In These Hills

by Ralph Beer, William Kittredge (Foreword)

After a lifetime spent writing and working on his family’s cattle ranch outside of Helena, Montana, Ralph Beer has gathered his best magazine essays into one collection called In These Hills . In thirty-three essays he provides a moving and elegiac tribute to lives now passed, an often humorous homage to the provincial, and an attempt “to fathom the place where we live . . . to decipher who we are,” as he writes in his introduction.

 

Beer, praised as one of the finest writers in the West, offers an authentic literary voice paired with a lifetime spent exploring a particularly beloved piece of land. From his first experience with a wheat harvest, to the winter rebuilding of a 1947 Dodge Power Wagon, to his moving exploration of an old family mystery, these essays slice sharply under the sod of our embedded romanticism, exploring not only the brute hardships of a living made from cattle ranching but the inextricable satisfaction of it as well. As Beer himself says in the final pages of this collection, "Stories outshine instruments of gold. Stories outlast stone."

Genres: Westerns

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Abby Stopka · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is always fascinating to read these kind of books with the essays about ranch life.

[Sandra Futch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful piece of writing from a very gifted author!! His essys describe the struggles of ranching in Montana and a dying way of life for small farms near big towns. It is both melancholy and humorous. He obviously loves the land and mourns the growing loss of a way of life.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some essays were really good, but some were rather meh. It's interesting to read about the ranch life and how it is to live in the great outdoors, but some essays weren't that interesting to me.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read my review at my blog.

[Stormy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are stories and remembrances from Montana living. Very similar to growing up in Wyoming!