8 days, 8 books: building to Wonderlandscape's pub date
To kick off the week before publication of my book Wonderlandscape: Yellowstone National Park and the Evolution of an
American Cultural Icon, I’m celebrating some other great books that are
currently on my mind.
First is the war novel Brave
Deeds by my friend David Abrams. David has lots of friends, because
he's a hard-working “book evangelist” and incredibly insightful reviewer. His
previous novel, Fobbit, got
well-deserved praise for being one of the first novels to tackle the Iraq war
on a comic level. "Fobbits" were the employees of forward operating bases
(FOBs), and David’s tale of their travails was a 21st century
combination of Catch-22 and Office Space. Brave Deeds covers more-conventional soldiering--six AWOL combatants
crossing war-torn Baghdad. Although I haven’t yet had a chance to read it
(because its pub date is one week before mine: August 1!), the reviews are coming in very
favorably.
At a journalism conference back in 2001, I met a smart,
talented writer named Jessica DuLong--also one of the world's
only female fireboat engineers. A few years later I was excited to see
the New Yorker writing up her memoir
of that experience, My River Chronicles. Now
she's got a follow-up, Dust to
Deliverance: Untold Stories from the Maritime Evacuation on September 11.
Giving it a great blurb--"A waterborne evacuation larger than Dunkirk--in New York Harbor?
How come we barely noticed this at the time, and have largely forgotten about
it since?"--is Adam Hochschild, the magnificent author who was
addressing the conference when she and I met.
Just
before Montana's special Congressional election in May, a BuzzFeed article
previewing the election was all over my social media. Unlike so many national
journalists, Anne Helen Petersen painted a picture of the real state I actually
know. She captured what Montana voters wanted—in my opinion, far better
than either party did! So I went out and bought her just-released book, Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud, and wow.
It’s smart, of-the-moment, easy to read, and informative. Most surprising to me
was its similarity to my book: ten chapters, each exploring an aspect of
Yellowstone/celebrity as a representation of wider cultural values.
Todd
Wilkinson's Last Stand, about the
environmentalist billionaire Ted Turner, has been on my to-read-soon list since
it came out a few years ago. Finally this summer became “soon.” Was I surprised
that a hard-hitting journalist could do an independent investigation of a
billionaire, and end up liking him? No, as a longtime fan of Todd's work, that’s
what I expected. What really surprised me was learning how Turner applied his
business smarts--building the brand of "bison"--to his ranching/environmental work.
I had just reached a point of no return on Wonderlandscape when I learned that
noted journalist and author George Black was about to publish Empire of Shadows: The Epic Story of
Yellowstone. It made me nervous. Luckily I can report that Empire of Shadows is both a very
different book than mine, and a complementary one. Black really wants to talk about
the Indian wars that preceded the founding of Yellowstone, the ones that made
Montana "safe" enough for the world’s first national park. Sadly, they involved
less-well-known versions of the same types of atrocities that have been
condemned elsewhere in the Indian wars--which were committed by some of the same
people we now laud as Yellowstone’s founders.
Among my initial hesitations in writing Wonderlandscape was that my good friend Gary Ferguson has already
written so many great books about Yellowstone. How could I compete? Eventually
I came up with what I see as a unique angle on Yellowstone’s history, and of
course Gary was very supportive. Meanwhile his new book Land on Fire provides easy-to-understand explanations of a key issue that my final
chapter could only briefly address: why wildfires have gotten so much bigger in
recent years.
Jordan Fisher Smith's Engineering
Eden was a valuable source for me, a deep exploration of federal wildlife
policies wrapped inside a dramatic wrongful-death lawsuit that I’d already
identified as a key moment in Yellowstone history. Recently I went back to
enjoy Smith's previous book, Nature Noir,
an amiable memoir of his career as a ranger at an obscure, violent, and doomed
park in California. Smith has a great knack for shining light on our
relationship to nature from unexpected angles.
I still remember the moment when I started the actual
writing of Wonderlandscape. I was
reading Philip Fradkin's Sagebrush
Country, and I suddenly set it down and started scrawling what I knew would
be the opening lines of my book. What's left of that text is now buried toward
the end of chapter 4, but I had indeed found my voice. It was a powerful
moment, and some of the credit should go to the often-underappreciated,
now-deceased Fradkin, whose smooth, informed prose did so much to unlock my
own.
