Reading Seattle: The City in Prose - Softcover

Donahue, Peter; Trombold, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0295983957 ISBN 13: 9780295983950

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 2004

Synopsis

Seattle, with its spectacular natural beauty and rough frontier history, has inspired writers from its earliest days. This anthology spans seven decades and includes fiction, memoirs, histories, and journalism that define the city or use it as a setting, imparting the flavor of the city through a literary prism.

Reading Seattle features classics by Horace R. Cayton, Richard Hugo, Betty MacDonald, Mary McCarthy, Murray Morgan, and John Okada as well as more recent works by Sherman Alexie, Lynda Barry, David Guterson, J. A. Jance, Jonathan Raban, and others. It includes cutting-edge work by emerging talents and reintroduces works by important Seattle writers who may have been overlooked in recent years.

The writers featured in this volume explore a variety of neighborhoods and districts within the city, delineating urban spaces and painting memorable portraits of characters both historical and fictional.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Donahue teaches at Birmingham-Southern College and is the author of many short stories and books, including the novel Madison House. John Trombold teaches at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. Previously, he taught English at a number of Seattle-area schools, including Seattle University, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle Central Community College, and The Lakeside School. Together, they also edited the book Reading Portland (University of Washington Press and Oregon State Historical Society, 2007).

Review

"What is here is bracing, informative, and strikingly varied..No matter what your tastes are, the anthology provides a fascinating sense of listening in on the mind of the city, humming away over the decades and coming up with myriad harmonies and discords distinctively its own."―The Seattle Times

"Donahue and Trombold have compiled a volume that fills a book void, especially in recognizing the outpouring of writing about Seattle in the most recent decade..[They] have worked hard to include many of the city's finest writers over the past 70 years..[and] have also done an admirable job in showcasing many lesser-known but rising talents."―Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0295983957
• ISBN 13: 9780295983950
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320