…Evison introduces a town's worth of daring folk who dream and plot and clash as they carve lives in the "uncharted interior of the Olympic Peninsula." Surrounded by Shaker Indians, feminist Utopians, prophetic children, intrepid explorers, violent barkeepers, gold-hearted prostitutes and visionary dam builders, Evison puts his vertiginous camera on a tripod and gives it a good, swift spin. Hold on tight because soon these short chapters are jumping back and forth to 2006 to follow the modern-day descendants of those original settlers—with a Bigfoot cameo to boot! The result is fun, if dizzying…God help me for saying this, but I could have used twice as many pages to give all these stories room to breathe. And Evison is such an endearing, unpretentiously entertaining writer that I would have stayed up late to read every one.
—The Washington Post
West of Here
Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini
Jonathan EvisonUnabridged — 16 hours, 33 minutes
West of Here
Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini
Jonathan EvisonUnabridged — 16 hours, 33 minutes
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Overview
From the rugged mudflats of the Northwestern frontier to a rusting strip mall, West of Here is a conversation between two epochs. In his eagerly awaited second novel, Jonathan Evison tells the stories of the people who first inhabited the mythical town of Port Bonita in Washington State from 1887-1891. Moving ahead more than a century to 2005-06, he introduces those who live there now and must deal with the damage done by their predecessors.
The characters are drawn with compassion and truth, the themes are grand and sweeping: regeneration, the trappings of history, the elusive nature of perception, who makes footprints and who follows them. Evison writes with heart and verve, capturing evocative details and unforgettable scenes.
Editorial Reviews
Evison's capacious novel toggles between glorious past and constrained present, the idealism of the settlers of the American West and their hapless descendants. Port Bonita fails to live up to the imagined splendor of the Western pioneers, becoming, instead, the place where the American Dream goes to die—or, at the very least, to convalesce. Edoardo Ballerini is well-equipped to handle the blended tones of Evison's story, bouncing between hushed intimacy and a fierce growl. He steps delicately through the gruff talk of Port Bonita's inhabitants, pulling back into a poetic reverie for Evison's descriptions of the landscape and surroundings, reminding the listener that even in this world-weary city, something of America's magnificence remains. An Algonquin hardcover. (Feb.)
A century after the late–19th-century settlers of Olympic Peninsula to the west of Seattle set out to build a dam, their descendants want to demolish it to bring back fish runs, providing one of the many plots in this satisfyingly meaty work from Evison (All About Lulu). The scenes of the early settlers track an expedition into the Olympic wilderness and the evolving relations between settlers and the Klallam tribe, provide insights into early feminism, and outline an entrepreneur's dream to build the all-important dam. By comparison, the contemporary stories are chock-full of modern woe and malaise, including a Bigfoot watcher and seafood plant worker who wishes to relive his glory days as a high school basketball star; an ex-convict who sets out into the wilderness to live off the land; and an environmental scientist who is hit with an unexpected development. Evison does a terrific job at creating a sense of place as he skips back and forth across the century, cutting between short chapters to sustain a propulsive momentum while juggling a sprawling network of plots and a massive cast of characters real enough to walk off the page. A big novel about the discovery and rediscovery of nature, starting over, and the sometimes piercing reverberations of history, this is a damn fine book. (Feb.)
A "booming, bighearted epic." —Vanity Fair
—Booklist
"A big novel about the discovery and rediscovery of nature, starting over, and the sometimes piercing reverberations of history, this is a damn fine book." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Evison switches easily between 19th-century vernacular and contemporary lingo, and the tenderly funny result is both pioneer story and social commentary. You'll want to reread it to catch cross-references between the parallel stories." —American Way
"Evison, author of this audacious historical novel, manages a near-impossible feat: first, he creates an almost absurdly complex narrative structure, bridging more than 100 years of life in Washington State and encompassing multiple points of view, and then he grounds the sublime architechtonic whole in the vividly realized daily lives of characters who exist completely in their individual moments but whose actions reverberate back and forth across time . . . [This] is a testament to the books' greatness." —Booklist, starred review
“An enjoyable, meaty read—a vision of a place told through the people who find themselves at the edge of America’s idea of itself.” —Los Angeles Times
“[A] booming, bighearted epic.” —Vanity Fair
“Riotously funny . . . Wonderfully charming.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Riotously funny . . . Wonderfully charming.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“[A] big, booming ruckus of a novel . . . Evison [is] a tremendously gifted storyteller.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Evison gives us a jaunty, rain-slicked quest story . . . Its ending is clever and satisfying, and its arrival could signal the breakout of a promising career.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer
A "booming, bighearted epic." --Vanity Fair
A "booming, bighearted epic." --Vanity Fair
“His narrative maintains a realistic style that feels honest and genuine. . . . Evison’s language is clear and easy to read, and he provides stunningly beautiful descriptions of the Pacific Northwest . . . The comprehensive detail of Evison’s descriptions of nature reveals his deep knowledge of the beauty and potential danger of the region.”
