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Owning It All: Essays
Having grown up on his family's cattle ranch in eastern Oregon, Kittredge directly confronts the contradictions and myths that lie at the heart of the Western experience: male freedom and female domesticity, the wild and the tame, self-interest and love of the land.
- GenresEssaysNonfictionWesterns
182 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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204 people want to read
About the author
William Kittredge
49 books26 followersWilliam Kittredge was born in 1932 in Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 23, 2023
This is a collection of mostly autobiographical essays focused on what the West (especially the northern West) is all about. It sets out myths, realities, and memories in ways that even an Easterner like me can appreciate. And with a good ear for prose and the construction of essays. There’s a theme running through it about property, obtaining it, keeping it, using it, that twists in and out of strong environmental and anti-colonial themes.
August 14, 2013
After encountering the collection's first essay, "Home," in _The Best American Essays 1989_, I was excited to read this volume cover to cover. I did and found out that the near-magical weaving of memory, place, and ars poetica in "Home" would not be repeated. After "Home" the collection moves farther and farther away from personal story and significance to journalism and moralizing. In my teaching, reading, and writing, I am always drawn to the personal. Anyone can regurgitate facts and lots of people can analyze and preach; I want to know what the essayist wonders and feels, what questions they can't answer but pursue with hopefulness. I want to witness them love the unlovable or not love the lovable or simply grasp at what the hell love is. The essays "Owning It All" and "Drinking and Driving" are memorable, for good reasons, but overall, I kept wishing that Kittredge had trusted the reader to detect, in his stories and ruminations, the weight of what he hadn't said.
July 18, 2012
1987 seminal work on the Northwest - not the Pacific NW (although a bit on that here as well), but more like ID and inland OR and MT. Surprisingly, generally not dated - although the piece on Western movies could go. Loved "Overthrust Dreams" about the town that was *not* going to go the way of Rock Springs - which brings up a point, you should read this along w/ Richard Ford's collection of short stories, Rock Springs. The two will give you a 360 of the denizens of this geographic are of the US. His essay on up and coming writers from the area is interesting, as much for all those he had dead wrong as those he had right. You have to love the wide open west to enjoy this book.
But....really, believe me, Missoula is not the Paradise some make it out to be. Its just another university town w/ some bars and bookstores and local shops. Not much different than any other university town really. Yet, there are a whole lot of writers living up there (along w/ a lot of millionaires and dot commers and early retired financial wizzes.....)!
But....really, believe me, Missoula is not the Paradise some make it out to be. Its just another university town w/ some bars and bookstores and local shops. Not much different than any other university town really. Yet, there are a whole lot of writers living up there (along w/ a lot of millionaires and dot commers and early retired financial wizzes.....)!
May 9, 2012
Montaigne (or somebody) said this world was never the same again after
the first time one person said "I own this piece of land" and other people
accepted that as a valid claim. With eastern Oregon as the setting, the
Kittredge family and others like it owned vast chunks, mostly raising cattle
there. These very personal essays show both the love of the land and the
pain of gradually realizing how much using it means using it up. In his
young middle age, Kittredge became a writer and teacher instead of being a
rancher for his whole life, as he grew up expecting to be. Very thoughtful
and instructive and often moving examination of the reciprocal effects of
the land on the people, and the people on the land. A beautiful piece of work.
the first time one person said "I own this piece of land" and other people
accepted that as a valid claim. With eastern Oregon as the setting, the
Kittredge family and others like it owned vast chunks, mostly raising cattle
there. These very personal essays show both the love of the land and the
pain of gradually realizing how much using it means using it up. In his
young middle age, Kittredge became a writer and teacher instead of being a
rancher for his whole life, as he grew up expecting to be. Very thoughtful
and instructive and often moving examination of the reciprocal effects of
the land on the people, and the people on the land. A beautiful piece of work.
August 26, 2019
"'She is a hard country on women and horses.' Which means, I guess that men and mules can make out all right and have a swell time digging graves in the basement.
This country fosters a kind of woman who never seems to bother about who she is supposed to be, mainly because there is always work, and getting it done in a level-eyed way is what counts most. Getting the work done, on horseback or not, and dicing their trouble into jokes. These women wind up looking 50 when they are 37 and 53 when they are 70. It's as though they wear down to what counts and just last there, fine and staring the Devil in the eye every morning."
Oh, Bill . . . if ever I could have been in the Milltown Bar on an evening when you felt like conversation.
