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Just Beyond the Firelight: Stories and Essays
Book by Waller, Robert James
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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About the author
Robert James Waller
37 books431 followersRobert James Waller was an American author also known for his work as a photographer and musician. Several of his books have been on the New York Times bestseller list including 1992's The Bridges of Madison County, which was the top best-seller in 1993. Both that novel and his 1995 novel, Puerto Vallarta Squeeze, have been made into motion pictures.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 7, 2024
I first read Just Beyond the Firelight when it was published in 1988. However, I read most of the essays before that when they appeared in the Des Moines Register.
At this remove, 36 years later, it may strike us remarkable that a newspaper would publish a series of deeply personal essays. Such is the decline of the daily newspaper that only a few remain that explore the arts and culture so well. In the mid-1980s, Waller's essays enjoyed a large, statewide audience that is likely unattainable now.
Robert James Waller (1939-2017) was a gifted writer remembered and sometimes disparaged for his novels that often tilted too far toward a maudlin sentimentality. However, in these earlier writings, he was fearless and clear-eyed while honoring sentiment. He successfully threaded the needle, walked a tightrope, or otherwise found a way to evoke honest emotion without getting sappy about it.
My favorite essay is Excavating Rachael's Room, where Waller describes how he and his wife undertook an expedition to clear their daughter's bedroom after she left for college. He frames their adventure as an archaeological dig as they work through the possessions left behind, uncovering the arc of her childhood and their life as a family. I suspect many readers would recognize this rite of passage, and they likely will find themselves laughing and shedding a tear while reading Waller's tale of the experience.
The second part of the book presents Going Soft Upon the Land and Down Along the Rivers, Waller's extended essay describing his solo canoe trip down the Shell Rock River in northeastern Iowa. Along the way he muses about environmental challenges, economic development, and the tragedy of the commons. I think this piece approaches the realm of Aldo Leopold or Barry Lopez, and we are fortunate to have it preserved in this book.
The last section of the book introduces us to Waller's professional, academic work in essays that grapple with Iowa's predicament during the farm crisis of the 1980s. He served as Dean of the College of Business at the University of Northern Iowa, and he promoted a practical, humane approach to addressing the problems of a fractured economy.
Just Beyond the Firelight is now an artifact of a particular time and place, the Iowa of the 1980s; even so, Waller's gift for clear-eyed feeling still resonates decades later.
At this remove, 36 years later, it may strike us remarkable that a newspaper would publish a series of deeply personal essays. Such is the decline of the daily newspaper that only a few remain that explore the arts and culture so well. In the mid-1980s, Waller's essays enjoyed a large, statewide audience that is likely unattainable now.
Robert James Waller (1939-2017) was a gifted writer remembered and sometimes disparaged for his novels that often tilted too far toward a maudlin sentimentality. However, in these earlier writings, he was fearless and clear-eyed while honoring sentiment. He successfully threaded the needle, walked a tightrope, or otherwise found a way to evoke honest emotion without getting sappy about it.
My favorite essay is Excavating Rachael's Room, where Waller describes how he and his wife undertook an expedition to clear their daughter's bedroom after she left for college. He frames their adventure as an archaeological dig as they work through the possessions left behind, uncovering the arc of her childhood and their life as a family. I suspect many readers would recognize this rite of passage, and they likely will find themselves laughing and shedding a tear while reading Waller's tale of the experience.
The second part of the book presents Going Soft Upon the Land and Down Along the Rivers, Waller's extended essay describing his solo canoe trip down the Shell Rock River in northeastern Iowa. Along the way he muses about environmental challenges, economic development, and the tragedy of the commons. I think this piece approaches the realm of Aldo Leopold or Barry Lopez, and we are fortunate to have it preserved in this book.
The last section of the book introduces us to Waller's professional, academic work in essays that grapple with Iowa's predicament during the farm crisis of the 1980s. He served as Dean of the College of Business at the University of Northern Iowa, and he promoted a practical, humane approach to addressing the problems of a fractured economy.
Just Beyond the Firelight is now an artifact of a particular time and place, the Iowa of the 1980s; even so, Waller's gift for clear-eyed feeling still resonates decades later.
June 25, 2018
I skipped over the business essays but loved the long essay about canoeing down the Shell Rock River. Now I'm itching to go get in a canoe . . .
December 29, 2012
This little gem brought me to tears while reading "Canticle for Roadcat" and caused me to think about how my individual actions concerning many things but especially the environment while reading "Going Soft Upon the Land."
I have read all of Wallers novels and liked most of them, some more than others, but this little gem is poetic prose. For me it was worth reading for the word-smithing alone.
I have read all of Wallers novels and liked most of them, some more than others, but this little gem is poetic prose. For me it was worth reading for the word-smithing alone.
September 17, 2008
Forget all the Madison County/Cedar Bend palaver. Waller's essays are his best work. If you can read "Canticle for Roadcat" and not shed a tear, then you have no heart.
August 6, 2016
From the author of The Bridges of Madison County, comes this collections of essays and stories of people he has met. Strong writer....perhaps his essays are better than his novels.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews