Westernness: A Meditation by Alan Williamson (review)

B o o k R e v i e w s W e s t e rn n e s s : A M e d it a t io n . By A la n W illia m s o n . C h a r lo tte s v ille : U n iv e r s ity o f V ir g in ia Press, 2 0 0 6 . 182 page s , $2 9 .5 0 . Reviewed by Diane Quantic W ic h it a Sta te Un iv e r s ity A la n Willia m s on calls his study Westemness “a m e ditation,” “a fugue o f accu­ m ulating impressions” (7). Altho ug h the title seems sweeping, William s on focuses primarily on a few authors and works from California and Ne w Me xico. For example, in his first chapter, “Cathe r and Romance ,” he considers only De ath Com es for the A rchbishop (1927), w ith brie f m e ntion o f Song o f the Lark (1915) and O Pioneers! (1913). In subsequent chapters, he treats “Yosemite Painters” Albe rt Bierstadt, T homas H ill, and W illia m Ke ith in just three- anda - half pages but w ith fine color re productions o f the ir works. D. H . Lawrence Photographer unknow n. “T heodore Roosevelt and his dog Skip, on a bearh unt, We st Divide Creek, near Ne w Castle, Colorado, April 1905.” Neg. no. 335695. Courtesy of the Am e rican Museum o f Natural History Library. b o o k R e v i e w s a nd Yvor Winte r s are “Two Convale s ce nts .” In four pages, he m e ntions Ge or gia O ’Keeffe in the c onte x t o f Las T rampas a nd Ch im a y o . T he re are discussions o f the T onalis m o f the early- twentieth- century Monte rre y painte rs a nd Ro bins o n Jeffers. Ste inbe ck is cons ide re d in the c onte x t o f the Tao. Ra y m o nd Ch a nd le r a nd the poets (un k n o w n to this reader) James Mc Mic ha e l and Frank Bidart are covere d in a chapte r o n So uthe r n Ca lifor nia . H e places his discussion of Leslie M a r m o n Silko ’s Ce re m ony (1977) in a chapte r title d “Hig hw a y 66” tha t focuses o n ne gative aspects o f Europe an Am e r ic a n culture . T he Ca lifo r nia painte r Wa y ne T hie baud gets o nly four- and- a- half pages, but the poe t Gar y Snyde r is ce ntral to two chapters , in c ludin g one o n the influe nce o f Eas tern culture o n Ca lifo r nia poets. Finally, Willia m s o n considers M o n ta n a a nd Y oung M e n an d Fire (1992) by N o r m a n Ma cle an. T o say the least, I find this a n o dd m ix o f “we s te mne s s ” tha t me ans s ome ­ th in g quite diffe re nt to me and, I w o uld guess, to mos t stude nts o f western lite rature th a n it does to Willia m s o n . T he te rm “m e d ita tio n,” like the re ce ntly controve rs ial “me moir,” appare ntly gives a n author more authority ove r his mate rial th a n does a “sys tematic history,” for w h ic h Willia m s admits he “lackjs] the compe te nce ” (7 ). I w o uld agree: it seems o dd to read comme ntary o n C a the r ’s r o m anticis m a...