The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology [Paperback]

William Kittredge (Editor), Annick Smith (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2003

This collection of vivid and compelling literature ranges across Montana's literary landscape in descriptions of explorers' discoveries, stories from mining and agricultural frontiers, and powerful memoirs from Native Americans, as well as unforgettable images created by contemporary writers.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Last Best Place includes over 230 stories, poems, reminiscences, and reports written by 140 men and women. The book is divided into eight sections with introductory essays by William Bevis, Mary Blew, William Kittredge, William Lang, Richard Roeder, Annick Smith, and James Welch.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1160 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295969741
• ISBN-13: 978-0295969749
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.9 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare Gift, January 19, 2002

By 

Jena Ball "Jena Ball" (North Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology (Paperback)

The Last Best Place is an anthology with incredible breadth and scope. It was put together over a three year period by a group of dedicated editors and researchers headed up by Annick Smith and William Kittredge. The goal was to identify and preserve Montanna's rich literary heritage ranging from the earliest Native American inhabitants and explorers to contemporary authors such as Rick Newby and Bill Hoagland.

The size of the anthology is proof that it was a daunting if rewarding task. Over 1,000 pages long, it cannot be considered "light" reading, and yet the writing shines. There are sections from Lewis and Clark, Osborne Russell and James Audubon, (all early visitors to Montana), side by side with Native American stories and myths by the like of Jerome Fourstar, James White Calf and Pete Beaverhead( don't miss "Chickadees" as told to Frank Linderman by Pretty-shield, Medicine Woman). Here too you will find cowboys, settlers and wild west characters such as Mary MacLane who declared from a very early age, "I want Fame...Let me but make a beginning, let me but strike the world in a vulnerable spot, and I can take it by storm." There are essays, legends, journals, tall tales and poetry; tales of stunning beauty, adventure, disaster, brutality and vision. This is a book that belongs on the shelf of anyone who understands the importance of place and is fascinated by the literature that has evolved out of it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars still the last best place, November 3, 2006

By 

l.a.seidensticker (sonoma county, ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology (Paperback)

kittredge's collection evades perfection only through inclusion of a number of less than outstanding tales and essays. these are pretty much identifiable by their first or second paragraphs though; it takes no great effort to just page forward to the next outstanding offering. the dream of montana is well woven here. the reality of montana, remarkably enough, is even better than the dream. my only real reservation about this book is that it is apt to draw a crowd: i would wish montana to remain as it is.