THE NEW AND IMPROVED EDITION: LARGER, EASY TO READ PRINT, BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE, COMPLETELY REVISED AND RE-EDITED. ALL BUFFED AND POLISHED AND READY FOR PRIME TIME A rollicking adventure, a searing (if unorthodox) romance, a sardonic yet sanguine analysis of the iconic history of the American West; Nor'westering is all of these, and more. Follow the soul-stirring exploits of Kwantlecset, an anti-heroical half breed guide, as he sojourns through the Northwest outback with the likes of David Douglas and Peter Skene Ogden. Meet his stalwart soulmate, Penelope, and their spuriously-conceived pride and joy, Two Bit, as they're pained to suffer the highs and lows of the cataclysmic culture clash between the natives and the encroaching white population, and of the wavering dedication of their family's spiritual guide. Encounter some of the biggest names in the Western historical pantheon (Lewis and Clark, John C. Fremont, Jedediah Smith) as the protagonists drift through one of the most exciting eras in the annals of the Northwest. Immerse yourself in the romance and danger of the waning days of the fur trade, as Kwantlecset and his makeshift family are impelled ever onward towards the seminal tragedy of the often-bloody story of the Northwest: the Whitman Massacre. Set in the Pacific Northwest during the 1820-40's, when the possession of the magical idyll just then being labelled as Oregon was still up for grabs between a pugnacious America and the stubborn, stiff upper lip of the British, Nor'westering captures a setting rife with themes that speak to the most elemental aspects of the human drama: nature, spirituality, the meaning of life, love. Extensively researched, appended with a bonus section of historical notes, Nor'westering is drawn directly from the pages of what's called history, but loses none of the glib perspective that only fiction can provide. As the guide, Kwantlecset leads the reader, at times sure-footed, at other times stumbling, through one of the most uniquely iconoclastic, irreverent, but ultimately heartening Westerns to be found.
