Voices from the Snake River Plain

this is a review by Judi Baxter. Baxter owned and operated Judi's Bookstore in downtown Twin Falls, Idaho, from 1978 to 1992. From 2000 to 2004 she wrote a twice-weekly column for Publisher's Weekly's online edition called "Reviews in the News."It is always thrilling to hold a treasured book in my hands - rediscovering a childhood favorite, inhaling the scent of an old, leather-bound tome, perusing glorious pictures from a beloved illustrator or gently opening a much-anticipated title for the first time.The thrill was certainly there when I received a copy of "Voices From The Snake River Plain," the collection of essays, short stories and poetry from three talented writers, Bonnie Dodge, Dixie Thomas Reale and Patricia Santos Marcantonio.The lawn mowing, leaf raking and sidewalk sweeping went by the wayside as I sat on my deck and immersed myself in their worlds. I laughed, sighed, held my breath for a few moments and even cried while reading of families and friends, journeys and jealousies.Marcantonio's "The Hitch," an engaging short story about a camping trip gone bad, left me giggling and nodding my head in agreement: Been there, done that! Forget the spectacular Stanley Basin scenery, mountain air and sparkling Salmon River; a lost trailer hitch leads to pointed fingers, heated words and thoughts of divorce. But her wise old character, Earl, quickly snaps everything back into focus: "Earl pulled up his welding mask. 'You folks should have a good time once this is fixed. You can hike the trails, cook over a campfire, fish a bit. See the stars together. That's the only way to see the stars, with someone you love so you know you aren't dreaming.'" Beautiful!In the chapter "Remembrances," Reale captured my heart with "Mush." Anyone who grew up having to eat oatmeal-the-texture-of-wallpaper-paste for breakfast every morning will immediately identify with the feisty, stubborn little girl. Her mother said she would eat it. Period. She was determined not to. Period. It became a royal battle of wills and more than a little ingenuity on young Dixie's part: feeding it to the dog, tossing it out the window, dribbling large spoonfuls around her bowl. Since she didn't have to eat the slopped part, that maneuver became her answer:"I decorated the room. The entire bowl was drizzled and splattered one spoonful at a time across the mahogany tabletop, the wall, the bench and onto the floor. There was so much of it that gray puddles ran into one another making small lakes. Once Mama saw the mess she scraped it back into the dish and slung it in front of me. Now it was cold and slimy, had a faint flavor of English wood oil, and smelled a bit like floor polish. 'You will eat this,' she said."At this point, I was chuckling, but it was nothing compared with the laugher that erupted when I came to her final solution. What a creative little girl!After reading Dodge's "Surviving the Storm," set a few days after the attack on the World Trade Center, I barely moved for many long minutes, reflecting on her words, recalling the overwhelming feelings of those haunting days as our nation sat in stultified silence and pain.The women debate their plans to attend a bookfest in Boise and a trip to Idaho City for their annual mini-retreat, struggling with their own fears and doubts about leaving home and families so soon. "It's what they want," writes Dodge. "They want to terrorize us into inaction. I think we should go." And so they do.They spend hours exploring the former mining town, picking wildflowers, spontaneously attending a Catholic Mass, sharing homemade peach cobbler at Trudy's Diner.Dodge writes: "Heading for the car, we stop when we see an area of the cemetery marked with weathered boards, each etched with only one word: Unknown. Like rubber bands, we're snapped back into reality as we think of the many new graves in New York City, some of which will soon be marked: Unknown. We exchange glances and, unembarrassed by our tears, embrace, holding onto each other longer than usual."We pass tissues like candy. Our hearts hurt. We have no words, no stories to define our nation's massive devastation. As we travel the road that will take us back to our families, smiles chase away sadness and the desperate need to be home ... Even in this troubled time, when our nation is stunned and nothing much is moving, we are. Because we're still writers with stories to tell."And our lives are richer because these three writers have gathered and shared those stories with us.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading these poems, essays, and short stories portraying life and culture in south-central Idaho. Their words are rich and colorful, evoking beautiful pictures. If you love a good story teller, especially about simple times in a delightful part of the world, you will definitely enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.