Labels: history, narrative, Wonderlandscape
New book Wonderlandscape and coming events
New book Wonderlandscape looks at the history and changing fame of Yellowstone National Park
Author John Clayton schedules Montana events
On August 8, 2017, Pegasus Books will release Wonderlandscape: Yellowstone National Park and the Evolution of an American Cultural Icon, a nonfiction book by Montana author John Clayton. In the following several weeks, the author will speak about the book at events in Billings, Red Lodge, and Missoula, Montana.
“The question that drove me was, ‘Why is Yellowstone famous?’” Clayton says. “When I asked people, they would cite different qualities: the geysers, the grizzlies, the bison, the ecosystem as a whole, the fact that it was the first national park—and even Yogi Bear. What really fascinated me was when I realized how these qualities took turns driving Yellowstone’s fame.” Yellowstone has always stood—and continues to stand—at the center of American cultural watersheds, whether it was changing social mores with Teddy Roosevelt, the birth of new movements in architecture and photography, or the revolutionizing of our concepts of ecology and conservation.
Clayton is the author of several previous books, including The Cowboy Girl, a biography of the Montana/Wyoming novelist, journalist, and homesteader Caroline Lockhart, which was a finalist for a High Plains Book Award and a Best Book of the Year from the website NewWest.net, and Stories from Montana's Enduring Frontier, a collection of essays on Montana history. A regular contributor to Montana Quarterly and other magazines, he has lived in greater Yellowstone for 27 years.
Early praise for Wonderlandscape
In Wonderlandscape, Clayton explores how Yellowstone’s reputation—and its relationship to the values of the nation as a whole—has been enriched and redefined by characters including painters, architects, naturalists, dude ranchers, scientists, firefighters, and of course talking cartoon bears. The hardcover book also features 32 historic and color photos of the Yellowstone area.
“Wonderlandscape will change the way you think about the country. And beyond that, it will leave you with a with a fresh sense of how the world’s first national park has long been a mirror for who we are, and who we hope to become,” says Gary Ferguson, author of The Carry Home and several books about Yellowstone.
Kirkus Reviews calls Wonderlandscape “A thoughtful study of a celebrated natural wonder that has come to truly “embod[y] American ideals,” while Publishers Weekly says, “Clayton succeeds in presenting Yellowstone as a core American institution... through which Americans have redefined themselves across generations.”
Montana events
The author is celebrating with a “book release party” at Red Lodge Ales (1445 North Broadway in Red Lodge) on Tuesday, August 8 from 5:30 – 8:00 PM. The open house will feature hors d'oeuvres and a half-price beer for book purchasers.
The Billings Public Library (510 North Broadway in Billings, 406/657-8258) will host an author talk on Wednesday, September 20 at 7:00 PM. The lecture and slideshow will feature readings from the book and a Q&A.
The Carbon County Historical Society and Museum (224 North Broadway in Red Lodge, 406/446-3667) will host Clayton for its Lecture Series on Wednesday, September 27 at 7:00 PM. The lecture and slideshow, featuring readings from the book and a Q&A, is free to members and $2 for nonmembers.
Clayton will appear at the Montana Book Festival in Missoula September 28–October 1 (http://www.montanabookfestival.org/) in a schedule and format to be determined.
The Western Heritage Center (2822 Montana Avenue in Billings, 406/256-6809) will host Clayton for its High Noon Speakers Series at 12:00 PM on Thursday, October 19, in an event sponsored by Northwestern Energy that serves as an informal kickoff for the High Plains BookFest.
Except as noted above, all events are free and open to the public. Wonderlandscape will be available for purchase at all of the events, and starting August 8 is also available in hardcover and e-book formats from all traditional and online booksellers, including local independent bookstores. The book’s ISBN is 978-1681774572.
Additional valuable links
Labels: events, Wonderlandscape
Wonderlandscape
I'm pleased to announce that my new book, WONDERLANDSCAPE: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, will be published by Pegasus Books in August 2017. The book tells ten stories of adventures in Yellowstone that demonstrate the park's changing meaning to American culture at large.