—The Harvard Crimson
“A jaunty, rain-slicked quest story, fat and close to the earth as a smoky cedar log. . . . [West of Here’s] ending is clever and satisfying, and its arrival could signal the breakout of a promising career.”
—The Plain Dealer
“West of Here is a sprawling tragicomic novel about identity—national and personal—that’s as entertaining as it is insightful into the human need to make a mark on the landscape. . . . What makes it big and unforgettable is Evison’s wide-raging imagination and gifted storytelling.”
—Miami Herald
“Evison, a tremendously gifted storyteller, has staked claim to a wondrous frontier he can proudly call his own.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Evison’s odd genius is to structure his novel geographically, its jagged edges and swirling storylines a mirror of the toothy mountains and uneven estuaries of its setting. . . . The story, like the river, keeps flowing, its author showing us that there are some frontiers humans can never fully tame.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Satisfyingly meaty work. . . . A big novel about the discovery and rediscovery of nature, starting over, and the sometimes piercing reverberations of history, this is a damn fine book.”
—Publishers Weekly [starred review]
“Well-plotted, literate novel of the 19th-century settling of a corner of the West and the still-resounding echoes of decisions made long ago.”
—Kirkus Reviews [starred review]
“Evison, author of this audacious historical novel, manages a near-impossible feat: first, he creates an almost absurdly complex narrative structure, bridging more than 100 years of life in Washington State and encompassing multiple points of view, and then he grounds the sublime architechtonic whole in the vividly realized daily lives of characters who exist completely in their individual moments but whose actions reverberate back and forth across time.”
—Booklist [starred review]
“[A] booming, bighearted epic.”
—Vanity Fair
“Deserves national acclaim.”
—Library Journal [starred review]
"Evison switches easily between 19th-century vernacular and contemporary lingo, and the tenderly funny result is both pioneer story and social commentary. You'll want to reread it to catch cross-references between the parallel stories." —American Way
One can only imagine that Ballerini put every ounce of his experience to good use in his narration of this epic, an almost all encompassing tale peopled with a variety of characters from different time periods. . . . He certainly rose to the challenge and gives us a highly listenable reading.”
—Gail Cooke, Beauty by the Books
[A] booming, bighearted epic.”
—Vanity Fair
Evison's debut novel, All About Lulu (2009), won a Washington State Book Award. The theme of this superb second novel is that people can try to reinvent themselves, but, whether or not they know it, they'd only be repeating history. The 19th-century characters in this beautifully complex tale set in a mythical Washington State town include a feminist conflicted by the demands of motherhood and her desire for a meaningful career, the proprietor of the local bawdy house, and the Klallam Indians. They are paralleled over a century later by other characters including an ex-con wanting to re-create himself in the wilderness, a parole officer seeking to save the ex-con from himself, and an environmentalist whose impending motherhood changes her attitude toward life. Actor Edoardo Ballerini's (www.edoardoballerini.com) narration is masterly—he clearly defines each character, and his ethnic accents are distinctive but not exaggerated. An excellent choice for all libraries; expect book club demand. [See Major Audio Releases, LJ 1/11; the Algonquin hc also received a starred review, LJ 10/1/10.—Ed.]—Nann Blaine Hilyard, Zion-Benton P.L., IL
Evison (All About Lulu) deserves national acclaim for his latest novel, which is set in the fictional town of Port Bonita on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Chapters that alternate between the 1890s and the present result in a Northwest historical novel with modern counterpoints, like Sometimes a Great Notion meets Citizen Vince. At its beginning, Port Bonita was a town of hope and industry. James Mather sets out to explore the rugged interior of the Elwha River valley; Ethan Thornburgh envisions a mighty dam powering a bustling city; his estranged lover, Eva Lambert, prefers a more utopian vision of a commonwealth colony. Flash forward a century, and Port Bonita's residents have less lofty goals: "Krig" Krigstadt thirsts for a steady supply of Kilt Lifter ale; ex-con Timmon Tillman wants to be left the hell alone; his parole officer, Franklin Bell, just wants a woman to date. VERDICT Fans of Jess Walter and Jim Lynch will be thrilled to find another author whose love for the Pacific Northwest and its people shines through with humor and clarity. [Ten-city tour; this title was a pick at BEA and ALA "Editors Buzz" panels.—Ed.]—Christine Perkins, Bellingham P.L., WA
In Jonathan Evison’s tale of exploration, journeys, and hope lies a challenging narration. Edoardo Ballerini must conquer dozens of voices as he portrays an eclectic mix of characters. He carefully crafts identities while shifting from pioneers in the Northwest more than 100 years ago to the area’s current residents. Quiet, deliberate Native American men and women, a gravelly voiced explorer, and a strong-willed feminist all from earlier times come to life. As the story leaps 100 years into the future, listeners hear a gregarious African-American parole officer, an intense former basketball star who is trying to find himself, and assorted townies. The multitude of characters intertwined in parallel stories that are connected by a pioneering spirit and a creative narration. M.B. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
Well-plotted, literate novel of the 19th-century settling of a corner of the West and the still-resounding echoes of decisions made long ago.
