West of Here

REVIEW: West of Here (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $19.96 -- February 2011) by Jonathan Evison -- Let me paint this thing: Look into the woods behind your house. Add more. More moisture. More trees. Moss strangling downed stumps. A sasquatch. An old bottle of Kilt Lifter with its label faded and grey. You are West of Here, now. North-West to be exact, and in a little semi-fictional town called Port Bonita, WA. The mighty Elwha roars in your ears!

And welcome to Jonathan Evison's (a Bainbridge Islander!) new novel!

Let me say first: It's a Hybrid! (Congrats!). No seriously. Written in a swirling, stirring mixture of fictive and non-fictive, past and present, Evison's newest novel (note: Available in February!) is one of those books that cleverly tells you where you came from, why, and where you're going. Wielder of a sharp pen, Evison's language is sweet, too, and his plotting and characterization both apt and reeling. From sobriety stricken cannery managers, to dam-building dandies, to epileptic Native Americans, you'll love them all! Read it when it comes out!


<--- Evison, Islander