Out Here: A Newcomer's Notes from the Great Northwest

Pacific Northwest

Ostensibly, these short, humorous essays, many of which were originally broadcast on National Public Radio's All Things Considered , are about life on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, where the author and his family moved in 1987. Ward, formerly a contributing editor at the Atlantic , relishes living far from the crime, traffic, noise and pollution he left behind in Connecticut, and he muses engagingly about the birds and fish of Puget Sound, his first view of Mt. Rainier and his newcomer status. But there is more to these beautifully crafted pieces. Ward, who has a wonderful way with words, is an acute observer of life, no matter where he is, and he can take any subject--the way Americans sing their national anthem, fake Colonial decor in fast food restaurants, beggars on city streets, family holiday reunions--and imbue it with insight as well as wit.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.