Product Description

The grassroots publishing sensation continues with WOVEN ON THE WIND, the second volume of women's writing from the heart of the American West compiled by the editors and ranchers Linda Hasselstrom, Nancy Curtis, and Gaydell Collier. They called on women in sixteen states and provinces to write about their friendships with other women in the West, a subject that they discovered has all too often been overlooked or underplayed. The result is WOVEN ON THE WIND, a unique and exhilarating collection, "a beautiful, intricate mosaic of women as mothers as well as friends" (Fencepost). In a region where time and space are large and solitude is a fact of life, these women tell of the beauties, ironies, rigors, heartbreak, and humor of life and how it is uniquely enriched by friendships past and present. The voices in this volume -- unsentimental, unflinching, and utterly unforgettable -- take readers into the fields, kitchens, barns, and souls of nearly 150 women and reveal a vital part of the real western American story. "Here is the essence of the West -- not the myth, but the truth."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #444504 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A fine collection of essays, poems and personal narratives about life in "sagebrush country," where friendships must weather numerous hardships, this tough and tender new work continues the collaborative effort begun in Leaning into the Wind (1997). The editors, who all manage working ranches, know firsthand the harsh realities of the American West and the bolstering power of friendship among women there. Indeed, sagebrush is a fitting symbol for women of the West, with its hardy adaptability and fundamental importance to the ecosystem. The editors gracefully present writing by more than 150 women like them. While all celebrate female camaraderie vividly distinctive against the backdrop of a vast, stark and often lonely terrain each tells a unique story. Karen Obrigewitch's brief essay "Who Else?" cuts to the heart of this collection: "How can any female survive without close women friends? Whom does she call when she needs affirmation, when her first-born leaves for college, when the calves don't bring enough cash to pay off the bank, or when her parents die? Who would cry with her?" Other contributors include Dorothy Blackcrow Mack on marrying into a Lakota family, Rose Hill about her blind mother crocheting in the dark and Lillian Vilborg on working on a single mother's farm. These stories illuminate the worn paths between farms and ranches and the simple pleasure of sitting on the back of a pickup sharing a cup of tea with a kindred spirit.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This anthology of more than 150 contemporary women writers from the West is a sequel to Leaning into the Wind (LJ 6/1/97). Through poetry, memoir, and essay, it examines the friendships of women leading secluded rural lives and how their bonds were formed over picking chokecherries, mending fences, or sipping coffee in the back of a pickup at sunset. Images of the West, the high plains, desert winds, and sagebrush are abundant, lending a romantic air to the uncomplicated prose. By focusing on the associations among women living in the remote West, the editors Hasselstrom (Bitter Creek Junction, Feels Like Far), Gaydell M. Collier (Basic Training for Horses), and Nancy Curtis (Black Heritage Sites) shed light on the complexity of relationships. Themes of isolation, intimacy, and independence weave through the pieces, unifying the collection as a whole. Regardless of demographics, the message is universal: relationships are necessary for survival. Though this collection leans toward the sentimental, it is eminently readable, having the appeal of being written by everyday women. There is nothing lofty about this book. On the contrary, it's proudly down to earth. Recommended for public libraries. Stephanie Maher, Warwick, RI
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Capitalizing on the popularity of Leaning into the Wind (1997), a collection of essays, stories, and poems that provided an overview of women's lives in the contemporary West, that book's editors reprise its successful format with a more narrowly defined focus. The theme is women's friendships in the American West, and more than 150 women contribute poems, anecdotes, and personal reflections that offer intimate perspectives on the nature of friendship in an often harsh and isolated environment. In hauntingly lyrical verse and forthright prose, the women who lend their eloquence to the compilation describe the significance of female relationships in what many consider to be a man's world. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A must have collection
Mary Clearman Blew, in her wonderful book Balsamroot, a memoir about her aunt growing up as a homesteader in Montana, speaks of an unwritten rule that Western women have followed for decades: Never speak aloud of what you feel deeply. This code of silence and historic acceptance of the traditionalo, myth inspired image of the West being a "man's" world has resulted in the indispensable role of women being ignored or, at best, relegated to a footnote in the history of the region. Not anymore. This wonderful collection by some 150 women living in sixteen Western states and two Canadian provinces is a fitting tribute to the perseverance, and exceptional talent, of Western women. The editors chose as their theme the development of relationships in an area of the country known for its seemingly infinite space and time. The result is a stunning collection of stories about friendship among women in the West which is unvarnished, inspiring, tragic, humorous, and boundless in its beauty and message. While this book is written by women in a specific region of the country, its message is timeless, universal, and transcends region to speak to all that value strenght, perseverance and friendship. In essays and poetry and sometimes heartbreaking simplicity the women tell stories of living in the West and bonding in a special way with other women friends that, properly understood, is one of the real, true stories of the West. Contributor Wanda Rosseland writes of the sometimes oppressive nature of men in "Because Men Rule" and tells of women seeking friends because "When you're desperate enough, you go off either by yourself or with a bunch of other women for the companionship you crave," she adds "because men don't understand and never will, which is alright, because that's just the way they are." Co-editor Nancy Curtis notes that "Here, if you have good women friends, you keep them for a lifetime..." This is the best collection of stories about friendship and women in the West that I have read. It is a good example of the reason for the growing demand for books written by Western women who have, for far to long, not spoken aloud about what they feel deeply. It is a perfect starting point in learning to understand and appreciate the mostly mythical West. These writers are some of the best of the best writing today.

Seven copies and couting
I have bought seven copies of ths book for women friends. I would give anything to buy a copy for my best friend, my 82 year old mother, but she can only read large print. This book features so many unique women of a certain age that I cannot believe it is not availble in large print or audio. If that becomes available, it will be the eighth copy I buy. The book was a gift from a friend at the time of my kidney transplant, the kidney a gift from another friend, and the book has definitely contributed to my speedy recovery and healing. Buy one for yourself and another for a friend. Every woman should read this book.

Best collection of Western women
tHIS COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM AND OF wOMEN OF THE aMERICAN wEST SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR ANY wOMEN'S sTUDIES COURSES AND SHOULD BE IN EVERY pUBLIC lIBRARY. tHE STORIES ARE FUNNY AND SAD AND ALL ENTERTAINING. yOU FEEL AS IF YOU HAD BEEN DOWN THAT SAME PATH OF LIFE WITH THEM. cERTAINLY A 5 PLUS RATING IS WHAT IT DESERVES.