The book of Yaak

by Rick Bass

The Yaak Valley of northwestern Montana is one of the last great wild places in the United States, a land of black bears and grizzlies, wolves and coyotes, bald and golden eagles, wolverine, lynx, marten, fisher, elk, and even a handful of humans. It is a land of magic, though its magic may not be enough to save it from the forces that now threaten it. The Yaak does have one trick up its sleeve, however: a writer to give it voice. In Winter, Bass portrayed the wonder of living in the valley. In The Book of Yaak he captures the soul of the valley itself, and he explains how, if places like the Yaak are lost, so too will be the human riches of mystery and imagination. Rick Bass has never been a writer to hold back, and The Book of Yaak is his most passionate book yet, a dramatic narrative of a man fighting to defend the place he loves.