Falling Back on the Familiar…

By the fifth of each month, I’m faced with the challenge of thinking of something new to write about.  Then, after deciding on my topic, I let it mull around in my head for a couple of weeks, until suddenly my deadline is nearly upon me and I find I must spit out something of interest.  So far, I think I’ve been pretty successful.  Even if I do tend to procrastinate, I enjoy the process and the outcome a great deal.  I love the feeling that my mind is working away to craft an interesting combination of letters and words, and when the time is right my fingers fly and everything comes together.

So what happens when I find myself busier than normal with work and life concerns, and the specter of “creativity from scratch” looms over me?  Easy.  I fall back on what I’m familiar with, to a place I know well – book reviews.  Only problem is, that requires that I actually read some books.  Fortunately, I have been rather successful at that endeavor lately, and have several to share with you.  It may seem odd that I have trouble finishing books, but working in a library sometimes creates an overload problem that leads to nothing being read at all.  I’ve been making an effort to change that, with decent success.  It seems that the more I read, the more I want to read, and before you know it I’ve finished (or at least read more than half of) several books.

At first, I thought the books I’ve read recently were just a hodge-podge of fiction and non-fiction, with no real thread tying them together.  Much to my surprise, as I thought about what I might have to say about these books, I realized that there is actually a strong connection between them.  They all have to do with being an outsider of some sort; characters or authors that just don’t fit into society’s idea of “normal.”  That’s not to say that we really know what “normal” is, or that there even is such a thing.  But somehow, we sense when something or somebody doesn’t quite fit with the behavior of the masses, and as it turns out the experiences these folks have makes for some very interesting reading.

Deadwood, by Peter Dexter (1986)

There are certain times, places, and people in history that take on a larger than life mythical quality.  Deadwood, South Dakota, is one such place.  In the 1870’s, Deadwood was one of the last bastions of true frontier anarchy – not yet part of the United States, but a destination for those seeking their fortune in gold that had been discovered in the hills that were previously set aside for the Indians.  The roughest of the rough traveled to Deadwood, and a thriving business of saloons, brothels, and gambling dens quickly sprang to life.  Many of the people in Deadwood had nowhere else to go, having been run out of more “respectable” locations.  One such pair that arrived in 1876 was William “Wild Bill” Hickock and his loyal friend Charley Utter, and trailing them was the notorious Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary).  The events of their next few months in Deadwood amount to a strange chapter in the history of the American West, and one that is still controversial in many ways.

I was prompted to read Dexter’s Deadwood after watching the first season of the HBO series of the same name.  Although Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane were by far the most famous people that lived in Deadwood, their time there was either short (Hickock was murdered just a few months after his arrival), or sporadic (Jane came and went several times over the years).  Dexter chooses to focus his story primarily on Charley Utter, and what we find is a very loyal, sympathetic man who continually strives to follow his conscious in a town that seems not to have one of its own.  By following Utter so closely through the book, we get a glimpse into one man’s life during a wild time in a wild place.  Most of the characters in Dexter’s book actually existed, and there are records indicating what type of people they might have been.  However, so many fictitious accounts have intermingled with the truth that now it is difficult to tell just what the real truth might have actually been – even Wild Bill and Calamity Jane were both known to expound on the truth a bit, or at least not deny possible falsehoods about their adventures.  Nevertheless, since Deadwood and its characters have taken on mythic proportions, does it really matter any more?

Nature Noir, by Jordan Fisher Smith (2005)

Usually when we think of forest rangers, it brings to mind a romantic vision of youthful, uniformed men and women leading groups of eager tourists through beautiful parklands.  Smith shatters that vision with his account of 14 years as a law enforcement ranger along the American River in California, just outside of Sacramento.  The lands that Smith and the rest of his crew patrolled were essentially “throw away” lands, slated for inundation as soon the Auburn dam was completed.  As it stood, the dam was originally approved in the late 1950’s, but due to a variety of delays it still wasn’t built in 1986 when Smith started his tenure on the American River, and it still isn’t built today.

Over the years, the 48-mile stretch of the American that Smith was responsible for had become home to many people living on the fringe of society.  Miners, drug dealers, and other transients found their place in the woods, and the rangers spent their time keeping the peace between the people and the forest.  In each chapter of the book, Smith recounts a particular incident in his career, including the tossing of a baby into the open window of a moving vehicle, an unsolved murder case, and the first human death by cougar in the state in decades.  As he tells his tales, he artfully weaves in the history of the ill-fated dam, information about the flora, fauna, and geology of the area, and musings on the clash of humans and nature as our lives encroach on what is left of the wild.  Despite the focus on the darker side of both nature and humanity, I found that Smith still has a sense of hope and wonder at the world around him. 

The Lost Soul Companion – a book of comfort and advice for black sheep, square pegs, struggling artists, and other free spirits, by Susan M. Brackney (2001)

I nearly missed this little gem of a book as it passed by me at the library recently.  Fortunately, I snagged it and brought it home.  It’s small and short – just 150 pages – and one could easily read it in one or two sittings.  The book starts with a serious discussion of depression and suicide, as Brackney is no stranger to dark days.  Her advice – get help and don’t give up, is simple, yet she shares it with such sincerity you can’t but help take it to heart.  Even if you’ve never suffered from serious depression, her discussion of it is so candid you feel hopeful for her and others that do suffer.  Once past the most serious part of the book, Brackney presents a collection of stories and ideas that have helped her cope in a world that doesn’t always seem very accepting of those of us that live on the outside edges of society.

Her advice can be summed up in a few simple ideas:

• Take care of yourself – physically, mentally, and financially
• Dream big, but accept that you may have to start small on your road to success
• Appreciate everything you have to the fullest, because you never know when it may be gone
• “Blow the stink off” when you need to, that is, take even a short trip to change your scenery and refresh yourself
• Be a playful soul, and don’t be afraid to play a good prank now and then
• Find a cuddly pet

Even if you don’t consider yourself to be a lost soul, there’s no doubt a few pieces of wisdom here that you can apply to your own life.  If you’re curious, visit the Lost Soul Companion website.

But if you are a lost soul, or even just wandering down a side road for a while on your way back to the mainstream of life, hopefully you’ll find a bit of peace in one of these books.  I know I have.  Lose yourself in the stories for a while, or maybe find yourself – you never know what you may gain along the way!