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Peter Rock wrote his new novel, My Abandonment, because he couldn't get a news story out of his head. In 2004, runners in Portland's vast Forest Park spotted the makeshift home of a man and his 12 year old daughter. They had lived in the park for four years. Police picked them up and they were resettled on a horse farm. Then they disappeared again.
Rock told the Oregonian that questions about the father and daughter consumed him:
What is our reality, and what is theirs? Is this a happy story? Is this a good life for her? How did they live? How did they escape? It kept bugging me and bugging me.
My Abandonment is Rock's fourth novel. Each immersed him in a new subject, always along the fringe of society. He teaches writing at Reed College as well. Grab a copy of My Abandonment before June 4 and share your reactions and questions for Peter Rock here.
Tagged as: author · books · literature · northwest passages · reading
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I remember this story well. It really touched and inspired me at the time. Living independent of society facinates me. I will definitely read this book.
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Suggestion for future Northwest Passage feature:
Carye Bye's book Hidden Portland. She's having a book release and signing tonight at Reading Frenzy.
http://hiddenportland.com/
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Really great, practicly explained and useful tips.
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So funny to know that Peter Rock was out on the Forest Park trails thinking of this father and daughter. It is something I've done often, "lurking" along the trails, perfectly able to imagine their lives in the forest and in town. This strange activity made me long for the times when I lived in a community that chose to raise children similarly, away from the schools and institutions that society deemed "appropriate," but that we found to be entirely inappropriate, learning from real experiences in the real world rather than from the contrived lessons in the classroom, letting the children become, rather than training them to be what others wanted them to be.
What we did then was illegal, and we knew it. We would have faced the same "intervention." But today my children (now grown) are doing well and are so remarkably well adjusted that I have no regrets.
I could have predicted that this father and his daughter would have lasted about a month--time for the furor to die down so they could get back to living the life they clearly enjoyed. I would have done the same.
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Kudos to Pete Rock! Plus, a suggestion for another Northwest Passage feature...
Local public school teacher and prolific author, David Michael Slater, has just released his first adult novel titled, SELFLESS, about a boy named Jon, growing up in a Jewish family rife with what seem like wildly blasphemous religious inconsistencies, arbitrary secular observations and disturbingly hilarious family anticdotes.
Underneath it all, however, Jon's family finds that they are still Jews to the rest of the world, no mater how they try to define themselves.
What with the recent evolving discussions about religious identity (particularly in the Middle East but also in Ireland), culturally religious individuals seem to be attempting to make a distinction in their sense of religion and self from evangelical religious groups. Worth a discussion, I'd say.
Compared to "Portrait of the Artist" by the NY Forward, Slater's SELFLESS is a thoughtful, provacative, page turner.
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Suggestion for future author to review:
Naseem Rakha author of The Crying Tree - it's coming out in July.
It's a great novel. Naseem is also a former NPR journalist!
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I would suggest Jane Kirkpatrick as an author. She writes about overlooked history in the Northwest and brings it alive. And while we're at it, I'd like to see a movie made of Marie Dorian's life. Jane has made her a real live heroine with much to teach all of us.
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Rock's book is a great read. My Abandonment takes a while to get into, but once you're their, it's a hard book to put down. I loved the ending. Very inspiring. Clarks Sandels
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thans really rock books in postmorn reallife experiments but for me its so pessimist to look way of life
life is a free game we play
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It's a great novel. Naseem is also a former NPR journalist!
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Pete Rock is a insightful and incisive writer, who shines a light on society's darker spaces.
But he's also a remarkable teacher. As my academic advisor and writing professor at Reed College, his time and thought shaped and influenced my writing in ways that still surprise and impress me.
Although I now work in public relations and political communications, I will always be indebted to Pete as a mentor, teacher, and friend.
-Ben DuPree, Reed College '06