Hope and Dread in Montana Literature by Ken Egan Jr. (review)

BO O K REVIEW S Benchmark river writers such as A. B. Guthrie, Mark Twain, Ann Zwinger, Norman Maclean, and William Faulkner are featured in this volume. Included, too, are the writings of well-known conservationists Michael Frome, Joel Vance, Tim Palmer, and Edward Abbey. Dayton Duncan tells of following the Lewis and Clark trail. Lyrical selections by Wendell Barry and Patricia McCairen take readers deep into the heart of what it means to know a river. Less standard in river literature, but nonetheless stunning, are accounts by Amelia Stewart Knight who chronicles river crossings on the wagon journey from Iowa to Oregon, culminating in the birth of her eighth child, and broadcaster Tom Brokaw’spoetically grim account of running the Salmon River only to lose one of their party at Webber Falls. Here there are other hard stories of loss such as the depredation of rivers, canyons, and species due to human greed and stupidity. But here, too, are hopeful tales of dams being removed and of watersheds and habitats being restored and protected. In the wilderness of untamed places, these writers— and those who travel with them— find their souls in something as simple as paddling a river or in watching a heron take wing. Although river folks will feel immediately at home with this collection, those unacquainted with rivers will also hear the call of the wild urging them to consider the water that runs through their own landscapes. As Olaus Murie is quoted in this collection as saying, “To know a stream, you travel on it,” and River Reflections serves as the literary vessel that invites readers to come aboard and experience America’swaterways (51). Hope and Dread in M ontana Literature. By Ken Egan Jr. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2003. 207 pages, $34.95. Reviewed by Vanessa Hall Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana It may seemstrange to criticize the verydistinctiveness many westernAmericans cherish. Yet, in the newest survey of Montana literature since William Bevis’s classic treatment, Ken Egan does exactly that. His focus, however, is largely on the dark side of that prized individualism: a distrust of outsiders, American and non-American, that can verge on the pathological— the Militia of Montana and the Unibomber. Egan’s study of Montana literature opens with the claim that rather than viewing these extreme instances of individualism as mere aberrations, we might pay attention to the fact that the militants can provide insight into the “regional character” and “psyche” (xv). Although, as western history illustrates, westerners have often viewed outsiders with distrust for good reason, this distrust can prevent community and coalition building and result in a distorted, prejudiced way of viewing the world. Egan looks to Montana’s literature to provide a more balanced vision of the state, its pitfalls and promises. He claims, “Alternating between tragedy W e s t e r n A m e r ic a n L it e r a t u r e S p r in g 2 0 0 7 and comedy, creating a dialectic between dread and hope, writing of the region allows us to examine our worst fears and most promising prospects” (xviii). Although Egan argues that both “catastrophic tragedies” and “pragmatic com­ edies” are necessary for a balanced perspective on Montana’spast and approach to Montana’s future, he clearly comes down on the side of what he terms “pragmatic comedy” (xix, xx, xx). He finds little to commend in the tragic sensibility that pervades many of Montana’s classics. This tragic sensibility is present in early exploration narratives, in Native American narratives, in A. B. Guthrie’sfamous The Big Sky (2002), and the work of modem and contempo­ rary writers, including Jim Harrison, Richard Hugo, Norman Maclean as well as classic Montana historians Joseph Kinsey Howard and K. Ross Toole. The tragic sensibility is grounded in a sense of paradise lost that, with the obvious exception of Native American work, is generally distorted and self-defeating. The open range in Montana history, cowboy lore aside, only lasted for about ten years. The most powerful Native American narratives, including D’Arcy McNickle’sand James Welch’s, contain a sense of provisional hope. This...