Print
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Wednesday. Oct. 12, 2005 .
Renowned writer reads at LA
Jadon Triplett
I A&E Editor
On Oct. 4 the Literary
Arts Center hosted William
Kittredge, who read from his
e^say “Redneck Secrets” and
his forthcoming, yet-to-be-
titled novel. Kittredge managed
the impressive feat of not only
entertaining the English teach
ers, but not boring the general
audience.
Kittredge taught Creative
Writing at the University of
Montana for 29 years before
retiring in the spring of 1997.
He is the author of two collec
tions of essays, “Owning it All,”
and “Who Owns the West;”
two collections of short stories,
“The Van Gogh Fields and Other
Stories,” and “We are not in this
Together;” and a memoir, “Hole
in the Sky.”
Kittredge read first from
“Redneck Secrets,” .introduc
ing it as the first thing he ever
had published.
Throughout
his reading of the essay a pat
tern of romanticism related to
what he called “redneck coun
try” emerged as he spoke of
the ups and down of life in the
Midwest.
Themes emphasized in his
essay include individualism,
good people dealing with a hard
life, a wariness of the east, and
“redneck” as an empowering
word rather than a negative ste
reotype. “Redneck” was used
throughout the essay in such a
way that it came off more as a
pseudonym for “cowboy” than
anything else.
After closing “Redneck
Secrets” with a deeply anti-
industrialist/“progress” senti
ment, Kittredge read from his
forthcoming novel, a story of a
young cowboy during the Great
Depression. An adventure star
ring a naïve and instantly iden
tifiable central character, the
1930s setting had a genuine air
to it, transporting the listener
back in time, “Redneck Secrets”
was well written and enjoyable,
but the portion of thisunfinished
story that Kittredge read was the
real surprise of the reading.
After finishing the reading,
Kittredge engaged in a lively
question and answer session with
the crowd. Highlights included
his response to a question of
dealing with writer’s block (“Just
sit down and be foolish. Play.”),
on the exclusivity of the writing
business (“I think it’s more of
a used car business.”), and on
Americans’ cultural xenophobia
(“We’re still a colony.”).
Kittredge tentatively expects
the forthcoming novel to be
complete in October 2006.
Jadon Triplett Clacland
Kittredge read a selection of his essay “Redneck Secrets
the Literary Arts Center (Roger Rook Hall 220) on Octobl
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