Reading Portland
The City in Prose
Published on 20. December 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
608 pages
978-0-295-98677-7 (ISBN)
Description
Reading Portland is a literary exploration of the city's past and present. In over eighty selections, Portland is revealed through histories, memoirs, autobiographies, short stories, novels, and news reports. This single volume gives voice to women and men; the colonizers and the colonized; white, Hispanic, African American, Asian American, and Indian storytellers; and lower, middle, and upper classes.
In his introduction, John Trombold considers the history of writing about a place that has nourished a provocative and errant literary tradition for over 150 years. In the preface, Peter Donahue considers the influence of region--particularly Portland's urbanity and its hybrid population--on literature.
Included here are the voices of Carl Abbott, Kathryn Hall Bogle, Beverly Cleary, Robin Cody, Lawson Fusao Inada, Rudyard Kipling, Ursula K. Le Guin, Joaquin Miller, Sandy Polishuk, Gary Snyder, Kim Stafford, Elizabeth Woody, and many more.
In his introduction, John Trombold considers the history of writing about a place that has nourished a provocative and errant literary tradition for over 150 years. In the preface, Peter Donahue considers the influence of region--particularly Portland's urbanity and its hybrid population--on literature.
Included here are the voices of Carl Abbott, Kathryn Hall Bogle, Beverly Cleary, Robin Cody, Lawson Fusao Inada, Rudyard Kipling, Ursula K. Le Guin, Joaquin Miller, Sandy Polishuk, Gary Snyder, Kim Stafford, Elizabeth Woody, and many more.
Reviews / Votes
"John Trombold and Peter Donahue's Reading Portland: The City in Prose could be used as an urban history of the Rose City; but more effectively, it is a celebration of Portland's urban life..This collection of authors is superior to any other urban anthologies I have found. I cannot help but wonder if Trombold and Donahue envision a City in Prose series..I anxious await Reading Chicago, Reading Boston, and Reading Las Vegas."(Columbia) "[A]ny literate person who loves Portland will enjoy and profit from the readings in this book. Reading Portland is an investigation of the nature of a place, an inductive exploration into the character of a city done with an instrument called prose. Any Portlander who loves this city should have Reading Portland on his or her shelf in order to read and reread tales of the tribe that lives at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers."
(Oregon Historical Quarterly) "It is the author's diversity of sentiment, style, and time period which creates an interesting and varied perspective on Portland, and ultimately gives the reader great insight into the city's history."
(Portland Mercury)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
45 illus.
Dimensions
Height: 227 mm
Width: 149 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
964 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-295-98677-7 (9780295986777)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
08/2017
1st Edition
University of Washington Press
€27.99
Available for download
Persons
John Trombold teaches at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. Peter Donahue teaches at Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama and is the author of many short stories and books, including the novel Madison House. Together, they edited Reading Seattle: The City in Prose.
Content
The Pull of the Rivers: A Preface, by Peter Donahue / xv
Acknowledgments / xxi
Reading Portland: An Introduction, by John Trombold / xxiii
Early Portland: Muddy Streets and Destiny
MATTHEW DEADY / 3
Portland-on-Wallamet
HARVEY W. SCOTT / 6
From History of Portland
Position and Advantages of Portland
Settlement and Early Times
JANET STEVENSON / 10
From Departure
The Third Month
The Fourth Month
The Fifth Month
ROBERT ORMOND CASE / 20
From Empire Builders
1850-Interlude
