Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West
Just before leaving Seattle for a six-month stint as a ranch hand at Sun Ranch in southwestern Montana, Andrews scuffs his cowboy boots against a city sidewalk to make them look used. Although young and inexperienced, he quickly revels in the difficult work days, bonds with other workers and townspeople, and feels that he is “living at the center of his heart’s geography.” This narrative bends the label of memoir by also telling the story of the wolves that threaten Sun Ranch and attack their cattle. In many ways, this story parallels Andrews’ own. Andrews frequently sidesteps into the perspective of the wolves themselves, heightening the drama by allowing the reader to follow their path. Eventually, Andrews must do the thing that frightens him most and confront them. At times, the pace of the narrative lags, and the prose is poetic yet dense. Andrews, however,  paints the rural landscape with such precision that the land becomes its own character, and his story itself a finely tuned love song for the West. --Emily Roth