A Richer Harvest: The Literature of Work in the Pacific Northwest
The voices of workers, from logging camps to the Microsoft campus.
This fascinating collection of writings taps a rich vein of Northwest literature. From pioneer journals to union tracts and cyberpunk fiction, the selections gathered here reveal the lives of the Northwest's working people and insights into the nature of work in the region.
With its strong and varied mix of fiction, poems, manifestoes, songs, memoirs, and oral histories,
A Richer Harvest creates a powerful, sometimes gritty portrait of work life. Selections depict the natural beauty of the land, the rough and perilous employments, the often bloody tradition of labor radicalism, and the reverence for honest, hard work. The writings detail workers' triumphs and frustrations on farms, in forests, on waterways, and in offices, stores, and factories. Many are the observations of laborers themselves; others are the product of writers who gave voice to the concerns of the working class.
The selections are arranged according to three broad themes that trace the evolution of the Northwest's laboring classes. Headnotes introduce each selection, providing historical and literary context.
Contributors include Sherman Alexie, Kim Barnes, Ernest Callenbach, Douglas Coupland, H. L. Davis, Tess Gallagher, Woody Guthrie, Hazel Hall, Joe Hill, Ken Kesey, Ursula K. Le Guin, Craig Lesley, Clyde Rice, and Gary Snyder.
About the Editors
Craig Wollner is a professor of Social Science and fellow at the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies at Portland State University. He is the author of several works on Northwest labor, business, and social history.
W. Tracy Dillon is a professor of English at Portland State University.
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