The Next Rodeo: New and Selected Essays

by William Kittredge

William Kittredge's relationship to the spare, often unforgiving Western landscape is fraught with contradictions. Having grown up on a cattle ranch in Oregon, he has an intimate connection to the vast landscape that was once vital to his family's trade. He has also witnessed, over many decades, the depletion of the West's natural resources due to overuse. In The Next Rodeo, the author's luminous essays move effortlessly from the personal to the political. With grace and integrity, Kittredge directly confronts the myths that lie at the heart of the Western male freedom and female domesticity, the wild and the tame, self-interest and the love of the land. On the heels of Kittredge's first novel, The Willow Field , published to wide critical acclaim in 2006, we are pleased to offer the best of his nonfiction writings.

Genres: Essays

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 2007

About the author

William Kittredge was born in 1932 in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Kathleen (itpdx) · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Kittredge's memoir, Hole in the Sky: A Memoir is beautiful and emotionally engaging. It sets the stage, in a sense, for this collection of essays that is a philosophical look at the western US informed by Kittredge's experiences. The Next Rodeo: New and Selected Essays is not as engaging as his memoir but is much more direct in its discussion about the challenges facing the west (and the country and the world).

[sarah morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Self-described rednecked Eastern Oregon rancher to intellectual Montanan writer, Kittredge is a first class writer with a first class mind. I loved this series of essays about the early days of Eastern Oregon, what we did to the land without knowing, and the direction the West has taken since. Some of the later essays are a bit preachy, especially for the choir--me--but the writing is stellar and some of the anecdotes are priceless. The welder's response to whether or not he might be able to repair something belongs in a movie script. Highly recommend.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important thoughts on the history and future of The West. Mr. Kittredge eloquently tells heartfelt and sad stories. He reminds of of how settlement of The West has destroyed ecological systems and made people's lives difficult. He offers some uncommon ideas for how to proceed as a nation while pointing out how ridiculous aspects of our culture has been and continues to be. Highly recommend.

[Andrew Martin]

Birthday present from Dad, May 2012.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kittredge has an intimate connection to the landscape and it permeates throughout his essays.

[Lloyd Fassett]

4/5/15 Recommended by Bryan at Easter egg hunt

[Joyce Reynolds-Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book, not just for its language but for its look at parts of the West that I love.