Platte River by Rick Bass

Three stories or novellas from one of my favored authors that, unfortunately, left little impression on me. Here’s the description from the front flap:

Rick Bass is one of the foremost writers of his generation. His astonishing work charges headlong past the hard surface of modern life to illuminate man and his relationship to the natural world. Platte River is a collection of three novellas, each a singular exploration of the human heart set against the backdrop of God’s creation.

Filled with arresting images -- chinook winds flying through a valley, couples skating in the dark on thin ice, tools made from animal bones, a delicate shape frozen in a river -- “Mahatma Joe” is about an evangelist who settles in Grass Valley, Montana, and the woman who grows obsessed with his vision of the world. In “Field Events,” a woman falls in love with a man even more enormous than her discus-tossing brothers. And the title novella, “Platte River,” portrays one man’s lyric meditation on loneliness, the nature of peace, and his quest for love.

Of the three, it is probably “Mahatma Joe,” that I best remember, being perhaps too obviously a fable based on the story of Adam, Eve, and Lilith. Although I suspect that if you looked for it on a map, you’d find Grass Valley somewhere east of Eden.

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This post first appeared on Eric Lanke's blog, an association executive and author. You can follow him on Twitter @ericlanke or contact him at eric.lanke@gmail.com.