Salmon Eaters to Sagebrushers: Washington’s Lost Literary Legacy

Numerous long-forgotten literary works about Washington State once enjoyed wide readership. The stories they told captured readers’ imaginations, and collectively, they reveal an impressive literary legacy. Salmon Eaters to Sagebrushers gives an informed and careful examination of these vintage fiction, nonfiction, and poetry gems–all at least 50 years old. A hybrid of literary criticism, history, and biography, this new essay collection combines reappraisals of more than forty titles with short excerpts and author profiles. Each of the included authors made notable contributions to Northwest literature. Their novels, memoirs, and poetry evoke countless aspects of the Northwest. In portraying everyday life and casting a critical eye on social issues, they reflect how Northwesterners regarded themselves and their region throughout most of the last century.