New Releases by Annie Proulx

Storie del Wyoming / 3 Annie Proulx «Nessuno è felice come due giovani innamorati nella casetta che hanno costruito con le proprie mani in un luogo fatto di bellezza e solitudine», scrive Annie Proulx a proposito di una coppia di sposini che cerca di mettere dimora nella brulla prateria spazzata dal vento: di tanto in tanto, come nota il New York Times, nel mondo di Annie Proulx – un mondo in cui la furia degli elementi è letale, e gli uomini non sono molto meglio – si intravede un fugace scorcio del giardino dell''Eden. In questi nove racconti, spesso segnati da una tristezza ineluttabile, tutti i personaggi sono, in qualche modo, dei pionieri, che lottano disperatamente per conquistare un ritaglio di paradiso in una terra impietosa. Con la sua prosa composta e struggente, il suo sorprendente senso dell''umorismo e la sua incrollabile compassione, Proulx dipinge un panorama feroce e viscerale, brutale e magnifico, abitato da generazioni di americani che lottano disperatamente per sopravvivere in una terra difficile da amare, le cui vite, grazie al potere del mito, si trasformano in letteratura: vividi dettagli di vita rurale si mescolano a frammenti di folklore, la brutalità della cultura tradizionale si mescola ai tratti, appena addolciti, del West moderno e i piccoli eventi quotidiani si fondono in modo quasi operistico con il clima selvaggio. Pubblicato a dieci anni dal primo volume delle Storie del Wyoming – quello che conteneva il celebre «Brokeback Mountain» – Ho sempre amato questo posto aggiunge un nuovo tassello al monumentale affresco con il quale il Premio Pulitzer Annie Proulx ha riscritto il mito del Far West.

Annie Proulx è nata nel 1935 nel Connecticut in una famiglia di naturalisti dilettanti che nutrivano "un''intima devozione verso i silenziosi boschi coperti di muschio ed erano sempre elettrizzati quando vedevano i falchi selvatici sfrecciare verso nord nella loro migrazione primaverile". Ancorata a quel tempo infantile, in cui era normale addormentarsi sotto agli alberi guardando la luce del sole filtrare tra le foglie, Proulx ha voluto testimoniare il proprio senso di appartenenza al mondo naturale con uno scritto di straordinaria sintesi scientifica e altissimo valore letterario dedicato allo studio delle zone umide, terreni di fondamentale importanza nella salvaguardia dell''intero ecosistema, capaci di trattenere i gas serra e di rallentare il processo dei cambiamenti climatici. Le paludi, gli acquitrini e quelle speciali zone umide che formano la torba sono indispensabili per la sopravvivenza del pianeta e Proulx documenta il modo in cui gli esseri umani nei secoli hanno interagito con queste terre, denunciando la loro sistematica distruzione. In un viaggio sorprendente attraverso le Hudson Bay Lowlands del Canada, le Paludi del Vasjugan in Russia, le foreste torbiere in Indonesia (che gli industriali disboscano, bruciano e arano per ottenere piantagioni di olio di palma), Proulx evoca un paesaggio che nel tempo è andato progressivamente sgretolandosi - acquitrini dove brulicavano anguille e storioni, castori e lontre, falchi pescatori e gru - condividendo un sentimento di tristezza e la consapevolezza, e il monito insieme, che il destino di queste terre interesserà tutti.

A Elk Tooth, minuscolo paesino sperduto in mezzo alla vasta prateria del Wyoming, la vita ruota quasi tutta intorno a tre bar, varianti neanche troppo moderne dei vecchi saloon. Ed è attraverso le chiacchiere al bancone che impariamo a conoscere una folla di personaggi degni dei migliori western: il guardacaccia che ha dichiarato guerra ai bracconieri, una giovane Sioux in possesso di rarissime pellicole di Buffalo Bill, la rancher che commissiona a un ubriacone il compito di recuperare un carico di prezioso fieno dall''altro capo del continente, la barista vegetariana alle prese con una mandria di vacche diaboliche, la coppia newyorkese destinata a scontrarsi con le dure leggi della campagna e con un clima che non conosce clemenza. Fra tassi parlanti e gare a chi ha la barba più lunga, dolorose riunioni familiari e jacuzzi ricavate da rottami, in un''alternanza di realismo magico e cruda quotidianità strappata con i denti a un ambiente ostile, Annie Proulx ci regala undici racconti spietati e al contempo irresistibilmente spassosi. Dopo l''acclamata raccolta Distanza ravvicinata – dal quale è stato tratto I segreti di Brokeback Mountain, vincitore di tre Oscar – Proulx torna a raccontare il suo Wyoming con un amore che traspare da ogni pagina e che non offuscano mai la lucidità di sguardo su quelle terre maestose e desolate e sui personaggi che le abitano.