This country fosters a kind of woman who never seems to bother about who she is supposed to be, mainly because there is always work, and getting it done in a level-eyed way is what counts most. Getting the work done, on horseback or not, and dicing their trouble into jokes. These women wind up looking 50 when they are 37 and 53 when they are 70. It's as though they wear down to what counts and just last there, fine and staring the Devil in the eye every morning."
Oh, Bill . . . if ever I could have been in the Milltown Bar on an evening when you felt like conversation.
December 20, 2011
Ross Dollarhide. Get this book just to read about Ross Dollarhide. One of the best collections of essays ever written about the American West. Tales of growing up on a remote ranch (and I mean REMOTE)in the Northern Great Basin/Southeast Oregon circa 1930-1960, with some later journalism style bits as well.
December 19, 2012
A most evocative book, especially for those who love the Pacific Northwest and West. The essays that cover southeastern Oregon are of particular note because not too many write about this area, and probably none more beautifully than Kittredge. One lives Kittredge's life through his exquisite prose.
September 27, 2011
Excellent explanation of the mythological West and the ideals which built the myth. Then in a compelling swoop, Kittredge dis-spells the myth and reminds us how dangerous it is to have heroes and ideals as building blocks for society.
August 5, 2014
The title essay of this book provides a chilling look at ownership taken to its extreme conclusion. Kittredge provides his readers with a clear picture of western mythology and the ethos of ownership that underpins it.
October 5, 2019
This book is certainly a strange one, although by no means a bad one. The author comes from Eastern Oregon and expresses the fundamental ambivalence that the West has often had with government. The author laments the destruction of the population base and economic productivity of the area, and ponders the relationship between people and their government while also musing about the past of the region as well as the question of the dispossession of the native peoples of the area that was involved in the establishment of the redneck population of the area. The author's deep knowledge and personal experience with rednecks was certainly very interesting and there was a lot here to unpackage concerning the author's thinking about the life of poor whites in the contemporary West. As is often the case, the writer himself has a somewhat broader understanding of the world than the people he is writing about, and this makes him somewhat distinct from the people he is writing about, which is always a dangerous thing when one writes about outsider cultures where one has the tension between being true to one's background and between trying to curry favor with an audience that tends not to be very sympathetic to rednecks.
This book of nearly 200 pages long is divided into several chapters that deal with various themes of life in Eastern Oregon and surrounding areas, but mostly Eastern Oregon in the area around Malheur Lake to be precise. The author begins with a melancholy discussion of his lonely home in the region, as well as his memories of the rodeo and local cowboy culture. After that there is a discussion of natural causes and the tense relationship between locals and the creation around them as well as the importance of owning everything and taking full responsibility for one's upbringing and background. The author talks about leaving home for better opportunities as well as the secrets of redneck life. There is an essay on the problem of drinking and driving as well as the author's dreams in 1981. An interesting essay on grizzlies follows, as well as a look at the non-tourist state of Yellowstone in winter. The author discusses the legacy of native American religious thought on creation as well as the question of bullets and violence, some discussions about doors to his house, and the problematic question of revenge in local culture and memory.
As someone who has long lived in close proximity to rednecks, I have to say that this book was certainly very interesting to me. I found a lot to appreciate about the author's approach in seeking to own the entire history that he was an heir to, reflecting upon the violence of the culture he grew up in within itself as well as against others. To be sure, the author did not endorse this violence but he was right to recognize it, to point out that sometimes rednecks faced the problem of getting drunk and committing crimes they had not remembered, and that the fight over land and water rights was one that was far more complex than being simply a matter of intergroup warfare but also the sort of fighting that divided the settlers of Eastern Oregon (and no doubt others) against each other depending on the power and rights one had and sought and the demands one placed on one's neighbors. The end result is that this book is very readable and very relevant and more than a little bit melancholy as a reflection on the ghosts of Eastern Oregon settlement that linger on to the present day.
This book of nearly 200 pages long is divided into several chapters that deal with various themes of life in Eastern Oregon and surrounding areas, but mostly Eastern Oregon in the area around Malheur Lake to be precise. The author begins with a melancholy discussion of his lonely home in the region, as well as his memories of the rodeo and local cowboy culture. After that there is a discussion of natural causes and the tense relationship between locals and the creation around them as well as the importance of owning everything and taking full responsibility for one's upbringing and background. The author talks about leaving home for better opportunities as well as the secrets of redneck life. There is an essay on the problem of drinking and driving as well as the author's dreams in 1981. An interesting essay on grizzlies follows, as well as a look at the non-tourist state of Yellowstone in winter. The author discusses the legacy of native American religious thought on creation as well as the question of bullets and violence, some discussions about doors to his house, and the problematic question of revenge in local culture and memory.
