Rick Bass, David James Duncan
The Heart of the Monster: Why the Pacific Northwest & Northern Rockies Must Not Become an ExxonMobil Conduit to the Alberta Tar Sands.
Missoula, Montana: All Against The Haul, 2010. Author-signed first edition. 9780615425931 248 pages.
Volume, measuring approximately 6.75" x 9.75", displays light shelfwear. Binding is sound. Pages are clean and bright. Illustrated with in-text color photos.
This work offers the essay/memoir "The Heart of the Monster" by American novelist and essayist David James Duncan (b. 1952) and the novella "A Short History of Montana" by American writer and environmental activist Rick Bass (b. 1958). "I've written an essay, "Heart of the Monster," that tries to strike a balance between expose and spiritual solace. A complete dossier on Big Oil's misdeeds in the Tar Sands alone would fill Yankee Stadium. It overwhelms. My intent in response is to warn of dangers, but also to try to keep hearts -- including my own -- awake to some of the inviolable sources of balance, creative action, and inspiration. Rick Bass has amazed me with a full-on novella. "A Short History of Montana" is a haunting portrait of the backward evolution of a once-remarkable political figure as Big Oil and Big Energy's concepts of power begin to stew in his head and eat away his heart." (From David James Duncan's preface).