Ennis en Jack zijn nog geen twintig als ze op de ruige hellingen van Brokeback Mountain een kudde schapen gaan hoeden. Die zomer worden ze verliefd op elkaar en die passie beklijft, ook als ieder later een eigen gezin sticht. In deze editie zijn ook de andere ''Wyomingverhalen'' van Annie Proulx oegevoegd die eerder werden gebundeld in De gouverneurs van Wyoming.

Annie Proulxs erster Roman seit über zehn Jahren, das lang erwartete Meisterwerk der Pulitzerpreisträgerin: ein monumentales Epos, das lebensprall, sprachgewaltig und intensiv dreihundert Jahre nordamerikanischer Geschichte einfängt und von der Abholzung der scheinbar endlosen Wälder erzählt, vom ewigen Kampf zwischen Mensch und Natur.

Now a mini-series on National Geographic! A Washington Post Best Book of the Year & a New York Times Notable Book From the Pulitzer Prize–u00adu00adwinning author of The Shipping News and “Brokeback Mountain” comes the New York Times bestselling epic about the demise of the world’s forests. “Barkskins is grand entertainment in the tradition of Dickens and Tolstoy…the crowning achievement of Annie Proulx’s distinguished career, but also perhaps the greatest environmental novel ever written” —San Francisco Chronicle In the late seventeenth century two young Frenchmen, René Sel and Charles Duquet, arrive in New France. Bound to a feudal lord for three years in exchange for land, they become woodcutters—barkskins. René suffers extraordinary hardship, oppressed by the forest he is charged with clearing. He is forced to marry a native woman and their descendants live trapped between two cultures. But Duquet runs away, becomes a fur trader, then sets up a timber business. Annie Proulx tells the stories of the descendants of Sel and Duquet over three hundred years—their travels across North America, to Europe, China, and New Zealand—the revenge of rivals, accidents, pestilence, Indian attacks, and cultural annihilation. Over and over, they seize what they can of a presumed infinite resource, leaving the modern-day characters face to face with possible ecological collapse and the consequences of environmental exploitation and colonialism. “A stunning, bracing, full-tilt ride through three hundred years of US and Canadian history…with the type of full-immersion plot that keeps you curled in your chair, reluctant to stop reading” (Elle), Barkskins showcases Proulx’s inimitable genius of creating characters who are so vivid that we follow them with fierce attention. “This is Proulx at the height of her powers as an irreplaceable American voice” (Entertainment Weekly, Grade A), and Barkskins “is an awesome monument of a book” (The Washington Post)—“the masterpiece she was meant to write” (The Boston Globe). As Anthony Doerr says, “This magnificent novel possesses the dark humor of The Shipping News and the social awareness of ‘Brokeback Mountain.’”

Annie Proulx, ganadora del premio Pulitzer, nos narra esta estremecedora historia de amor entre dos vaqueros, una historia capaz de sobrevivir a todo excepto a la salvaje intolerancia del mundo que los rodea. Ennis del Mar y Jack Twist son dos rancheros que se conocen cuando aceptan un trabajo para apacentar juntos un rebaño por encima de la zona arbolada en Brokeback Mountain. Ese verano surgirá entre ellos una intensa historia de amor.

The author describes her purchase of six hundred wilderness acres in Wyoming and construction of a library-centric home where she contemplated her rich family history, including a river boat captain ancestor who met historical figures.

Autobiografie van de Amerikaanse schrijfster (1935- ), met name over de perikelen rond het nieuwe huis dat ze in Wyoming liet bouwen.