As someone who has long lived in close proximity to rednecks, I have to say that this book was certainly very interesting to me. I found a lot to appreciate about the author's approach in seeking to own the entire history that he was an heir to, reflecting upon the violence of the culture he grew up in within itself as well as against others. To be sure, the author did not endorse this violence but he was right to recognize it, to point out that sometimes rednecks faced the problem of getting drunk and committing crimes they had not remembered, and that the fight over land and water rights was one that was far more complex than being simply a matter of intergroup warfare but also the sort of fighting that divided the settlers of Eastern Oregon (and no doubt others) against each other depending on the power and rights one had and sought and the demands one placed on one's neighbors. The end result is that this book is very readable and very relevant and more than a little bit melancholy as a reflection on the ghosts of Eastern Oregon settlement that linger on to the present day.
June 2, 2023
"Over the last fifty or sixty years artists in the American West have gone through a long and difficult battle, claiming and reclaiming their emotional homeland," writes William Kittredge in his essay, "Doors to Our House," in this collection of fourteen essays. And this is exactly what he accomplishes for his own emotional homeland in "Owning It All."
From retrospective pieces about his early years in southeastern Oregon ("Home" and "Buckaroos," in particular) to reflections on how the mythology of the American West perpetuates skewed perspectives of the people and history of the region ("Silver Bullets") to real-life adventures ("Grizzly," "Redneck Secrets," among others), Kittredge's writings stretch all the way up along the Western coast of Canada where he introduces us to the amazing First Nations people who create art that transcends craft and technique and even "art."
I've traveled through southeastern Oregon many times, and stayed not far from the region for months at a stretch. Often I wondered, "What do people do out here where miles of open country separate neighbors from neighbors and communities from each other?" And now I have at least one man's answer to that question.
I'm richer for having read this book, which isn't something I always feel when I close a book's back cover (or swipe past the final page). You, too, are likely to find something that will make you sit up and think, "Wow, I never saw this in that way before," especially if you've lived in or traveled through northwest American and coastal British Columbia.
Perhaps it will even get you thinking about your own "emotional homeland," as it did me.
From retrospective pieces about his early years in southeastern Oregon ("Home" and "Buckaroos," in particular) to reflections on how the mythology of the American West perpetuates skewed perspectives of the people and history of the region ("Silver Bullets") to real-life adventures ("Grizzly," "Redneck Secrets," among others), Kittredge's writings stretch all the way up along the Western coast of Canada where he introduces us to the amazing First Nations people who create art that transcends craft and technique and even "art."
I've traveled through southeastern Oregon many times, and stayed not far from the region for months at a stretch. Often I wondered, "What do people do out here where miles of open country separate neighbors from neighbors and communities from each other?" And now I have at least one man's answer to that question.
I'm richer for having read this book, which isn't something I always feel when I close a book's back cover (or swipe past the final page). You, too, are likely to find something that will make you sit up and think, "Wow, I never saw this in that way before," especially if you've lived in or traveled through northwest American and coastal British Columbia.
Perhaps it will even get you thinking about your own "emotional homeland," as it did me.
May 7, 2024
I enjoyed the book despite the authors angst over how he perceives humans should have used the land he loves. He grew up in Eastern Oregon and settled in Montana later in life and clearly has a deep love for the land and wild places. I don't think his particular form or worry helps the land though and only serves to sap his joy. Still, there were moments of insight which I appreciated which made the book worth finishing.
February 21, 2020
For anyone who enjoys Western writers this collection of esssays is a must read. Especially the last essay which discusses the achievements of this elete group of talented creators. Although the fact that this collection was edited in 1987 and leaves out a bunch of fine writers too contemporary to be included this book is genuinely worthwhile.
August 23, 2017
Loved the writing and the subject matter.
April 22, 2024
Excellent story telling by a master in letters.
October 28, 2024
loved the order of the essays
April 4, 2016
I spent the weekend with my husband and our 4wd van traveling the back roads of South Eastern Oregon and we found ourselves in the remote Owyhee Canyonlands. Ocassionally, I read aloud from "Owning it All" but mainly I pondered in private the grief and disenchantment described by the author as he describes his agricultural inheritance and his ultimate refusal to carry on a practice that threatens the landscape that shaped his identity as a man, writer, and ultimately spokesman for the necessity of thinking differently about the West. For those that are interested in the history of the Western land grab this is pretty eye opening. My interest is historical and biological. Okay, also literary. But mostly, I yearn to be able to experience wild places without being simultaneously smacked in the face with the other side of a burger on some future plate.
