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    Graphic the Valley
    Graphic the Valley
    Graphic the Valley
    Ebook309 pages4 hours

    Graphic the Valley

    By Peter Brown Hoffmeister

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Tenaya has never left Yosemite Valley. He was born in a car by the Merced River, and grew up in a hidden camp with his parents, surviving on fish, acorns, and unfinished food thrown away by the park's millions of tourists. But despite its splendor, Tenaya's Yosemite is a visceral place of opposites, at once beautiful, dangerous, and violent. When he meets Lucy, a young woman from the south side of the park, Tenaya must choose between this new relationship and the Valley, terrorism and legend, the sacred versus the material. In this modern retelling of Samson and Delilah, Graphic the Valley explores mythical strength, worldly greed, love, lust, and epic destruction. Set entirely in the majestic Yosemite Valley, Hoffmeister recalls Edward Abbey's vivid sense of place and urgent call for preservation of one of the world's most spectacular sites.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGallery Books
    Release dateJun 18, 2013
    ISBN9781440562044
    Graphic the Valley
    Author

    Peter Brown Hoffmeister

    Peter Brown Hoffmeister is a rock climber, poet, and author of numerous books, including Too Shattered For Mending, This Is The Part Where You Laugh, The End of Boys, and Graphic the Valley. His writing has also appeared in Climbing, Rock & Ice, and Gripped. 

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    Reviews for Graphic the Valley

    4.5/5

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    • 4/5
      While the non-linear flow may present some challenges for linear thinkers, it is well worth the pursuit. Tenaya lives in his memories almost as much as in his current world, but it is no wonder considering the traumatic event which affected his family about 12 years ago.There are plenty of references to Yosemite NP landmarks and rock climbing for people who enjoy outdoor activities. The main character, Tenaya, is named after an historic person of the Yosemiti tribe who resisted the white incursion. I tagged this "Native American" even tho the author isn't identified as belonging to a tribe and it is not certain whether Tenaya belongs to a dispersed tribe or if it is just a construct in his father's mind. In any event, there is a minor theme of the conflict between the Miwoks and the Yosemitis (and how the Park Service conflates the 2 separate tribes). Chapters begin with a few paragraphs of the time of the original conflict and coming of the white soldiers. Likely Hoffmeister wrote these, tho he does give acknowledgement at the end to an historic account.If you enjoyed the premise of Edward Abbey's "Monkeywrench Gang", you'll be cheering in this book, though Tenaya has no specific agenda for halting development in the park but gets carried away at a few moments. In fact, his impulsiveness, his lack of thought about consequences is one of the downsides of this tale for me. After 20? years (time isn't nailed down too firmly, tho he does admit to being 20 near the end)being an outsider observing tourist children & visitors he has one affair after another with 2 women who approach him. Of course, there are repercussions, but by the end I'm willing to believe they were meant to happen. The question of free will is another minor theme.
    • 4/5
      It took me a while to get comfortable with this book. The writing style is sparse, but lyrical. Often written in fragmented sentences. After a while, though, it fell away and all I had left to see was the story and the beautiful Yosemite valley. This book is about the life of Tenaya, a young man who has been raised his whole life camping in the Yosemite National Park. It starts with his accidental killing of a new, corporate park superintendent. Tenaya has gone through some other horrible things, but his past unfolds slowly and delicately throughout the novel. We have to follow him surviving completely off the grid and dealing with the growing commercialization of the park before we get to know him better. But it's worth it.

      This novel is very powerful as a whole and in its singular moments. Several times while reading this on the subway I found myself audibly gasping and covering my mouth. Hoffmeister brings us very close to the main character; his thoughts and how he perceives the valley. How he embodies the Valley and its history. Unrelated, but Tenaya is also an avid rock climber/boulderer (he doesn't wear shoes, which is so hardcore). I'm getting into rock climbing, so this was exciting for me. This book just kept surprising me with little things to be entranced by.

      The book is described as a modern day retelling of Samson and Delilah, but I thought it was only lightly so. Certainly not enough to entitle sections of the book with their names. I thought the book was mythic enough to stand without that support. The relationships he has with two women are interesting and intimate, but I felt like the women characters could have been rounded out more. Calling one a Delilah wasn't quite enough for me.

      Overall, Graphic the Valley is a great piece that shows the importance of the issue with commercialization of national parks (a topic that I've never really thought about, as I've never been to one). It also ultimately shows the incredible power of nature that is often ignored or forgotten in a breathtaking ending.

    Book preview

    Graphic the Valley - Peter Brown Hoffmeister

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