Vengeance, folie, pauvreté - une fois encore, Annie Proulx nous invite au voyage dans les grands espaces sauvages de l''Amérique profonde, coins perdus où les habitants sont aussi rudes et brutaux que le climat. Et voilà le lecteur transporté dans un milieu de petits chasseurs et fermiers, personnages violents et mal dégrossis sur lesquels l''auteur porte un regard à la fois acide, amusé et moqueur. L''atmosphère y est bien sûr incomparable, car Annie Proulx maîtrise de manière peu commune l''art de faire sentir les tempêtes qui couvent sur ces paysages rugueux, les haines, les jalousies et les rancoeurs. La menace pèse sur ces récits teintés d''un humour grinçant, les mots se heurtent ricochent les uns contre les autres, mais l''orage n''éclate pas toujours et l''évocation de la violence, latente, n''en est que plus remarquable.

Eine unvergessliche, tragikomische Geschichte, erzählt von der mehrfach preisgekrönten Autorin Annie Proulx, in deren herb-poetischer Sprache jene fremde Gegend zum Sehnsuchtsland wird. „Schiffsmeldungen“ fürs Lokalblatt soll Quoyle jetzt schreiben. Quoyle, der ewige Versager und Pechvogel, den es aus dem Staat New York auf die Felseninsel Neufundland im Osten Kanadas verschlagen hat. Quoyle, der immer schon panische Angst vor dem Wasser hatte. Und doch findet er hier in dieser kargen Landschaft, wo seine Vorfahren siedelten, so etwas wie Glück und für sich und seine beiden Töchter so etwas wie ein Zuhause ... Der Roman, der Annie Proulx berühmt machte!

Im Herzen von Amerika, wo die schmalen Ausläufer, die panhandles, von Texas und Oklahoma aufeinanderstoßen, lag einst der »Wilde Westen« mit seinen riesigen Ranches und Viehherden. Inzwischen wandern die Leute ab, die für die Landschaft typischen Windräder fördern kaum noch Wasser, und die trockene Steppe breitet sich immer weiter aus. Hierher verschlägt es Bob Dollar, einen jungen Mann aus Denver, der nichts Rechtes mit seinem Leben anzufangen weiß und nach ein paar Gelegenheitsjobs bei Global Pork Rind anheuert: Im Panhandle-Gebiet soll er nach Land für Schweinemastbetriebe suchen und die Besitzer zum Verkauf überreden. Er läßt sich in Woolybucket nieder, einem kleinen texanischen Ort voll sturer und schrulliger Hinterwäldler. Im Old Dog Café hört er Geschichten von Tornados, eisigen Winden und Sandstürmen, von Hahnenkämpfen und Rodeoshows, von Familienfehden und Liebschaften, aber vor allem vom Niedergang der Prärie. Und ebenjene Schweinefarmen, für die er arbeitet, sind zum großen Teil daran schuld. Allmählich versteht Bob Dollar, der mit sieben Jahren von seinen Eltern verlassen wurde, was diese Menschen mit ihrem Land verbindet, und zum erstenmal in seinem Leben sieht er eine Zukunft vor sich. Ein modernes Märchen, die Geschichte eines Hans-im-Glück, der in einer bösen Welt nur Gutes will – mit Annie Proulx'' Sprachgewalt, ihrem scharfen Blick fürs allzu Menschliche und ihren atemberaubenden Landschaftsbeschreibungen wird daraus ein großer Roman über das heutige Amerika, wie wir es kaum kennen.

The fantastic new collection of stories from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ''The Shipping News'' and ''Brokeback Mountain''. ''Fine Just The Way It Is'' marks Annie Proulx''s return to the Wyoming of ''Brokeback Mountain'' and the familiar cast of hardy, unsentimental prairie folk. The stories are cast over centuries, and capture the voices and lives of the settlers this sagebrushed and weatherworn country has known, from the native Indian tribes to the modern day ranch owners and politicians, and their cowboy forebears. In ''A Family Man'', an old man nearing the end of his life unburdens himself of the weighty family secrets that were his father''s unwelcome legacy. ''Them Old Cowboy Songs'' follows Archie and Rosie, a young pioneer couple, and their hardships in their attempt to homestead in the exposed wintry expanses of the prairie, and ''Testimony of the Donkey'' finds a young international couple, Marc and Caitlin, struggling with much more modern concerns, and confronting uncertainty as their relationship comes to its end. These are stories of desperation and hard times, often marked by an inescapable sadness, set in a landscape both brutal and magnificent. Enlivened by folk tales, flights of fancy, and details of ranch and rural work, they juxtapose Wyoming''s traditional character and attitudes - confrontation of tough problems, prejudice, persistence in the face of difficulty - with the more benign values of the new west. These are bold, elegant and memorable pieces, and once more confirm Annie Proulx as one of the most talented, unique short story writers in the language.