Once to Every Warrior
ALFRED POWERS / 28
From Long Way to Frisco
THERESA TRUCHOT / 31
From Charcoal Wagon Boy
Smuggler Catchers
ERNEST HAYCOX / 34
From The Long Storm
MALCOLM CLARK JR. / 40
The War on the Webfoot Saloon
STEWART HOLBROOK / 50
The Three Sirens of Portland
RUDYARD KIPLING / 56
From From Sea to Sea
JOAQUIN MILLER / 59
From Memorie and Rime
The New and the Old
JOEL REDON / 62
From The Road to Zena
E. KIMBARK MACCOLL / 66
From The Shaping of a City
A Wide Angle View
STEPHEN DOUGLAS PUTER / 71
From Looters of the Public Domain
History of the Picture that Elected Hermann to Congress
ANONYMOUS / 74
The Life Story of a Japanese Servant
ANONYMOUS / 78
The Portland Exposition
JAMES STEVENS / 85
From Big Jim Turner
Little Pretty and the Seven Bulls
STEVEN LOWENSTEIN / 98
From The Jews of Oregon
The Story of Aaron and Jeanette Meier
Modern Portland: The Rose City
CHARLES ERSKINE SCOTT WOOD / 105
Portland's Feast of Roses
LOUISE BRYANT / 112
Two Judges
EVELYN MCDANIEL GIBB / 114
From Two Wheels North
BARBARA BARTLETT HARTWELL / 120
The Wood Household
JOHN REED / 126
Almost Thirty
ALAN CHEUSE / 132
From The Bohemians
ALAN HART / 147
From Doctor Mallory
SANDY POLISHUK / 152
From Sticking to the Union
MICHAEL MUNK / 160
Portland's "Silk Stocking Mob"
LAURENCE PRATT / 168
From I Remember Portland
Chinatown
Bicycle
JAMES BEARD / 172
From Delights and Prejudices
NANCY NOON KENDALL / 181
From The Wise in Heart
MARY BARNARD / 191
From Assault on Mount Helicon
BEVERLY CLEARY / 201
From A Girl from Yamhill
High School Freshmen
Wise Fools
Love and the Spelling Bee
CLYDE RICE / 210
From Nordi's Gift
TOM MCALLISTER and DAVID B. MARSHALL / 215
Hometown
ELIZABETH MCLAGAN / 219
From A Peculiar Paradise
Sober, Industrious, and Honest
KATHRYN HALL BOGLE / 225
An American Negro Speaks of Color
AUGUSTA CLAWSON / 230
From Shipyard Diary of a Woman Welder
JOHN OKADA / 237
From No-No Boy
LAWSON FUSAO INADA / 247
The Flower Girls
MARIE ROSE WONG / 258
From Sweet Cakes, Long Journey
Portland Proper: Neighborhoods,
Activists, Nature, and Beer
ROBERT DIETSCHE / 265
Where Jump Was a Noun
DON CARPENTER / 274
From The Class of '49
May Fete Day
RICHARD NEUBERGER / 280
My Hometown Is Good Enough for Me
PHIL STANFORD / 287
From Portland Confidential
Back to Business as Usual
The Tantalizing Candy Renee
Hot Times at the Desert Room
GARY SNYDER / 292
From The Practice of the Wild
The Same Old Song and Dance
PAUL PINTARICH / 293
From History By the Glass
MIKAL GILMORE / 304
From Shot in the Heart
Settling Down
Strangers
KIM STAFFORD / 314
The Separate Hearth
SHANA ALEXANDER / 321
From Astonishing Elephant
The Elephant's Child
RUTH BARNETT and DOUG BAKER / 329
From They Weep on My Doorstep
ALBERT DRAKE / 336
From One Summer
Lost Lake
Scotch Broom
Smells
At the Branch
URSULA K. LEGUIN / 343
From The Lathe of Heaven
KENNETH STERN / 353
From Loud Hawk
A Bullet in a Guy's Head
ALEXANDER PATTERSON / 358
Terrasquirma and the Engines of Social Change in 1970s Portland
ED EDMO / 367
After Celilo
RICHARD HUGO / 371
From Death and the Good Life
JEWEL LANSING / 384
From Deadly Games in City Hall
LOUIS MASSON / 390
From the Wheelhouse of the Western Cougar
DAVID JAMES DUNCAN / 395
From The River Why
Little, But Strong
Closing the Door
WALT CURTIS / 402
From Mala Noche and Other "Illegal" Adventures
Immigrants
Notes on the Mexican Kids
DANIEL CHACON / 409
From Chicano Chicanery
Aztlan, Oregon
DOUGLAS COUPLAND / 420
From Generation X
MTV Not Bullets
Transform
Welcome Home from Vietnam, Son
ROBIN CODY / 427
From Voyage of a Summer Sun
The Urban Waterway
WILLIAM LEAST HEAT MOON / 433
From River-Horse
Robot of the River
Contemporary Portland: Scenes and Reflections
ELINOR LANGER / 439
From A Hundred Little Hitlers
The Death of Mulugeta Seraw
Underground
SUSAN ORLEAN / 445
Figures in a Mall
ED GOLDBERG / 454
From Dead Air
KATHERINE DUNN / 463
From Truck
LEE WILLIAMS / 468
From After Nirvana
CARL ABBOTT / 473
From Greater Portland
Ramona Quimby's Portland: The Nicest City Possible?
