Tag Archives: The West

The Year Without a Winter: Two Centuries Later, a Climate Switcheroo

Posted on February 3, 2016 by williamjcobb

So some years back I read a good book titled The Year Without a Summer: 1816 and the Volcano That Darkened the World and Changed History (2013), by William and Nicholas Klingaman (that name makes you wonder: or are they … Continue reading →

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On Flying Rivers and Ghost Forests: A Visit to Mesa Verde

Posted on October 13, 2015 by williamjcobb

So I spent last weekend at Mesa Verde National Park—a bit west of Durango, Colorado, in the famous Four Corners region of the American Southwest—grokking with the spirits of our Native American ancestors, hiking through ancestral puebloan cliff dwellings, and … Continue reading →

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Gunfire in the Aspens: the Realities of Cabin Life in the Rockies, With an Appreciative Nod to Walter Kirn in the New York Times

Posted on September 16, 2015 by williamjcobb

So I read today’s piece by Walter Kirn in the New York Times about cabin life and its status as an eddy of the American Dream (“Cabins, the New American Dream,” found here) with some amusement and recognition: I live … Continue reading →

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Review of Patrick DeWitt's novel "Undermajordomo Minor" in the Dallas Morning News

Posted on September 14, 2015 by williamjcobb

So I know I should feel badly for neglecting my stepchild blog, for never coming to visit, for not giving enough love—”No sticky handfuls of chocolate for you, Kid!” But I plead a busy life, and slaving away (is it … Continue reading →

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Review of Kent Haruf's "Our Souls at Night" in the Dallas Morning News

Posted on June 8, 2015 by williamjcobb

So I’m a delayed/recalcitrant blogger at best, but I did review Kent Haruf’s final novel, Our Souls at Night, for the Dallas Morning News recently, and it can be found here. In my defense I can say I’m busy working … Continue reading →

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On Kent Haruf's "Our Souls at Night": The Last Waltz in Holt, Colorado

Posted on May 13, 2015 by williamjcobb

So I felt a mixture of sadness and readerly pleasure upon opening Kent Haruf’s final, posthumous novel, Our Souls at Night, to be published by Knopf this month. I first encountered Haruf’s fiction in 1999, when I was assigned his … Continue reading →

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"Dr. WarmLove or: How I Stopped Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Heat"

Posted on April 20, 2015 by williamjcobb

So I had the odd Flashback Experience of being visited last week by a college roommate I had not seen in twenty years (and we were roomies much longer ago than that, at the University of Texas, in Austin, circa … Continue reading →

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Chris Nolan's "Interstellar" as Half-Baked Cli-Fi, or What Does Matthew McConaughey Eat in Outer Space? Pretzel Ions?

Posted on April 5, 2015 by williamjcobb

So I must first confess I’ve never been seduced by the eye-candy of Christopher Nolan’s films: Yes, they’re imaginative, clever, outlandish and topical. I’m all for that. But at some point they tend to turn so “Hollywood” that you have … Continue reading →

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On the Bear-Attack Film "Backcountry": Generation D Goes for a Hike

Posted on March 29, 2015 by williamjcobb

So I’m a sucker for a good bear-attack movie, having backpacked many times in the gorgeous/treacherous wilds of grizzly country (Alaska, Montana, Wyoming), where it’s often said that humans are not the top of the food chain, which can certainly … Continue reading →

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Review of Reif Larsen's "I Am Radar" in the Dallas Morning News

Posted on March 1, 2015 by williamjcobb

So I’ve neglected this lonely little blog so often I should seriously feel guilty, but . . . I have my reasons. Note that I say I should feel guilty. But I don’t. (Well, maybe just a tad scrap of guilt is swirling around the door … Continue reading →

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