Een lelijke, onhandige man probeert na de dood van zijn vrouw met zijn twee dochters en een excentrieke tante een nieuw leven op te bouwen in Newfoundland, het land waar zijn grootouders vandaan komen.

From Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Annie Proulx comes an exhilarating story brimming with language, history, landscape, music, and love. Bob Dollar is a young man from Denver trying to make good in a bad world. Out of college and aimless, Dollar takes a job with Global Pork Rind, scouting out big spreads of land that can be converted to hog farms. Soon he''s holed up in a two-bit Texas town called Woolybucket, where he settles into LaVon Fronk''s old bunkhouse for fifty dollars a month, helps out at Cy Frease''s Old Dog Café, and learns the hard way how vigorously the old Texas ranch owners will hold on to their land, even when their children want no part of it. Robust, often bawdy, strikingly original, That Old Ace in the Hole traces the waves of change that have shaped the American West over the past century—and in Bob Dollar, Proulx has created one of the most irrepressible characters in contemporary fiction.

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Annie Proulx brings the immigrant experience to life in this stunning novel that traces the ownership of a simple green accordion. E. Annie Proulx’s Accordion Crimes is a masterpiece of storytelling that spans a century and a continent. Proulx brings the immigrant experience in America to life through the eyes of the descendants of Mexicans, Poles, Africans, Irish-Scots, Franco-Canadians and many others, all linked by their successive ownership of a simple green accordion. The music they make is their last link with the past—voice for their fantasies, sorrows and exuberance. Proulx’s prodigious knowledge, unforgettable characters and radiant language make Accordion Crimes a stunning novel, exhilarating in its scope and originality.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx''s mesmerising stories inspired by the harsh and unforgiving landscape of Wyoming are gathered together in this collectable volume.

Recounts myths of the closing decades of the western frontier viewed through the eyes of Nellie Courtright and her brother Jackson, orphans that make good in the town of Rita Blanca in what would become the Oklahoma Panhandle.

A la fin du XIXe siècle, un Sicilien débarque à La Nouvelle-Orléans, accompagné de son fils et d''un magnifique accordéon de sa fabrication. Passant de main en main, l''instrument devient le héros du livre. Il accompagne les aventures et tribulations des émigrants du melting-pot: Allemands du Middle West, Polonais de Chicago, Norvégiens du Minnesota... Tous ces humbles, ces miséreux de l''Europe gagnés par le rêve du Nouveau Monde, et dont les descendants, oubliant peu à peu leurs racines, forment l''Amérique d''aujourd''hui, sont les personnages d''un roman-fleuve grandiose comme une épopée. Lauréate du National Book Award et du prix Pulitzer, traduite dans une trentaine de pays, Annie Proulx nous conte l''Amérique réelle avec une vigueur et une puissance dignes de Steinbeck ou de Dos Passos.

Annie Proulx follows the success of ''Close Range'' with this collection of short stories set in Wyoming.

L''histoire d''amour de deux cow-boys brutalement brisée par l''intolérance, l''obsession viscérale d''un garçon mal aimé pour le rodéo, l''obstination d''un vieux bonhomme qui veut revoir le ranch de son enfance, la solitude d''une jeune fille qui parle aux tracteurs, la folle équipée de trois femmes prêtes à tout... autant de désespoirs, de déchirures, de temps ardus et de joies improbables qu''Annie Proulx raconte avec son talent magistral et sa passion féroce du Wyoming. Des histoires rudes, violentes, drôles, où chacun lutte pour survivre envers et contre tout, dans un paysage à la fois âpre et magnifique " qu''on ne quitte que mort ".