Author Study #1 Plus some other stuff

In a library check out spree long long ago, I set out to read several books by the same authors. I had it on high authority that Timothy Egan is a great historian and worth my time, with at least two of his books being must reads. So I found those two plus his debut novel. At the same time, I found two books by Geraldine Brooks, whose newest novel I really enjoyed, but her fan fiction of the March family in Little Women left me utterly bored. 

I wondered, as I looked at my armloads of library books (which are now severely overdue, sorry NCRL), how would these authors stack up against, not each other, but themselves? What made me love The Secret Chord but hate March? Would I like Egan's nonfiction as much as fiction, since it's by the same guy, even though fiction is my first love? In other words, it was time for the ultimate literature teacher geek out: an author study.

I can now tell you, like with most things in my life right, my intentions were purer than the result. I am less than half way done, and I've detoured in the middle. 

First, the Egan. I read The Winemaker's Daughter  what now seems like eons ago. It's his debut novel after writing prize winning journalism. I love that it's set, like most of his work, in the Pacific Northwest. I could picture each bend in the road as the main character, a thirty something single woman with a vague career as an architectural consultant, travels back and forth between Seattle and her family's vineyard in north central Washington (ie Chelan). She also travels to Italy and Montana, which presents the stretch of my imagination I crave as well. I found the plot to be a little meandering; though there are several climactic moments, deaths even, they get lost in the well researched but overly detailed prose about the geographies of both regions and the concepts of wine making, sociological preservation, forestry and wildfires, salmon fishing, and of course, familial obligation. It's a rich and nuanced book, though it took me too long to finish because I wasn't enthralled. I was interested to see how it compared to Egan's nonfiction.

I started with The Big Burn, even though The Worst Hard

Time was higher recommended, because it also happens to be the Columbia River Reads book for this spring. It feels kind of fancy to be reading the same book as all the smart people at the library. Last time I read one of these, it was The Boys in the Boat and I felt pretty smart for reading it. I don't know why. I've heard that some people don't like reading on e-readers because others can't see what smart books they're reading. I would be that person, if I liked e-readers. However, I was not smart enough to enjoy this book. It was a slog. Egan used the same level of detail and intricacy to paint an elaborate picture of the lead up and fall out from a huge wildfire that burned parts of three states in 1910. About a third of the way through, I was still learning about Teddy Roosevelt's favorite sports, as a set up to his development of the National Forest Service, and therefore fire fighting, and so on. The part about the actual fire was more interesting to me, probably because it was more narrative, but still overly explained. I felt relieved at the end, though confused to not hear more about how this fire affected fire fighting policy today. I thought that's why Wenatchee was so interested in this particular story. 

As far as author study, I found that the parts I enjoyed least about Egan's fiction carried over into his non-fiction. He is a master of research and brings so many elements into his story, but I think it's too much for me, a character-driven reader. I still plan to read The Worst Hard Time but I needed an Egan break. I was watching too much TV because I was unmotivated to read. 

Thinking that I'd start with the Brooks, I was instead derailed by a recommendation by my nephew. There is just something exciting about reading the same books as the younger generation in my family. Whenever they want to share a book with me, I am eager to find out what they see in it and get to know them a little better through it. So instead of Brooks, I read the young adult book This is Where it Ends. I actual read with some nervousness because this is exactly not my type of book. Children die. It's about a school shooting, told from the point of view of four main characters and several social media accounts. In that way, and in the problems and personalities of the characters, it is clearly directed at a modern generation of young adults. The kids struggle with weighty things like abuse, sexuality, and family health problems, as well as with the more expected problems like grades, crushes, and college decisions. This layering of issues is very real for our kids and books like this make me long to be a support for the kids in my life. It's also obvious how this book appeals to the young adults reading it. One line at the end has a character wondering if we can every really know another person, even in a crisis situation like a shooting. I think it's at the heart of the issue, in the book and in kids--the need to be known. 

So I read Egan's books in over a month and Nijkamp in just a few days. We'll see how long it takes me with the two Brooks novels I want to read before I post again. Meanwhile, maybe I'll have some more of my own novel to share. And if you didn't catch the last post, the second excerpt of my manuscript, scroll on down.