Customer Reviews

Trespass: Living at the Edge of the Promised Land

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is an eloquent, lyrical, and insightful account from the frontlines of the struggle to redefine our relationsips to Western landscapes. With a foot in both the Mormon ranching world of her ancestors and the world of conservation activism she has adopted, Amy Irvine struggles to reconcile her divided heart and loyalties. Although the struggles described are contemporary, this is really an old tale made fresh. The great writer Wallace Stegner said that the history of the American West is the struggle between "boomers" and "stickers." Boomers are those who came to make a quick killing and end up on easy street - the conquistadors, gold miners, land scalpers, and good ol' boy developers. Stickers, or "nesters," are those who try to understand the limits and needs of the land and live within them. But the division is too simple. In our consumer culture we all exhibit the behaviors of boomers and yet we all want to feel we are at home and in good relationship. This difficult struggle to sort out the conflicts and find balance is central to Amy's account. Ultimately, this is a quest for wisdom told with courage and compassion.

Amy Irvine is a gifted writer whose prose kept me reading in spite of feeling offended several times in nearly every chapter about a variety of subjects including the LDS Church, the little town of Monticello I grew up in, cattle ranching and the seemingly inflexible wilderness attitudes. My younger brother enjoys riding what he calls a four wheeler and she calls an ORV to see the incredible sights of the Colorado Plateau she so beautiful describes in her book. It is clear that she and I share a love of the redrock country. As a retired psychiatrist I enjoyed her fearless and at times appropriately veiled exposé of her personal and family dynamics. I thoroughly enjoyed the interweaving of her knowledge of ancient San Juan County cultures into the fabric of her personal story. The ending chapters were unsettling to me and I am not sure I can explain why. Is it because it seems she has given up her passionate quest? Is it because her trespass metaphor became blurred? Is it because she became ill? I don't know. I will let it continue to percolate in my mind and I may read it again. I recommend it. I agree with Terry Tempest Williams, "This is a transformative memoir that dances between shadow and light.

I couldn't put it down. Irvine's writing is real and eloquent. She masterfully blends history, community and raw emotion into a riveting tale of life in a small, southern Utah town.
Trespass is sure to become a modern western classic.

Ms. Irvine's book speaks to the soul. It carries a message of loss and hope, of death and life, and of the virtues of solitude and togetherness. Her portrait of her mate, Herb, the so-called "Lion Man" who embodies the wildness of the red rock desert she loves, is particularly intriguing. Highly recommended.

Amy Irvine has given us permission, ever so briefly, to enter into a world that cannot truly be understood without living it ourselves. Her story is such a generous sharing of the spirit and an honest understanding of who she is, where she has come from, and where she yearns to be. I see her place descriptions echoed vividly in my mind and I rejoice in her journey.

Irvine's book is a totally engrossing read, a page turner, an emotion igniter. To experience it took me first into a realm of accompanying Irvine in her journey through her promised land and the splits that are created as she negotiates the conflicts and inconsistencies. The from-the-heart, graphic language of her memoir soon drew me into a realm of examining my own journey through my place that is, like Irvine's, the high desert southwest. Throughout the book I was struck by the ironies of Irvine's descriptions of the natural beauty of her patch and the way that so many of its inhabitants are willing to ignore and to trash the natural balances of the place. It's a great read for those who have the courage to be challenged by the realities of their own journeys through their place. The west, with its diverse values, history, and cultures, is one of the most challenging, and Irvine has captured it eloquently and thoughtfully for us.

I deeply appreciate the depth of questioning Amy Irvine has so obviously journeyed through. She speaks from an unmistakable place of courage & wisdom. Her words encourage the quality of exploration that instructs hearts & minds. Her conclusions inspire listening & engagement.

This book is right up there wtih Sides' Blood and Thunder for Western American History writing at its best. Only this is better, because it is told from the point of view of one of America's little known minorities: Mormon women. Amy brings heart and soul of the old West and the new together in a wonderful story in her wonderful style. I loved it.

Susan T.

My partner and I both read Trespass and LOVED it. The way she innerweaves her story with history kept me trasfixed. I could not put this book down. Trespass helped me look at my life and how I exist among people I am at odds with. I have come in contact with some after the book and thought about all she has learned and practiced communicating better myself. It doesn't always have to be a fight. I love that. We all can learn from Trespass. We all can learn to be better people and this book certainly helped me. Im thankful I didn't miss this book.

Amy Irvine walks the edge. Her memoir "Trespass: Living at the Edge of the Promised Land" explores the rough terrain of borderlands; between Mormon and Other, past and present, Paiute and Navajo, hunter-gatherer and farmer, "earth muffins" and cowboys, water and rock, love and hate. Irvine's prose is consciously suffused with the red of blood and desert canyons. The author examines her own life and desire to belong in relation to the redrock country she calls home. This could have been a hackneyed indulgence in psychotherapy at the reader's expense, but Irvine manages to transform her exploration into something better. Read it and visit the red edge.