DAN NEWTH / 481
Chillin'
JAN MORRIS / 482
The Other Portland
PHILLIP MARGOLIN / 486
From Ties That Bind
APRIL HENRY / 491
From Buried Diamonds
MARTHA GIES / 495
From Up All Night
Obdulia at the Rose Garden
KATHLEEN DEAN MOORE / 501
From Riverwalking
The Willamette
DONALD MILLER / 503
From Blue Like Jazz
Shifts
CHUCK PALAHNIUK / 508
From Fugitives and Refugees
Getting Off: How to Knock Off a Piece in Portland
xii READING PORTLAND
MATTHEW STADLER / 512
From The Stranger
Brown at the Edges with a Chewy White Center
SALLIE TISDALE / 518
Portland from the Air
ELIZABETH WOODY / 524
Buckskin
MIRANDA BEVERLY-WHITTEMORE / 526
From The Effects of Light
PETER ROCK / 530
From The Bewildered
KEVIN CANTY / 537
From Winslow in Love
DAVID OATES / 541
From City Limits: Walking Portland's Boundary
Boots on the Ground in Sherwood Forest
Selected Bibliography / 549
Citations and Permissions / 563
Acknowledgments / xxi
Reading Portland: An Introduction, by John Trombold / xxiii
Early Portland: Muddy Streets and Destiny
MATTHEW DEADY / 3
Portland-on-Wallamet
HARVEY W. SCOTT / 6
From History of Portland
Position and Advantages of Portland
Settlement and Early Times
JANET STEVENSON / 10
From Departure
The Third Month
The Fourth Month
The Fifth Month
ROBERT ORMOND CASE / 20
From Empire Builders
1850-Interlude
Once to Every Warrior
ALFRED POWERS / 28
From Long Way to Frisco
THERESA TRUCHOT / 31
From Charcoal Wagon Boy
Smuggler Catchers
ERNEST HAYCOX / 34
From The Long Storm
MALCOLM CLARK JR. / 40
The War on the Webfoot Saloon
STEWART HOLBROOK / 50
The Three Sirens of Portland
RUDYARD KIPLING / 56
From From Sea to Sea
JOAQUIN MILLER / 59
From Memorie and Rime
The New and the Old
JOEL REDON / 62
From The Road to Zena
E. KIMBARK MACCOLL / 66
From The Shaping of a City
A Wide Angle View
STEPHEN DOUGLAS PUTER / 71
From Looters of the Public Domain
History of the Picture that Elected Hermann to Congress
ANONYMOUS / 74
The Life Story of a Japanese Servant
ANONYMOUS / 78
The Portland Exposition
JAMES STEVENS / 85
From Big Jim Turner
Little Pretty and the Seven Bulls
STEVEN LOWENSTEIN / 98
From The Jews of Oregon
The Story of Aaron and Jeanette Meier
Modern Portland: The Rose City
CHARLES ERSKINE SCOTT WOOD / 105
Portland's Feast of Roses
LOUISE BRYANT / 112
Two Judges
EVELYN MCDANIEL GIBB / 114
From Two Wheels North
BARBARA BARTLETT HARTWELL / 120
The Wood Household
JOHN REED / 126
Almost Thirty
ALAN CHEUSE / 132
From The Bohemians
ALAN HART / 147
From Doctor Mallory
SANDY POLISHUK / 152
From Sticking to the Union
MICHAEL MUNK / 160
Portland's "Silk Stocking Mob"
LAURENCE PRATT / 168
From I Remember Portland
Chinatown
Bicycle
JAMES BEARD / 172
From Delights and Prejudices
NANCY NOON KENDALL / 181
From The Wise in Heart
MARY BARNARD / 191
From Assault on Mount Helicon
BEVERLY CLEARY / 201
From A Girl from Yamhill
High School Freshmen
Wise Fools
Love and the Spelling Bee
CLYDE RICE / 210
From Nordi's Gift
TOM MCALLISTER and DAVID B. MARSHALL / 215
Hometown
ELIZABETH MCLAGAN / 219
From A Peculiar Paradise
Sober, Industrious, and Honest
KATHRYN HALL BOGLE / 225
An American Negro Speaks of Color
