The Books of the States: Oregon (7 electoral votes)
More than once I have made the six-hour round trip from Seattle to Portland just so I can spend a few hours in the middle wandering through the best bookstore in the country, Powell's, so there may be no state in the union that means "books" more to me than Oregon. But I'm not sure I've ever bought an "Oregon" book there, however you might define that. But independent book culture is strong there: Portland's also the headquarters for Dark Horse and Top Shelf comics and the Tin House and Glimmer Train literary magazines. And lately the state is likely best known for its fantasy and SF writers and for the in-your-face fiction most famously represented by Chuck Palahniuk, but if you can find a connecting thread in the seven books I'm nominating below, however, please let me know:
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin: One of the great living American writers has called Portland home since the '50s. Left Hand, like most of her SF, is set far, far from anything resembling Oregon, but two decades after I read it I still vividly remember its unsettlingly tender vision of an alien culture. Another option: The Lathe of Heaven, her 1971 classic, which apparently is set a little closer to home, in a Philip K. Dickian version of Portland.
- Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey: The book most often cited as the Great Oregon Novel--perhaps because it's about loggers--although it's been overshadowed by the most famous book tour in history, and, of course, by Kesey's first novel, which could do quite well here too.
- Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary: Cleary first introduced her Klickitat Street stories (based on her own northeast Portland neighborhood) with Henry Huggins in 1950, but her most beloved character, the brilliantly annoying little sister of Henry's pal Beezus, came into her own a few books later.
- The Brothers K by David James Duncan: I haven't been able yet to catch up with this capacious 1992 epic, but that's not from lack of advocating on the part of two of my best-read colleagues here, for whom it's an all-time favorite.
- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn: Another cult classic, which broke out to become one of the surprise paperback hits of the '90s.
- Hole in the Sky by William Kittredge: A multigenerational memoir of cattle ranching and self-destruction in the Great Basin of eastern Oregon.
- Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk: Palahniuk's uninhibited underdog venom represents a side of Portland (of which Jim "The Redneck Manifesto" Goad is the most extreme publishable example) that's been overshadowed by the hippies and the Nike execs in recent decades, but is still central to the city.
More I'd love to find room for: Portland comics artist Craig Thompson's dreamy teen epic, Blankets, although it should probably be shelved in Wisconsin; two globe-trotting adventurers who keep coming back to Oregon (if not writing about it), Joe Sacco and Barry Lopez; two original sources for Gus Van Sant (the true Oregon genius), Walt Curtis's Mala Noche and Blake Nelson's Paranoid Park; Palahniuk's mentor Tom Spanbauer; the pre-Kesey Great Oregon Author, H.L. Davis; and David Halberstam's now-classic account of the '79 Blazers, The Breaks of the Game, due out in February in a new edition. --Tom
Aging Lit Major on November 26, 2008 at 05:52 AM
Yet another state in which I lived while growing up. Nabokov finished Lolita while living in Ashland, though Lolita belongs to the world, not to Oregon so it probably does not count at all. Richard Brautigan touched on his Portland childhood in Troutfishing In America. And John Reed and Louise Bryant ("Reds" fame)came out of Portland as well, but like Nabokov, they belong to the world, too.
Matt on November 26, 2008 at 06:37 AM
As someone who is currently stuck in Maryland, but lived the best years of his life (so far!) in Lake Oswego (just 8 miles south of Portland), reading posts like this really remind me of the great place that is Oregon. I could get lost in Powell's, literally and figuratively, for hours on end. I went to see Chuck Palahniuk speak at Borders in Tigard when Lullaby was first released. My friend was a huge fan of his, but couldn't make it to the meet-and-greet, so I got a signed copy of Lullaby for him. I had Chuck sign it, "You get me all sudsed up! Chuck" which was a reference to the famous picture of the pink sudsy bar of soap from Fight Club (Chuck had to ask everyone around me how to spell "sudsed"! HA!).
I also remember meeting Bruce Campbell at that same Borders for his signing of If Chins Could Kill, just a few weeks after 9/11. Bruce Campbell is another Oregonian author, although most people just know him as Ash from the Evil Dead movies.
Oregonians definitely love three things: the outdoors, coffee, and books.
And on a side note to anyone thinking of visiting Portland: even if it's raining, don't carry an umbrella. You'll instantly stand out as a tourist!
Psteve on November 26, 2008 at 08:07 AM
I'd add two books: Bernard Malamud's "A New Life," about a year teaching at OSU in Corvallis in the early 60's. He captures the time and place and how he doesn't fit in very well.
And Kate Wilhelm's "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sing" an sf novel about ecological collapse, set mostly in Eastern Oregon. Very moving.
Mike Smith on November 26, 2008 at 09:35 AM
Great to see LeGuin up there. I'd also recommend her book "The Dispossessed" -- just as good as The Left Hand of Darkness.