A Treasury of the Sierra Nevada ed. by Robert Leonard Reid (review)

Reviews 81 simply a matter of ‘living in the Northwest’—but living, period. And north­ west ofwhat?” CAROL S. LONG Willamette University A Treasury of the Sierra Nevada. Edited by Robert Leonard Reid. (Berkeley: Wilderness Press, 1983. 363 pages, $16.95/$11.95.) Robert Leonard Reid acknowledges the idiosyncracy of his selections in A Treasury of the Sierra Nevada, warning us that “it is a highly personal collection, chosen to reflect my own tastes and interests rather than those of a brainstorming committee of Sierra literati.” Despite Reid’s disclaimer, this is a remarkably rich and well-balanced collection, ranging from chilling glimpses of the pitiful Donner party to some of the “gooiest. . .poetry extant.” The arrangement isgenerally chronological, covering the first 150 years of recorded Sierra history in sections labeled The Explorers, The Immigrants, The Vacationers, The Naturalists, The Moun­ taineers, and The Conservationists. Selections are well-chosen and skillfully edited, with economical headnotes which provide continuity and unity. Reid has combed the early exploration literature as well as current works, and has made prudent use of “the six-foot shelf of Sierra Club Bulletins dating back to 1893.” Any reader of western American literature should find a few old favorites as well as new pleasures in this fine anthology. ORVIS BURMASTER Boise State University Beyond Forget: Rediscovering The Prairies. By Mark Abley. (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1986. 272 pages, $16.95 hardcover.) It sounds like the mishmash of California. One town boasts plastic, frontlawn statuary of flamingoes, gnomes, and Bambis. Another burg swells with eighteen churches. There’s even literary redemption: a strong connection with the early life of western writer Wallace Stegner. The fact that instead we’re far to the north, on the Canadian prairies, causes us to gasp a bit at the unexpected variety. No, they’re not all flat, but undulate with forests, hills, and meadows. Neither are they culturally monot­ ...