AUGUSTA CLAWSON / 230
From Shipyard Diary of a Woman Welder
JOHN OKADA / 237
From No-No Boy
LAWSON FUSAO INADA / 247
The Flower Girls
MARIE ROSE WONG / 258
From Sweet Cakes, Long Journey
Portland Proper: Neighborhoods,
Activists, Nature, and Beer
ROBERT DIETSCHE / 265
Where Jump Was a Noun
DON CARPENTER / 274
From The Class of '49
May Fete Day
RICHARD NEUBERGER / 280
My Hometown Is Good Enough for Me
PHIL STANFORD / 287
From Portland Confidential
Back to Business as Usual
The Tantalizing Candy Renee
Hot Times at the Desert Room
GARY SNYDER / 292
From The Practice of the Wild
The Same Old Song and Dance
PAUL PINTARICH / 293
From History By the Glass
MIKAL GILMORE / 304
From Shot in the Heart
Settling Down
Strangers
KIM STAFFORD / 314
The Separate Hearth
SHANA ALEXANDER / 321
From Astonishing Elephant
The Elephant's Child
RUTH BARNETT and DOUG BAKER / 329
From They Weep on My Doorstep
ALBERT DRAKE / 336
From One Summer
Lost Lake
Scotch Broom
Smells
At the Branch
URSULA K. LEGUIN / 343
From The Lathe of Heaven
KENNETH STERN / 353
From Loud Hawk
A Bullet in a Guy's Head
ALEXANDER PATTERSON / 358
Terrasquirma and the Engines of Social Change in 1970s Portland
ED EDMO / 367
After Celilo
RICHARD HUGO / 371
From Death and the Good Life
JEWEL LANSING / 384
From Deadly Games in City Hall
LOUIS MASSON / 390
From the Wheelhouse of the Western Cougar
DAVID JAMES DUNCAN / 395
From The River Why
Little, But Strong
Closing the Door
WALT CURTIS / 402
From Mala Noche and Other "Illegal" Adventures
Immigrants
Notes on the Mexican Kids
DANIEL CHACON / 409
From Chicano Chicanery
Aztlan, Oregon
DOUGLAS COUPLAND / 420
From Generation X
MTV Not Bullets
Transform
Welcome Home from Vietnam, Son
ROBIN CODY / 427
From Voyage of a Summer Sun
The Urban Waterway
WILLIAM LEAST HEAT MOON / 433
From River-Horse
Robot of the River
Contemporary Portland: Scenes and Reflections
ELINOR LANGER / 439
From A Hundred Little Hitlers
The Death of Mulugeta Seraw
Underground
SUSAN ORLEAN / 445
Figures in a Mall
ED GOLDBERG / 454
From Dead Air
KATHERINE DUNN / 463
From Truck
LEE WILLIAMS / 468
From After Nirvana
CARL ABBOTT / 473
From Greater Portland
Ramona Quimby's Portland: The Nicest City Possible?
DAN NEWTH / 481
Chillin'
JAN MORRIS / 482
The Other Portland
PHILLIP MARGOLIN / 486
From Ties That Bind
APRIL HENRY / 491
From Buried Diamonds
MARTHA GIES / 495
From Up All Night
Obdulia at the Rose Garden
KATHLEEN DEAN MOORE / 501
From Riverwalking
The Willamette
DONALD MILLER / 503
From Blue Like Jazz
Shifts
CHUCK PALAHNIUK / 508
From Fugitives and Refugees
Getting Off: How to Knock Off a Piece in Portland
xii READING PORTLAND
MATTHEW STADLER / 512
From The Stranger
Brown at the Edges with a Chewy White Center
SALLIE TISDALE / 518
Portland from the Air
ELIZABETH WOODY / 524
Buckskin
MIRANDA BEVERLY-WHITTEMORE / 526
From The Effects of Light
PETER ROCK / 530
From The Bewildered
KEVIN CANTY / 537
From Winslow in Love
DAVID OATES / 541
From City Limits: Walking Portland's Boundary
Boots on the Ground in Sherwood Forest
Selected Bibliography / 549
Citations and Permissions / 563