The Hermit's Story: Stories [Hardcover]

Rick Bass (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 23, 2002

The Hermit’s Story is Rick Bass's best and most varied fiction yet. In the title story, a man and a woman travel across an eerily frozen lake—under the ice. “The Distance” casts a skeptical eye on Thomas Jefferson through the lens of a Montana man’s visit to Monticello. “Eating” begins with an owl being sucked into a canoe and ends with a man eating a town out of house and home, and “The Cave” is a stunning story of a man and woman lost in an abandoned mine. Other stories include “The Fireman,” “Swans,” “The Prisoners,” “Presidents’ Day,” “Real Town,” and “Two Deer.” Some of these stories have appeared in The Best American Short Stories, but for many readers, they won’t even be the best in this collection. Every story in this book is remarkable in its own way, sure to please both new readers and avid fans of Rick Bass’s passionate, unmistakable voice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nature is as otherworldly as a line of bright birds frozen stiff, and as prosaic as a patch of grass, in this uniformly excellent collection. In the title story, a dog trainer and her companion, a man called Gray Owl, take six dogs out on a hunting exercise. Toward the end of their trip, Gray Owl falls through the ice of a lake, but instead of drowning, winds up on at the bottom of a dry basin covered with a layer of ice. He is joined by the trainer and the dogs, and together they cross the lake under the ice, an adventure that forces the trainer to examine her perspective, since every step presents a fresh challenge to the senses. "The Fireman" relates the dissolution of the title character's first marriage through the metaphor of fire, with Bass skillfully juxtaposing the blaze of human relationships and the searing, organic power of fire. The volume dips into humor with the pseudo-fantastical "Eating," in which an owl trapped in a canoe lashed to the top of a car initiates a memorable episode in a North Carolina diner; the ensuing gastronomical feats both amaze and amuse. The jewel of this collection, "Swans," introduces Billy, who has a preternatural connection with the trees on his Idaho homestead, and describes his idyllic life with his wife, a soulful baker. As the story progresses, Billy grows ill and slowly wastes away, even as the unnamed narrator eloquently and simply chronicles his decline. Billy's life takes on a stirring quality of pathos, and his graceful death leaves the reader deeply satisfied yet yearning for more. That sentiment might be extended to each of the lovely stories gathered here.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In his new collection, novelist and nature writer Bass (e.g., Colter) focuses a naturalist's eye not only on the frozen lakes and interplay of predator and prey often found in his work but also on the ebb and flow of human emotions and relationships. Among several selections set in a remote region of northern Montana is the title story, in which a couple and a pack of dogs, lost in a winter storm, almost miraculously find refuge beneath the ice on a frozen lake. Failed or troubled marriages figure throughout, and the male characters often ponder lost love while deeply involved in more immediate tasks, like fighting fires or helping a friend after an eye operation. In an especially strong story, "The Distance," a man recalls his first visit to Jefferson's Monticello as a teenager while touring the estate with his wife and daughter. His critical view of both Jefferson and the tour guide gives Bass a chance to quote from Jefferson's writings, which show that he was a dedicated and radical environmentalist. Thought-provoking and entertaining, these stories move along quickly but continue to resonate long after the reader is done; several have been anthologized in award collections. Recommended for all libraries.
- Jim Coan, SUNY at Oneonta
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First Edition edition (July 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061813932X
• ISBN-13: 978-0618139323
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #752,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A five-star compilation of stories to rank among Bass' best., September 27, 2002

By 

Adam G. Burt "mindwrath" (APO, AE United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hermit's Story: Stories (Hardcover)

Rick Bass is a phenomenal nature writer, and though I have not yet read all of his books, The Hermit's Story is my favorite out of the others I have read. Rick Bass writes about simple life, and the influence of the wilds on people who still live with the land, instead of just on it.
In The Hermit's Story, Bass reveals another ten stories that cut straight to the heart, and bring the reader into a new world, one where people love and care for the land they live on, and where the outside world of today's developed society is strange and unforgiving.
As an avid reader of nature writing, and an outdoors lover, I am enticed by Bass's writing, and it inspires me to write, and to spend time in the wild. I could not ask for more out of a book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dreamer's Story, July 8, 2002

By 

Keith Moore (Oxford, MS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hermit's Story: Stories (Hardcover)

I don't know Rick Bass. I have been to a couple of book signings, but I have never really met him. But, if you read these stories you will meet him. Writers rarely let anyone in. The closest is Jim Harrison or Larry Brown. Rick Bass let's you in and then rips out his heart and hands it to you. He does this without pretention or without being self- righteouss. I recommend these stories because there is truth here, and truth sets us free.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dreamer's Story, July 9, 2002

By 

Keith Moore (Oxford, MS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hermit's Story: Stories (Hardcover)

I don't know Rick Bass. I have been to a couple of book signings, but I have never really met him. But, if you read these stories you will meet him. Writers rarely let anyone in. The closest is Jim Harrison or Larry Brown. Rick Bass let's you in and then rips out his heart and hands it to you. He does this without pretention or without being self- righteouss. I recommend these stories because there is truth here, and truth sets us free.