Richard Blanco was catapulted into the national spotlight when President Obama selected him as the fifth Inaugural Poet of the United States, following in the footsteps of such great writers as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. Blanco wrote “One Today,” which he read at Obama’s Inauguration in January of 2013. Not only was Blanco the […]
Book Talk
Posted inCulture
Top 5 Books of the Year
“The Painter,” by Peter Heller An amazing novel that masterfully connects fly-fishing, high art, murder, revenge, and unimaginable loss into one breathless read. Heller’s powerful descriptions are bleakly beautiful, and illuminate the nature of art, and the art of nature. Great read for the modern western man, and the women who put up with them. […]
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Happily Never After?
Bend poets explore “fractured” fairy tales and Myths
What’s the big deal about fairy tales? In recent years the onslaught of princesses, wicked witches and big bad wolves in pop culture has overwhelmed TV and book markets, stacking up other-worldly entertainment to audiences of all ages. With serial television offerings like “Once Upon A Time,” “Grimm,” and “Sleepy Hollow,” joining countless film releases […]
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Disguise, Dissimulation and Cunning
Local author Steven Berg’s “Errand Runner”
In the spring of 1972, Step Bronstad steps into line at a Military Entrance Processing Station, “surrounded by dozens of other young men about to begin an odyssey that would likely place most of us in the war-torn jungles of Vietnam.” When he is hustled into an interrogation room, forced to answer questions about his […]
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You Can’t Handle the Truth
Outspoken Sibel Edmonds publishes second revealing novel
Oregon author and Bend resident, Sibel Edmonds, known as the “most classified woman in the U.S.,” will not be silenced. She’s the subject of several government-asserted State Secrets Privilege Orders, and the U.S. Congress has been indefinitely gagged and prevented from taking up her case through unprecedented retroactive classification orders issued by the Department of […]
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The Nameless Nurse
Lois Leveen explores Shakespeare’s comic relief in “Juliet’s Nurse”
I’ll never forget one particular moment in my high school English class. We were reading Romeo and Juliet, a rite of passage for bored, lusty, American teenagers everywhere. When I made the offhand suggestion that perhaps the author might have reconsidered the “love at first sight” premise, and instead offered a bit more relationship development […]
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The Manliest Men
Peter Heller’s sophomore novel, “The Painter”
Peter Heller, best-selling author of “The Dog Stars,” wowed Bend audiences last year when he visited the community as part of The Deschutes County Public Library’s “Novel Idea” program. His sophomore novel, “The Painter,” offers yet another moving narrative, and one that is sure to appeal to the outdoorsy, artistic, life-on-the-fringes reader, a demographic which […]
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Living in Dystopia
The future gets a harsh reimagining in “Good House”
In the near future, envisioned by debut author Peyton Marshall, genetic profiling is employed to segregate the population into those prone toward crime and violence, and those who aren’t. In this plausible—if distant—reality, the world has asked and answered the question, can we truly control the future? Although Marshall has coopted themes from the wildly […]
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“Crooked River” Country
An interview with author Valerie Geary
Valerie Geary’s gorgeous debut novel, “Crooked River,” is a haunting coming of age ghost story that follows sisters Ollie and Sam, set in Central Oregon. The Source recently sat down with Valerie to explore how “Crooked River” came to life. Source Weekly: In “Crooked River,” the Central Oregon landscape almost serves as a secondary character […]
