Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 2017)
Street Roots • July 7-13, 2017 Book Review Page 11 Two books set in the Pacific Northwest from the DIY shelf BY DOUGLAS SPANGLE recommended it then; I feel the same now, but twice as much. IY literature, though easy enough to Per Fagereng faced a similar problem, once his novel, Jack Moloney’s Century, was produce, is difficult to get to the written, and this author, with some public. Once it is written, someone must publish it. Corporate empire-building computer skills, used Amazon.com’s has brought us to the pass that about three CreateSpace to design and produce a book media conglomerates control not only (and list it on Amazon’s website in both production, but also distribution of books. hard copy and electronic forms.) Smaller presses only have the resources to Fagereng, a long-time Portland publish a few titles annually. If an author contrarian, labor specialist, radio host and lacks the connections to get a publisher, jack-of-all-trades, is a born storyteller who self-publishing is the only recourse. has written a very readable novel. It’s a bit In 1999, Portland writer Rick Rubin rough about the edges, but has narrative fulfilled a labor of love when he wrote and force and character depth to burn. If this published Naked Against the Rain, The had been written in the 50s or 60s, it would People of the Lower Columbia River, 1770- have been perfect fare for a second-tier 1830, an intriguing and thoroughly paperback house specializing in science researched history of the Native people who fiction. It’s a alternate/near-future story, and lived here before they were decimated by it bears certain resemblances to Walter M. disease and the settlers’ lust for land. He Miller’s under-appreciated classic A Canticle brought a unique perspective to the story, for Leibowitz. bringing anthropology and folklore to bear, In Fagereng’s tale, Jack Moloney, born unlike a conventional white-written about 1980, leaves his violence-ridden home chronicle. He published it in a small edition of Northern Ireland and signs up to work on under his own imprint. And there it stayed. a cruise liner, then jumps ship in New York. Rubin died a couple of years ago. He meets Barbara, a Long Island girl who is The book fell into the hands of Rene itching to leave her home and family, and Denfeld, another Portland writer, who had a they both set out, like a latter-day Lewis and connection with a medium-size press, Clark, on what turns out to be a multi- Pharos Editions, which specializes in high- generational continent-spanning trek. They quality reprints, and brought out a second, wind up first in rural Michigan, where they larger edition. Denfeld wrote a new start a homestead operation, farming, introduction, and so this readable and stilling, playing music, doing whatever valuable book has gotten a new life, with comes to hand. By this time, the country much better circulation than before. The has started to come apart at the seams: oil point is that if Rubin had not believed reserves have begun to run out, and enough in his sweetheart project to design technology drops a notch or two. They make and publish it in the first place, it wouldn’t do, utilizing alternative forms of energy. exist at all. Now the book has outlived its They band together with a few other hardy author. I reviewed the first publication and individuals: a recusant priest, a Guatemalan C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T D Naked Against the Rain, The People of the Lower Columbia River, 1770-1830, by Rick Rubin, Second Edition, Introduction by Rene Denfeld refugee, among others, for mutual defense. Many of them, including Jack, are undocumented. Finally, tired of long winters, bandits and corporatists who hunger for land they use for plantations worked by convicts and unemployed digit-pushers, this multi- generational expedition sets off west in a collection of makeshift vehicles. The disintegration of the United States has seriously set in. The former superhighways are ruins, haunted by former big city-dwellers and escaped inmates. The Midwest is in a state of chaos. A Mormon empire sprawls to the foot of the Rockies. A secessionist area that calls itself Aztlan occupies the former Southwest. Los Angeles is in open revolt against the United States and under siege by a loyalist San Diego. The actual United States is limited to a few areas on the East and West Coasts, and politicians are forced to make a long journey back to Washington D.C., which has largely reverted to swamp. A small collection of corrupt and feckless politicians swap terms in the White House. Jack’s band of refugees is hoping to get to Portland, where an old friend of his has settled. Portland, which in Fagereng’s world is esteemed as the best surviving place, comprises a network of Dignity Villages where brokerages and tech firms once rose, their former workforce mostly laboring as farmhands. Jack’s son Patrick saws and pries up chunks of the concrete airport runway to use for building. Good beer is still to be had, Powells Books is still in business. KBOO is still on the air. DIY wins in his DIY novel, which for all its rough edges charms the reader. Jack Moloney’s Century, by Per Fagereng D All Profits to Social Justice Cannabis with Benefits Panacea is a non-dividend, triple-bottom-line company. We commit 100% of profits to affordable housing and social justice. Everyone else is just sellin' weed. Recycle your cannabis money back to the community at Panacea. 6714 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, Oregon • 503-477-5083 www.panaceapdx.com • panacea_pdx Mon-Sat, 10-8, Sun 11-5
