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light fantastic and written
a rollicking novel with a
sprawling set of characters
— both human and ento-
mological. In fact, of all the
stars in “Magdalena Moun-
tain,” I found myself most
waiting for the continuing
story about our Erebia
magdalena. (Erebia is a
genus of 90 to 100 species
of “brush-footed butterflies,
family Nymphalidae, dark
brown or black in color.”)
We follow this Erebia
throughout his life —
through his transformation
to butterfly, to escape from a
swallow’s beak, to finding a
mate, to his nearly witness-
ing a crime, to his death
Continued from Page 9
“Letting the Flies Out”
(Fishtrap, 2011), followed
shortly by a full-length book
of poems, “Evolution of
the Genus Iris” (Lost Horse
Press, 2014). As Bob said
about two prominent poet
friends, Pattiann Rogers and
Alison Deming, “I listened
to them a lot and I read a lot
of poetry. I read and read.
And I began to realize, and
they told me, that my prose
was poetic. I found that I
had an ear for cadence.” I’d
say that’s an understatement.
A rollicking tale
Now Bob has tripped the
Crossword Answers
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on the scabby rocky slope
where his whole existence
has been spent.
Meanwhile, in alternating
chapters, is the story of the
human cast: James Mead,
a young Yale student of
ecology; professor George
Winchester and his me-
ga-roaches; Mary Granville,
a spiritual savant; Oberon,
the head of a monkish group
of Pantheistic environmen-
talists called the Grove;
Attalus, an angered and
misogynistic Grove ab-
errant; October Carson, a
peripatetic butterfly col-
lector and journal writer;
Bagdonitz, the leader of the
Flying Circus, a roving band
of biology students; and …
well, I don’t want to give
away the whole story.
When Bob manages to
bring them all together, in
the climactic final chapters,
to the question “What’s the
occasion?” Oberon says,
“Storm, lightning, attempted
murder, general mayhem
…”
So don’t expect a tidy
tucked-in tale with profound
interior monologues and a
subtle slow-moving plot.
This novel is a fast-paced
lighthearted frolic, equal
parts nature study, biological
inquiry, mystery of identities
and eco-feminist manifesto
lite, with dark corners pro-
viding tension.
Bob’s strength is his
stunning descriptions of the
natural world and his deep
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DAVID LEE MYERS PHOTO
Lepidopterist, scholar and Grays River author Robert ‘Bob’ Michael Pyle has just published his
first novel, ‘Magdalena Mountain.’
knowledge of the fauna and
flora.
Less convincing for me
were parts of the dialogue,
especially when the female
characters speak up. These
seem almost asides meant to
nudge the plot along, or fill
in some theoretical frame-
work, rather than discourse
emanating from character.
Shakespearean
Humor and wit bubble up
throughout, aided by the vast
range of Bob’s knowledge of
literature and biology. The
love scenes — this book has
everything! — are sensual
meanders often set in terms
that reflect nature.
The occasional unlike-
ly plot twists — well, we
forgive those because we
simply want to enjoy the
story as it races along from
Boston to Magdalena Moun-
tain to New Mexico and
back. Do we need the side
story of the loss of James’
sister and his guilty and
remorseful relationship to
his mother? Maybe better to
deepen James’ relationship
with Noni Blue, give her
more dimension and perhaps
a different name. (“Noni”
is the street name for a
knobby, sour fruit, a food of
last resort in the Hawaiian
islands.)
I place “Magdalena
Mountain” in the same file
as my favorite of Shake-
speare’s romances — “Cym-
beline” and “The Winter’s
Tale” — where a mash-up
of realism and whimsy
combine for surprises and
morbid twists that land on
their feet in the light of day.
In good Shakespearean
tradition, Bob gives us dis-
guise, lovers thrown asun-
der, lovers reunited, good
overpowering evil and the
kind of satisfying operatic
crescendo in which everyone
shows up onstage just before
the final curtain. I read the
book straight through in
two nights — couldn’t put it
down.
Bob has pulled yet an-
other genre — and another
funny, lovable, well-man-
nered, exquisitely detailed
pika — out of his hat. I
highly recommend this romp
through the natural world of
the Colorado Mountains, and
through the hearts and minds
of a colorful, diverse and inti-
mately connected kaleido-
scope of characters. CW