Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2015)
GRAB BAG book shelf • glimpse • wildlife • pop culture • words • q&a • food • fun BOOKSHELF By RYAN HUME Just finished “Our Love Will Go the Way of the Salmon” by Cameron Pierce Broken River Books, 2015 Plot Notes: Through 15 stories, we fish across the west and east: from Bakersfield, California, to the Columbia River Bar and far beyond. In the title story, a down-on-his-luck 40-something takes his disabled grandmother to his childhood fish- ing hole. We meet a wounded G.I. who finds more than just healing when a Vietnamese catfish farm- er takes him in during the war. We watch as a bass fisherman’s wife unzips her human skin to reveal that she is in fact a human-sized bass. And we see, more than once, a really creepy fish-human hybrid that just needs your help. Take Away: Early editions of Richard Brautigan’s seminally zany “Trout Fishing in America” came with this missive on the back cover, attributed to The Viking Press: “Mr. Brautigan submitted a book to us in 1962 called TROUT FISHING IN AMER- ICA. I gather from the reports that it was not about trout fishing.” Well, Mr. Pierce’s new collection is about fishing, but be forewarned: These are not your dad’s fishing stories unless maybe your dad is Japanese fabulist Haruki Murakami. Pierce, who comes from the bizarro brand of fiction, knows his fishing, and certainly has no trouble wielding the weird in this collection. When it works best, and it often does, in stories like “Sway,” “Short of Lundy” and “The Incoming Tide,” the weird disarms characters and story structure, warping events into raw emotion. When the weird remains too situational, it tends to fall a little flat. Recommended For: Psychedel- ic fishermen, mollusk hunters, fans of Ron Carlson and Richard Brauti- gan, brawlers, trawlers and lovers . Bonus: Pierce, who lives with his wife in Astoria, is author of 10 other works of fiction as well as editor of three anthologies, includ- ing “In Heaven, Everything is Fine,” which features numerous cult fiction writers — including Thomas Ligot- ti, Kevin Sampsell and Blake Butler — riffing off the cinematic world of David Lynch. Worth the price of ad- mission alone for Amelia Gray’s won- derful story, “These Are The Fables.” Other books “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr Scribner, 2014 “Evolution of the Genus Iris: Poems” by Robert Michael Pyle University of Washing- ton Press, 2014 NW word nerd By RYAN HUME 'RXJODV¿U >GԥJOԥVIܬU@ Recommended by: Brenda Osborn of Godfather’s Books and Espresso in Astoria Local poetry: Pyle is a Yale-ed- ucated ecologist, poet and the au- thor of 14 books, who has made his home in southwest Washington for a number of years. Part of what drew Osborn’s endorsement is Pyle’s ability to distill our local landscape through the specificity of his scien- tific background. Recommend for: “Nature lov- ers,” Osborn said. “Or anyone with a deep appreciation of the Northwest.” noun 1. Pseudotsuga menziesii: Of a genus including six species reaching as far as eastern Asia, this tall, slender evergreen co- nifer is the only one native to western North America. One of the most popular commercial timber resources, an individual tree can reach the average age of 500 years. While not a true fi r tree, which is signifi ed by the hyphenation in its common name, it has also been called the Oregon pine, the Douglas spruce, the Washington fi r and more. Origin: The common name came about in the mid-19th century and is attributed to the Scot- tish botanist David Douglas, who wrote about the trees in his journal in 1825. The Latin genus, Pseudotsuga, literally means “false hemlock,” while the epithet, menziesii, honors Archibald Menzies, another Scotsman, surgeon and rival botanist to Douglas, who fi rst recorded the species in 1791 while on Vancouver Island during an expedition with Capt. Vancouver. “The legislative session, 1938–39, adopted a resolution making the Douglas fi r the state tree of Oregon. This is the eighth state to adopt an offi cial tree. The Douglas fi r was named for David Douglas, the Scotch botanist who came to Oregon fi rst in 1825. He describes the tree in his Journal April 28, 1825, the day he crossed the bar of the Columbia River.” — Nellie B. Pipes, “News and Comment,” Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 2, June 1939, p. 208 “David Douglas (1798–1834) is one of the best known nineteenth century botanical explor- ers of the American West. His exploits have been told in a myriad of books, articles, and television programs. His death in a bull pit on the Hawaiian Islands has long been regarded as a tragedy. In the Pacifi c states, his name lives. Rivers, counties, and an array of fl owering plants and animals carry his name, and the West’s single most im- portant lumber tree, Douglas-fi r, is a constant reminder that he was a part of our past.” — James L. Reveal, “Points of View: On the Mod- ern Death of David Douglas,” Madroño, Vol. 36, No. 2, April-June 1989, p. 137 Astoria’s Premier Bed & Bath Store 1004 Commercial St., Astoria, OR 97103 503-325-4400 FIN E L IN E N S A N D SO M U C H M O R E ! G IFT R E G IST R IE S w w w .in th ebou doirs.com es u l B r e t n Wi e h t t a e B visit M r.Doobees Recommended by: Maureen Dooley-Sroufe of Cannon Beach Book Company in Cannon Beach Inventive and beautiful: This National Book Award-nominated World War II-set novel was a staff and customer favorite. “This was probably our favorite novel of the year,” Dool- ey-Sroufe said. Doerr, who often visits Cannon Beach in the summer, crafted a “gorgeously written” novel sure to hook any serious reader. your cannibus headquarters -w here the fun begins! O nly prem iu m sm a ll ba tch specia l reserve ca nna bis from W a shington’s finest bou tiqu e grow er s. O n H w y 101 betw een Raym o n d & So u th Ben d m rd o o b ees@ g m a il.co m 2870 O cean Ave Raym o n d W A 98577 360-875-8016 Find us on O PEN D AILY 11AM -7 PM This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. There may be health risks as sociated with consumption of this product. For use only by adults twenty-one and older. Keep out of reach of children. February 5, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 19