The beauty of these remote areas are most definitely overshadowed by the ever present cattle grazing that is quietly eroding the landscape, impacting the pristine water sources, and displacing wild bird, plant and animal populations. There is an invitation here for the the reader to think beyond idealism and romance about living on the land. Generations of ranchers have largely managed their private lands while simultanously leasing our public lands without intervention and without even much interest from the actual public. Those of us who ultimately order the Angus that was last seen sipping from a stock pond may be wise to get familiar with the intricacies of water rights.
A way of life that is rooted in respectable hard work is nonetheless unfolding in the direction of certain disaster. Kitteredge asks us to examine our collective mythology to question notions of property ownership and whether it's possible to live a good life without sensitivity to a broader enivironmental and social community.
I'm marginally confident that the number of ranchers that forego their rights to a plow to pursue a pen are in the single digits. But, only an insider can tell a story that is deeply critical while also genuinely compassionate. The essays here make it very clear that what is happening along the rutted roads and drive by towns most definitely concerns us.
The beauty of these remote areas are most definitely overshadowed by the ever present cattle grazing that is quietly eroding the landscape, impacting the pristine water sources, and displacing wild bird, plant and animal populations. There is an invitation here for the the reader to think beyond idealism and romance about living on the land. Generations of ranchers have largely managed their private lands while simultanously leasing our public lands without intervention and without even much interest from the actual public. Those of us who ultimately order the Angus that was last seen sipping from a stock pond may be wise to get familiar with the intricacies of water rights.
A way of life that is rooted in respectable hard work is nonetheless unfolding in the direction of certain disaster. Kitteredge asks us to examine our collective mythology to question notions of property ownership and whether it's possible to live a good life without sensitivity to a broader enivironmental and social community.
I'm marginally confident that the number of ranchers that forego their rights to a plow to pursue a pen are in the single digits. But, only an insider can tell a story that is deeply critical while also genuinely compassionate. The essays here make it very clear that what is happening along the rutted roads and drive by towns most definitely concerns us.
June 1, 2016
Superb book of essays about the West and literature. Kittridge writes about growing up on a big ranch in Southeastern Oregon as well as the human and cultural geography of the late 20th century West. Though when it comes to the modern literature of the northern American West, Kittridge knocks the ball right out of the park with his last big essay in the book, "Doors to Our House."
A quote: "What I'm trying to say is that regional art is important because it is mostly the only art that is useful in our efforts to know ourselves, even if only locally." One thing I think the speculative fiction genre tends to overlook is the need for solid grounding in regional awareness, whether that regional awareness is tied to Earth settings or other worlds, whether fantasy or science fiction.
And keep in mind that when we're talking "Western literature" here, it's not Max Brand or Louis L'Amour--though L'Amour does portray the Southwest. We're talking Willa Cather. Mari Sandoz. H.L. Davis. Wallace Stegner. Louise Erdrich. Ivan Doig.
A spec fic writer could do worse than to delve into some of these writers.
A quote: "What I'm trying to say is that regional art is important because it is mostly the only art that is useful in our efforts to know ourselves, even if only locally." One thing I think the speculative fiction genre tends to overlook is the need for solid grounding in regional awareness, whether that regional awareness is tied to Earth settings or other worlds, whether fantasy or science fiction.
And keep in mind that when we're talking "Western literature" here, it's not Max Brand or Louis L'Amour--though L'Amour does portray the Southwest. We're talking Willa Cather. Mari Sandoz. H.L. Davis. Wallace Stegner. Louise Erdrich. Ivan Doig.
A spec fic writer could do worse than to delve into some of these writers.
September 5, 2025
Short collection of essay reflecting on the author's experiences growing up in the Pacific NW and his evolving world view. I was kind of shocked at some of the somewhat sexist comments about women's appearance in one of the essays. Interesting perspective into a completely different time and place -- but not as accessible as John Muir.
February 3, 2015
I haven't always been a Kittredge fan, but I did like this one. Heartfelt and personal. His remembrances of growing up in the Warner Valley of Southeastern Oregon were especially enlightening.
April 26, 2017
The grit of Kittridge's essays strikes true and untarnished. Is this some forgotten dream of the West that surfaces in the flow of his words?
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews