Platte River - Softcover

"A warm, introspective read, filled with lush imagery of beautiful natural wonders."-James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review -- James A. Cox * Midwest Book Review * "Within this rich blend of naturalism touched by mystery, the exhilarating landscapes of Montana, upstate New York, and northern Michigan inform the book as fully as the human principals."-Library Journal * Library Journal * "Bass is known primarily for his lucid and lyrical writing about nature, and this collection has plenty of that. . . . But what makes this a compelling book are his finely detailed, complex characters, simple men and women crafted with sympathy and understanding."-Publishers Weekly * Publishers Weekly * "Bass writes beautifully."-Booklist * Booklist * "Three fascinating long stories from a greatly gifted writer avatar of the outdoors. . . . Beautifully written and filled with radiant imagery and a powerful sense of the mysteries of nature-human and otherwise." -Kirkus Reviews * Kirkus Reviews *

Rick Bass is one of the foremost writers of his generation, charging headlong past the hard surface of modern life to illuminate human beings and their relationship to the natural world. Platte River is a collection of three novellas, each a singular exploration of the human heart set against the backdrop of God's creation. Filled with arresting images-chinook winds flying through a valley, couples skating in the dark on thin ice, tools made from animal bones, a delicate shape frozen in a river-"Mahatma Joe" is about an evangelist who settles in Grass Valley, Montana, and the woman who becomes obsessed with his vision of the world. In "Field Events" a woman falls in love with a man even larger than her discus-tossing brothers. And the title novella, "Platte River," portrays one man's lyric meditation on loneliness, the nature of peace, and the quest for love. Rick Bass, a recipient of the PEN/Nelson Algren Award in 1988, is the author of numerous short stories, novels, and nonfiction works, including The Diezmo: A Novel and The Roadless Yaak: Reflections and Observations About One of Our Last Great Wilderness Areas.