Chokecherry Places: Essays from the High Plains

by Merrill Gilfillan

In this new book detailing his travels through the American Great Plains, author Merrill Gilfillan continues to elucidate for us, and add to our appreciation of, one of the most ignored and misunderstood areas of our vast American landscape. Like few American writers, Gilfillan has a deep feeling for, and understanding of the western grasslands, which give both dignity and a deep historical sense to our sometimes forgotten heartland.Gilfillan's sense of the land encompasses the plants, wildflowers, and small creatures; the birds that he writes such wonderfully detailed descriptions about; the rivers, watering holes, and butteframed vistas; and, very importantly, the legacy of the Plains tribes of Native Americans who loved this land and fashioned myth and legend about it. By overlaying these myths onto the modern plains landscape, Gilfillan invokes a poignant sense of loss, yet we are also ennobled by the profound sense of the landscape that his vision imparts to us. Gilfillan is a tour guide like no other. His readers are given lovely, lingering descriptions of the overlooked and forgotten, the out-of-the-way and underfoot.

127 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gilfillan's collection of short essays, which mostly have to do with the High Plains, reads like it was written by a poet - which it was. Gilfillan loves the country west of the 100th meridian and east of the Rockies (so do I), and writes evocatively about his travels through the region. Not quite as good as a previous set of essays, "Magpie Rising," but still very nice, and to be savored. Makes me want to hop in a car on a spring day and head west, to the country north and west of the Black Hills....

[Zane Hesting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reaffirms so much of what I feel about the Great Plains, and makes me realize I am missing so much out there. It's the best collection of essays I've read this year, and not just because it details the approximate 500 x 500 mile area where I live. It's because there is an undeniable love for a landscape that goes beyond the descriptions of birds and rivers (which are fantastic). He loves the history, the backroads, the native creation stories, the glimpses of truth that jut out from tales like a plains' butte, the simple chokecherry and plum brambles. It's about all of these places, constantly, and he's usually by himself. And yet he seems to keep himself in the background, but not so far as he can't pop in and tell the reader this is what his life means. I'm jealous of his ramblings and his deftness with the etymology of the plains. If you pair this book with Great Plains by Frazier I wouldn't be able to choose between the two of them. I'm going to read everything by Gilfillan.

I think there are three types of writers (I really think there are more than that but maybe I believe in just three tonight). The ones who are great at overarching metaphor but lesser on the line, the ones who are fantastic on the line but maybe lack in overall direction, and then the ones who can do both. This book scores extremely high on the line writing end of things. He can describe a butte or cottonwood tree in four different ways on the same page using a meticulous vocabulary and a honed ear for poetics. But the description is never just about saying "I shall now describe a tree and end with that," he will tie the object in with the region at hand, and will tie the region in with a larger area, and then he will tie that larger area into the Great Plains. Doing this makes the Great Plains seem small, and maybe that's what a good writer can do: flip the perceived image of a landscape. I don't know. I know I will read this book multiple times in the future.

[Jenneffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love Gilfillan's matter of fact attitude, but his heart-opening prose. How he pays attention to the grasses, and which direction the mountains or buttes slope, who he can see and can't, and how he knows when the wild turnips will be ready, and saves them to eat on a special occasion, like a windy day near a river that is dear to his heart.

[Jeff Garrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a series of essays, the author describes road trips through the northern plains (north and east of Denver). While he mentions traveling by interstate, most of these trips are back and side roads. Many are on native reservations. On one trip, he crossed a river by a a small ferry. An observant traveler, Gilfillan shares his spotting of birds and insects, along with the flora and fauna. Weaving into this stories are Native American mythology and spiritual reflections. He often mentions John Donne, the English poet, who appears to travel in his mind. He also records conversations with people along the way, at trading posts or on ranches or reservations. Well written, but no real plot, just good writing that centers on nature and the journey.

[David Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second reading of Chokecherry Places. I was just as enthralled during this reading as I was the first. Twelve meditations about the northern plains and low mountains from a master. This is Gilfillan's best collection of natural history/American history/myth essays.

[Laurie Heupel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who grew up and lived in the places that Merrill writes about, it was a wonderful read. I miss the high plains and his descriptions brought me back to those wonderful landscapes. His love for the lands is so evident. It is a collection of beautiful essays and heart touching.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of beautifully-written essays about the Northern High Plains, the landscape, the birdlife, the people past and present. To be savored.