Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The author’s childhood friend David Kilmer would heroically pursue the quest of sex with women, but he was not fixated. The author quit looking at the photos of women in his father’s medical books, as they were only included if something had gone haywire. #2 My grandmother, Hulda, and grandfather, John, emigrated from Sweden to the United States in 1890. They met in Chicago and married, with modest savings, to buy a small farm in northern Michigan. #3 I can return at will to a summer dawn in an upstairs room where I was confined. I hear the screen door of the pump shed slam and see my grandfather heading to the barn with two pails of milk skimmed for the calves. #4 I remember my father and sister reading books in silence, or the smell of the aunts doing each other’s hair with Toni Home Permanents. The heaviness of the rye bread eaten with herring.

A New York Times Notable Book: A memoir of the writing life of Jim Harrison, from hardscrabble years to high-profile Hollywood friendships, “as engaging as it is eccentric” (The Washington Post Book World). In this “sprawling, impressionistic memoir”, which was selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Jim Harrison chronicles his coming-of-age, from a boy drunk with books to a young man making his way among fellow writers he deeply admires—including Peter Matthiessen, Robert Lowell, W.H. Auden, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, and Allen Ginsberg (The New York Times Book Review). Harrison discusses forthrightly the life-changing experience of becoming a father, and the minor cognitive dissonance that ensued when this boy from the heartland somehow ended up a highly paid Hollywood screenwriter. He gives free rein to his seven obsessions—alcohol, food, stripping, hunting and fishing (and the dogs who have accompanied him in both), religion, the road, and our place in the natural world—which he elucidates with earthy wisdom and an elegant sense of connectedness. Off to the Side is a work of great beauty and importance, a triumphant achievement that captures the writing life and brings all of us clues for living. A true masterpiece of memoir from an author whose “writing bears earthy whiffs of wild morels and morals and of booze and botany, as well as hints of William Faulkner, Louise Erdrich, Herman Melville, and Norman Maclean.” (San Francisco Chronicle) “This fine memoir is a worthy capstone to a fascinating career.” —Publishers Weekly

Get the Summary of Jim Harrison's The Search for the Genuine in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. "The Search for the Genuine" by Jim Harrison is a rich tapestry of personal reflections, anecdotes, and musings on nature, hunting, fishing, and the human condition. Harrison intertwines his experiences with broader philosophical considerations, emphasizing the importance of genuine connections to the natural world and the creatures within it. He recounts various hunting expeditions, detailing the camaraderie with fellow hunters, the role of hunting dogs, and the unpredictable nature of the sport...

Conversations with Jim Harrison, Revised and Updated offers a judicious selection of interviews spanning the writing career of Jim Harrison (1937–2016) from its beginnings in the 1960s to the last interview he gave weeks before his death in March 2016. Harrison labeled himself and lived as a “quadra-schizoid” writer. He worked in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and screenwriting, and he published more than forty books that attracted an international following. These interviews supply a lively narrative of his progress as a major contemporary American author. This collection showcases Harrison's pet peeves, his candor and humility, his sense of humor, and his patience. He does not shy from his authorial obsessions, especially his efforts to hone the novella, for which he is considered a contemporary master, or the frequency with which he defied polite narrative conventions and created memorable, resolute female characters. Each conversation attests to the depth and range of Harrison’s considerable intellectual and political preoccupations, his fierce social and ecological conscience, his aesthetic beliefs, and his stylistic orientations in poetry and prose.

Fresh perspectives and eye-opening discussions of contemporary American fiction In The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction: 1980-2020, a team of distinguished scholars delivers a focused and in-depth collection of essays on some of the most significant and influential authors and literary subjects of the last four decades. Cutting-edge entries from established and new voices discuss subjects as varied as multiculturalism, contemporary regionalisms, realism after poststructuralism, indigenous narratives, globalism, and big data in the context of American fiction from the last 40 years. The Encyclopedia provides an overview of American fiction at the turn of the millennium as well as a vision of what may come. It perfectly balances analysis, summary, and critique for an illuminating treatment of the subject matter. This collection also includes: An exciting mix of established and emerging contributors from around the world discussing central and cutting-edge topics in American fiction studies Focused, critical explorations of authors and subjects of critical importance to American fiction Topics that reflect the energies and tendencies of contemporary American fiction from the forty years between 1980 and 2020 The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction: 1980-2020 is a must-have resource for undergraduate and graduate students of American literature, English, creative writing, and fiction studies. It will also earn a place in the libraries of scholars seeking an authoritative array of contributions on both established and newer authors of contemporary fiction.

A former managing editor of the "Oregonian" who guided several Pulitzer Prize-winning narratives to publication shares guidelines for writers of nonfiction that encompass such topics as story theory, scene establishment, and preparing work for submission.

Jim Harrison, a literary maverick, is widely considered one of the great and iconic writers in contemporary American literature. This pioneering volume, an extensive and up-to-date illustrated guide to Harrison’s published works, is the first full-length catalog of a distinguished literary career spanning more than forty years. Longtime Harrison readers and collectors Gregg Orr and Beef Torrey have amassed a thorough list of the author’s wide-ranging work, annotated and arranged by genre to provide a full view of the breadth of Harrison’s accomplishment. This work contains more than sixteen hundred citations of writings by and about Harrison, including his fiction, poetry, essays, interviews, screenplays, criticism, and reviews; it also features photographs of his books, dust jackets, and broadsides. With a foreword by Harrison, penned especially for this seminal volume, and an introduction by writer and scholar Robert DeMott, this is the definitive bibliographical study of a major figure in late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century American letters.

As a member of a prominent Salt Lake City family and a direct descendant of Mormon pioneer Brigham Young, Brooke Williams was born into a carefully scripted life. He would study hard, be involved with his church and community, and follow in the footsteps of three previous generations to work in the family business. And that is what he did -- at least at first. Yet despite his outward signs of success, Williams was not satisfied. His deep love of the outdoors and insatiable desire to experience wild nature made living the life expected of him an ongoing struggle. He escaped at every opportunity into wildness, deliberately seeking risky ski routes, long, lonely runs, and other outdoor adventures, from the deserts of Mexico to the waters off Alaska. Realizing he was drowning emotionally and unable to bring his "halflives" together, he grew increasingly frustrated as the gap between his two worlds expanded. Halflives is the story of Brooke Williams' personal quest to balance the expectations of family and society with the needs and desires of his heart. He identifies a balance we all must strike between our cultural obligations and the strong pull toward wildness that our evolutionary heritage exerts on the human psyche. Book jacket.

In this surprisingly upbeat book about a usually downbeat subject, The Wall Street Journal’s veteran obituary writer, James R. Hagerty, shares his unique skills with those who want to have the last word by crafting their own stories in their own voices—with flourish, honesty, and even humor. Someday, your life story is likely to be boiled down to a few lines. If you leave things to chance, your obituary is almost sure to be solemn, formulaic, and full of errors—an obligatory final chapter written in haste by others. James R. Hagerty, longtime obit writer for The Wall Street Journal, knows how to get the job done right: Do it yourself, starting now, while you still can. In this heartfelt and reassuring guide, Hagerty explains how to preserve your personal history—from crafting a brief obituary for newspapers and websites, to a more thoughtful and detailed mini-memoir for those close to you. Through his personal stories, on-the-job anecdotes, and insights, you will learn what to include, what to leave out, and how to provide historical context, record oral histories and make the most of details, all with candor and wit. Best of all, you’ll find that reviewing your life story helps you think about what you’re doing with your time on Earth and whether you’re on the right path. It isn’t too late to improve the narrative with a stronger ending. Telling your story your way can be the best gift you ever give to friends and loved ones—and yourself.