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Offering a much deeper and richer experience of the place than a travel book, this sampling will interest visitors to Portland, Oregon as well as residents whose daily life includes not only the places mentioned in the book but also the cultural atmosphere of the city. Trombold (Linfield College, Oregon) and Donahue (Birmingham-Southern College, Alabama) present portions of histories, memoirs, autobiographies, short stores, novels, and news reports--80-plus selections in all--describing views of early days as well as the city's evolution and contemporary life. Some of the writers have national stature, others are local, or, in two cases, anonymous. Each selection is introduced with information about the author and the context. Small b&w historical photos add another dimension. Though not usual in an anthology of this type, an index would have been a welcome enhancement. Published by the University of Washington Press, with Oregon Historical Society. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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<p><i>Reading Portland</i> is a literary exploration of the city's past and present. In over eighty selections, Portland is revealed through histories, memoirs, autobiographies, short stories, novels, and news reports. This single volume gives voice to women and men; the colonizers and the colonized; white, Hispanic, African American, Asian American, and Indian storytellers; and lower, middle, and upper classes.</p><p>In his introduction, John Trombold considers the history of writing about a place that has nourished a provocative and errant literary tradition for over 150 years. In the preface, Peter Donahue considers the influence of region--particularly Portland's urbanity and its hybrid population--on literature.</p><p>Included here are the voices of Carl Abbott, Kathryn Hall Bogle, Beverly Cleary, Robin Cody, Lawson Fusao Inada, Rudyard Kipling, Ursula K. Le Guin, Joaquin Miller, Sandy Polishuk, Gary Snyder, Kim Stafford, Elizabeth Woody, and many more.</p>
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