This House of Sky

This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind by Ivan Doig is a ruminating, reflective memoir of early-life sheep ranching in Montana. Doig is a well-known western voice, one of the giants, and this is my first time reading him. I liked it: it's a thoughtful, well-constructed book--maybe a little dense, but satisfying. It reminded me of the works of William Kittredge, an Oregon State grad and fellow western thinker. Both writers situate their lives' stories within the context of colonization and the changing American West.

I liked Doig's description of Glacier National Park, as seen from the East: the mountains "armored with rimrock and icefield . . . all the hundred miles of gashing skyline . . . the reefline of the entire continent." I've seen that, too, and he gets it right. I've spent some time in the Big Sky State--my wife and I try to get over there every few years--and there's something about that place that amplifies the West. For the unintroduced, This House of Sky is a good place to begin.