Bitterbrush Country: Living on the Edge of the Land [Hardcover]

Diane Josephy Peavey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2001

"My home is the vast, open landscape of south-central Idaho, at once a sanctuary, a source of strength, and a heartache," writes Diane Josephy Peavey in the introduction to Bitterbrush Country. Her words echo the paradox that many westerners feel about life in the West, the most eagerly developed landscape in America. But in place of nostalgia, polemic, or exposé as a response to this voraciousness, Peavey describes from ground level what it's like to be a rancher and an environmentalist, to love a place still shaped by generational communities and rolling hills. In a mosaic of essays, Peavey shares both her visceral joys in the land and her fears about losing a rural western way of life. From delighting in the arrival of blooming bitterbrush and cooking "gormay" on a sheep run, to mourning the loss of neighbors unable to hold on to family farms and ranches, Peavey tells a deeply personal story of her chosen home.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

When Diane Josephy met Idaho state senator and rancher John Peavey in 1980, she hardly suspected that her urban existence was about to end and that she would find herself married to this third-generation rancher and living in blissful isolation at the end of a 24-mile dirt road. This is a collection of short essays revealing humorous, heartwarming, and heartbreaking moments from her life on Flat Top Sheep Ranch. Originally read on Idaho Public Radio, the essays reveal the heart of Western rural culture rodeos, county fairs, and sheep shearing, as well as the struggle of family farms to survive unpredictable weather, unfavorable U.S. farm policy, encroaching development, and globalization. Peavey writes of her passion for the land in all its beauty and complexity, which is the common ground between her rancher and environmentalist sides. Her compelling writing evokes the smell of sagebrush, the sweltering heat of a cattle drive on a 100-degree day, and the pleasant melancholy of a winter landscape. Highly recommended for all public libraries and for academic libraries with Western or nature-writing collections. Maureen J. Delaney-Lehman, Lake Superior State Univ., Sault Ste. Marie, MI
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

One woman's story of finding home in the American West and her struggle to preserve it.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing; First Edition edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555912931
• ISBN-13: 978-1555912932
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,260,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go West, Young Woman, October 22, 2001

By 

"nannygoatofgrace" (Bothell, Wa USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bitterbrush Country: Living on the Edge of the Land (Hardcover)

Although I've read many books by and about women in the West, this is a refreshing new twist on the oft-told memoir in which the author marries a sheep and cattle rancher and grows to love the wide open and arid spaces of Southern Idaho, as well as the interesting characters she meets along the process. What's new about it? Peavey is the daughter of noted western historian Alvin Josephy, and spent every summer of her childhood at the family ranch in Joseph, Oregon. the book is a collection of her commentaries on Boise's National Public Radio station, and shows that she has inherited her father's wonderful felicity with the English language, as well as his sensitivity to issues in the contemporary West. This book belongs on one's bookshelf along with those by Terry Tempest Williams, Gretel Erlich, Kim Barnes, and Terri Hein. This is the perfect gift for those who grew up on a farm or ranch, or have just visited one!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, excellent, excellent, April 20, 2005

By 

Washington State Native - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bitterbrush Country: Living on the Edge of the Land (Hardcover)

I highly recommend this book to all - those that love the life of a Western ranch and those that are just curious. You will be entertained and enlightened by these essays. You will laugh and develop a deeper sense of compassion. Diane is a wonderful writer and brings her stories to life with powerful word pictures. You won't regret soaking up this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible Title, December 3, 2010

By 

wunershnitzel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bitterbrush Country: Living on the Edge of the Land (Hardcover)

I lived in the area she writes about for awhile. It is a special place but her claim to it is patronizing.
Also, really stupid title. What does that mean living on the edge of the land? Is it a platform suspended above the land, or maybe it's a boat just off shore, maybe she means outerspace. Why can't she just live on the land like the rest of us? It is this separation between places where we live and natural environments that indicates she more urbanite than country girl.