Books

Don't Miss: 'Seasons: Desert Sketches' by Ellen Meloy

July 5, 2019 at 3:30PM
Illustration of pot fragment by Ellen Meloy, from "Seasons," by Ellen Meloy, Torrey House Press.
Illustration of pot fragment by Ellen Meloy, from “Seasons,” by Ellen Meloy, Torrey House Press. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

In Ellen Meloy's eyes, bighorn sheep cling to mountainsides "as if with Velcro." Accustomed to arid Utah, she finds the lush woods of West Virginia to be like "a giant green marshmallow." The grunts of a toad sound like "sheep bleats, creaky doors, squashed ducks, a berserk handsaw, or a pencil stroking the teeth of a comb." "Seasons" is a collection of short essays Meloy wrote and recorded for KUER, Utah's NPR affiliate. The tapes sat on a shelf after her 2004 death until Torrey House and KUER collaborated to publish the pieces in April, illustrated with Meloy's own fine line drawings. Funny, wry, steeped in nature and as sharp as the needles on a pinyon pine, these essays will make you rethink your view of the American West. Meloy's wise and unexpected observations are a pure delight.

LAURIE HERTZEL

"Seasons," by Ellen Meloy.
“Seasons,” by Ellen Meloy. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Feather illustration by Ellen Meloy, from "Seasons," by Ellen Meloy, Torrey House Press.
Feather illustration by Ellen Meloy, from “Seasons,” by Ellen Meloy, Torrey House Press. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writer

about the writer