The Olympic Peninsula, west of Seattle, Wash., was little known even to Native American people until very recent times, thanks to its "chaos of snow-clad ranges colliding at odd angles, a bulwark of spiny ridges defending a hulking central range like the jaws of a trap." Those imposing mountains long defied exploration and exploitation, but in time, as sophomore novelist Evison (All About Lulu, 2008) explains, they drew a particular kind of person who just wouldn't go away, seeing in them the promise of endless wealth. So it is with James Mather, an "Arctic explorer, Indian fighter, and rugged individual" who arrives in the soggy outpost of Port Bonita with orders from the governor to bring the place under the aegis of civilization. Ethan Thornburgh, young and dissolute, has a somewhat different vision: He aims to turn the mountains into money, the better to make the place his own domain. The communitarians ("Weren't they socialists or something?"asks a latter-day resident of the place, none too well versed in history), squatters and Indians who live nearby have different visions still. Much of Evison's story—which, naturally, involves a headstrong pioneer woman—is conventional, though, borrowing a page from Ivan Doig's Winter Brothers(1980),it makes room for closely observed notes on American Indian life as seen through the lens of a couple of key players. What brings the story to life, though, is Evison's juxtaposition of a century past with a much different present, in which the derring-do of our forebears is seen as so much criminality, and the things that they built—particularly dams—as so many insults to the land that require undoing and atonement.
Evison moves his narrative backward and forward through time, taking a leisurely approach to telling a story that is seldom dramatic, but that Westerners will recognize as their own.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940171677008 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HighBridge Company |
| Publication date: | 02/11/2011 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
West of Here
A NOVELBy Jonathan Evison
ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL
Copyright © 2011 Jonathan EvisonAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-56512-952-8
Chapter One
footprintsSEPTEMBER 2006
Just as the keynote address was winding down, the rain came hissing up the little valley in sheets. Crepe paper streamers began bleeding red and blue streaks down the front of the dirty white stage, and the canopy began to sag beneath the weight of standing water, draining a cold rivulet down the tuba player's back. When the rain started coming sideways in great gusts, the band furiously began packing their gear. In the audience, corn dogs turned to mush and cotton candy wilted. The crowd quickly scattered, and within minutes the exodus was all but complete. Hundreds of Port Bonitans funneled through the exits toward their cars, leaving behind a vast muddy clearing riddled with sullied napkins and paperboard boats.
Krig stood his ground near center stage, his mesh Raiders jersey plastered to his hairy stomach, as the valediction sounded its final stirring note.
"There is a future," Jared Thornburgh said from the podium. "And it begins right now."
"Hell yes!" Krig shouted, pumping a fist in the air. "Tell it like it is, J-man!" But when he looked around for a reaction, he discovered he was alone. J-man had already vacated the stage and was running for cover.
Knowing that the parking lot would be gridlock, Krig cut a squelchy path across the clearing toward the near edge of the chasm, where a rusting chain-link fence ran high above the sluice gate. Hooking his fingers through the fence, he watched the white water roar through the open jaws of the dam into the canyon a hundred feet below, where even now a beleaguered run of fall chinook sprung from the shallows only to beat their silver heads against the concrete time and again. As a kid he had thought it was funny.
The surface of Lake Thornburgh churned and tossed on the upriver side, slapping at the concrete breakwater. The face of the dam, hulking and gray, teeming with ancient moss below the spillway, was impervious to these conditions. Its monstrous twin turbines knew nothing of their fate as they hummed up through the earth, vibrating in Krig's bones.
Standing there at the edge of the canyon with the wet wind stinging his face, Krig felt the urge to leave part of himself behind, just like the speech said. Grimacing under the strain, he began working the ring back and forth over his fat knuckle for the first time in twenty-two years. It was just a ring. There were eleven more just like it. Hell, even Tobin had one, and he rode the pine most of that season. Krig knew J-man was talking about something bigger. J-man was talking about rewriting history. But you had to start somewhere. When at last Krig managed to work the ring over his knuckle, he held it in his palm and gave pause.
"Well," he said, addressing the ring. "Here goes nothin', I guess."
And rearing back, he let it fly into a stiff headwind, and watched it plummet into the abyss until he lost sight of it. He lingered at the edge of the gorge for a long moment and let the rain wash over him, until his clinging jersey grew heavy. Retracing his own steps across the muddy clearing toward the parking slab, Krig discovered that already the rain was washing away his footprints.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from West of Here by Jonathan Evison Copyright © 2011 by Jonathan Evison. Excerpted by permission of ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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