I bought this book because, leafing thru it, I was struck by the deep thoughtfulness of the beginning essays. "I write again in the manner of an earthdiver swimming in the soil to understand the roots and tendrils of trees." (p.3) And I've marked a number of passages in his essay on sitting Zazen. "We want to fully inhabit the world while we are here and not lose our lives to endless rehearsals and illusions." (p.9)
I am saddened that most of the posthumous selections were not of the same quality. There is a whole section about celebrities he has known, most of which felt like name-dropping. Yet, amidst his ramblings about Pablo Neruda he manages to relate "Our bifurcated and predatory culture crushes and strain the economically-nonviable language of earth from our lives. In contrast, Neruda..that there are no poetic subjects per se, and that we aren't romantic soloists on this sky island of earth." (p.58)
There is another large section of fishing excursions, some of which might appeal to fanatics, but again more name-dropping of the people he went fishing with. Others are like very descriptive travelogues without any real point other than to put the reader into the scene, tho in his essay on Peter Matthiessen who thoroughly researched habitat he mentions "Many of us don't see much on our travels because we don't know what we are looking at." (p.35) Too much of that time seems to have been spent drinking too much, but perhaps that is a consequence of the number of essays originally printed in male-oriented magazines. His tendency to slip a little advertising for his writing as a non-sequitur in articles also became irritating: e,g, "driving here along the MIssouri River is where I was inspired to write my book Dalva."
He was more thoughtful in the section on hunting & dogs. "As a sport, grouse hunting has often seemed ill advised to me in terms of the hours spent. But that is John Calvin creeping up again with all of his boring, utilitarian advice." (p.132) He slips in promotion for outdoorsmen taking care of the world around them, as it is too easily spoiled by users who don't root themselves in nature.
What a conundrum. Do I keep the book for the few good essays, or pass it on? Perhaps I should just look for a volume of his poetry. He manages to quote Richard Nelson's "Make Prayers to the Raven" which give me hope for his non-commercial writing. ( )

I had, before this collection of essays, not read much Jim Harrison. I had an image of him as a cruder Hemingway but this book changed that perception radically, and I now intend to work through his novels and explore his poetry. He's writing about more than "Yo-Ho" masculinity and he is often profound. ( )

I was hoping for more, really. Jim seemingly had only a few tales, and he wore them out here. On the other hand, over the course of the book it becomes familiar, like hanging around your loud, drunk uncles after the meal. And what a meal it must have been. ( )

A little over done on the fishing but that is who he was, a fisherman that wrote for a living. His last pieces were filled w reflections on life that emerged from his own past. As usual these were entertaining, heartening, and brought on my own thoughtfulness and reflections. Going to miss his writing. ( )