Northwest of Normal, by John Larison, $24.95.
“Northwest of Normal,” a story of place and change and a man’s hopes for a new life, begins as Andy Trib, still sunburned from the Micronesian sun, shows up in the small town of Ipsyniho in the Pacific Northwest. It’s home to artists, loggers, dope growers and river guides.
There, Andy hopes not only to repair the betrayal of his surrogate brother, but also to begin a new life as a river guide.
But when Andy reconnects with Shoshone, a former girlfriend — “elegant without being uppity” — and now married to a friend, he also discovers the decisions he made years ago are waiting to haunt him, and he is not the only one struggling to adapt to the change.
Yet from the novel’s openings sentence — “What hadn’t changed was the smell: first the purple sweetness of ripe blackberries, then the deeper, the green spice of Doug fir needles.” — the reader knows that here is a novel in which characters will play a minor role.
Their loves and problems may fill the pages, but the story’s core will be place — drawn with the clarity and understanding that can only come from a native Oregonian who also is a former fly fishing guide. This is a first-rate contribution to novels of the West.
Lost in Wyoming, stories by Scott Sadil, $24.95.
Author of two previous books and numerous stories and essays, Sadil sets his latest collection along a river in Wyoming and proceeds to explore the interaction of relationships and place.
The title story is centered on the reflections of Aaron Packard on a camping trip with Elaine, a woman he has not known long. Because she says she’s bothered by heat, they do not share the same sleeping bag. Their first trip together is “a dicey enterprise for both of them.” He tries to respect her privacy.
Because Elaine is a painter and this will also be what she calls “her first concentration of sport,” she makes no attempt to help. And the outing goes on from there, though primarily downhill.
Next up, “Wading Home,” introduces the reader to a woman who reflects on other times as she fishes the river. Seeing a group up ahead that is oblivious to her existence, she notes how “unless some move, people see only what they expect to see.”
In “Twenty Minutes More,” a man discovers something new about his relationship with his wife as they load a canoe from a boat ramp into the water. “Slate Blue” quietly explores the signs of a marriage on the brink of disintegration. “Lake Albion” introduces a man who is reminded of the cliche, “Can’t get a fish, can’t get a date,” when he ponders his love life and his imminent plunge into another try.
Elliot Merrick, the hero in “Lake Albion,” can’t believe his situation. “The same week he starts in after steelhead, he meets a gal who sets his heart racing, consuming his thoughts both on and off the water. She’s single, retired, pretty as a model, with property in the upper valley she manages for profits he finds staggering in comparison to his 23-year career teaching salary.”
Unlike the fish he is after, he is hooked. And, at least in his imagination, their friendship is only the beginning step.
As to the art of fly-fishing itself, the author sums it up in “Family Matters.” Catching a fish is more than catching fish. “The serious practitioner acknowledges failure as opportunity to improve and faces the challenge to avoid further humiliations.”
In the final story, “The Longing Pleased,” Paddy Francis, a retired teacher spends his days fly-tying and dreaming of Emily Thatcher, his standing flame, who has not answered his latest e-mail in 43 days.
As he works at his bench, surrounded by tools, containers, spools of thread and floss, he realizes he has no interest in any of it. And why would he when no reply has been forthcoming?
He discusses the matter with Norine, one of his housemates. She and her husband own the house and both teach at the high school where Paddy once taught. As they discuss the problem, she reassures him Emily will answer him when she’s ready and not before. Remaining unconvinced, Paddy continues to tie flies and explore alternatives.
Separately or together, Scott Sadil’s 12 stories are as insightful as they are charming.
Sybil Downing is a Boulder novelist who writes regularly about new regional fiction.