The book tells stories of artists (Ansel Adams, Thomas Moran), naturalists (Ernest Thompson Seton, Frank and John Craighead), entrepreneurs (dude rancher Larry Larom, hotelier Harry Child), and cartoon bears (Yogi). Each character makes a journey that fulfills an individual quest such as money or fame. But each quest also ends up reflecting and redefining Yellowstone for the values of its era. For example, when Seton in 1897 wanted to observe bears so as to more effectively craft his popular illustrated animal stories, his adventures highlighted the way Yellowstone in that era transformed from a set of geological oddities to a wildlife sanctuary -- at a time when the nation was concerned about disappearing populations of bison and other species.
Each journey thus added a layer of meaning to the park, and these accumulated layers are what make Yellowstone such a culturally rich place. (What's that, you thought Yellowstone was a natural place, not a cultural one? Well, yes, that's part of its fascinating cultural development!)
I've been working on this book for several years and am delighted to have placed it with Pegasus, an outstanding house with a rich list in history, nature, science, and narrative. This will be my first book published in New York, and my first time in hardcover. When the book is published, it will be available in your favorite bookstore, and I'll be sure to announce details on this site as well as social media. But if you want to get a personalized notice (and yes, of course I won't sell your name), shoot me an email at info@johnclaytonbooks.com.
The book tells stories of artists (Ansel Adams, Thomas Moran), naturalists (Ernest Thompson Seton, Frank and John Craighead), entrepreneurs (dude rancher Larry Larom, hotelier Harry Child), and cartoon bears (Yogi). Each character makes a journey that fulfills an individual quest such as money or fame. But each quest also ends up reflecting and redefining Yellowstone for the values of its era. For example, when Seton in 1897 wanted to observe bears so as to more effectively craft his popular illustrated animal stories, his adventures highlighted the way Yellowstone in that era transformed from a set of geological oddities to a wildlife sanctuary -- at a time when the nation was concerned about disappearing populations of bison and other species.
Each journey thus added a layer of meaning to the park, and these accumulated layers are what make Yellowstone such a culturally rich place. (What's that, you thought Yellowstone was a natural place, not a cultural one? Well, yes, that's part of its fascinating cultural development!)
I've been working on this book for several years and am delighted to have placed it with Pegasus, an outstanding house with a rich list in history, nature, science, and narrative. This will be my first book published in New York, and my first time in hardcover. When the book is published, it will be available in your favorite bookstore, and I'll be sure to announce details on this site as well as social media. But if you want to get a personalized notice (and yes, of course I won't sell your name), shoot me an email at info@johnclaytonbooks.com.
Labels: Wonderlandscape
Yellowstone visitation as compared to national population
This chart shows the visitation to Yellowstone National Park as a percentage of the total U.S. population for 1904-1999. There's a huge dip caused by World War II. Otherwise, it rises rather steadily, and increasingly, from about 1918 to 1970. After 1970, there are many more fluctuations, but the general trend is steady or ever-so-slightly increasing.
To me, the trend clearly relates to the nationwide increase in automobile usage and appreciation. Autos weren't allowed into Yellowstone until 1915 (although the numbers don't start rising for a few years after that). And by 1970, I suspect every family that wanted a car had one.
Other possible causation factors: 1) In 1916 Yellowstone was taken over by the new National Park Service, which focused on publicity much more than previous administrators had. Not only did it have bigger advertising budgets, but it better understood what Yellowstone (should) mean to the public. Those messages may have become less powerful in the 1970s. 2) The Progressive Era, starting in the 1910s, was a time of general public trust in the federal government. Highways, dams, and other public works projects including parks were well loved. By the 1970s this trust was no longer rising, and perhaps even starting to erode.
Do you have other ideas? I'd love to hear them.
(Sources: http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/nation/popclockest.txt and https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Annual%20Park%20Visitation%20(All%20Years)?Park=YELL)
Other possible causation factors: 1) In 1916 Yellowstone was taken over by the new National Park Service, which focused on publicity much more than previous administrators had. Not only did it have bigger advertising budgets, but it better understood what Yellowstone (should) mean to the public. Those messages may have become less powerful in the 1970s. 2) The Progressive Era, starting in the 1910s, was a time of general public trust in the federal government. Highways, dams, and other public works projects including parks were well loved. By the 1970s this trust was no longer rising, and perhaps even starting to erode.
Do you have other ideas? I'd love to hear them.
(Sources: http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/nation/popclockest.txt and https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Annual%20Park%20Visitation%20(All%20Years)?Park=YELL)
Labels: Wonderlandscape
