The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest (Vintage Departures)

Timothy Egan is a Seattle-area native who has also written about the PNW for the NY Times and highly acclaimed books, such as The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America and The Worst Hard Time (latter about life in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression). He has won numerous top awards for his talent as a writer.But this is one that anyone who lives west of the Cascades in Washington truly must read. It is a history of the area but also of the people, the land, the culture and the heart of it all. This could be dry stuff, but he's a terrific storyteller, and his observations are insightful, incisive, interesting, and amusing. I cannot praise it highly enough.It was published in 1990, and I with he'd write another of the time since, but I doubt he will.The narrator of the audiobook version (not Egan) does a great job, too, so listen or read.

Do yourself a favor - read Tim's books!!

No writer knows the Pacific Northwest outdoors and its interplay with history like writer and New York Times columnists Timothy Egan. His accounts of the environment and especially the weather of the region are based on countless forays into the woods, along the rivers, and on the mountains with occasional stops in the cities. The Good Rain is one of Egan’s early volumes, written 25 years ago. Today the regional environment is more appreciated and protected even as it is more stressed and threatened. In this time of climate warming – currently with a severe drought in the Pacific Northwest – an appreciation of rain is even more pronounced and more prevalent.The subtitle here is “Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest,” and it is apt. Egan presents much of the region’s history as it pertains to the outdoors, and he expertly describes Native Americans’ relation to their surroundings and the disruptive, damaging projects of the European and American settlers. Egan gives special notice to the region’s rivers. But there’s no stern harangue about plundering of outdoor treasures. His account of restoring the Willamette River in Oregon reveals the light touch his writing takes. He tells the impact of Oregon’s governor Tom McCall in the late 1960s who was determined to clean up the river. “Under McCall, a zealot with a droll sense of humor and an unshakable sense of destiny, the Willamette was treated like the main artery of the Pope.” And McCall was successful with a vastly cleaner river in the 1970s. Yet the grand Columbia River takes most of Egan’s interest, and everyone in the region should read his tales across time about it.Michael Helquist, MARIE EQUI: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions

In my 80 years as a product of this great state of Washington this book has taught me much more about our history than I ever learned before. Sadly some of it is disturbing, but brings awareness that has long been silenced.

I grew up near Astoria, Oregon where my ancestors worked in the logging and fishing industry. In fact, during my summer years off school I worked in a cannery my grandfather helped to build and run. I did see the fish runs. I did see the huge logs brought out of the woods. And now it's all gone. And I think the author, Timothy Egan, hit the nail on the head. There is so much more that he covered that displays man's avarice. My hat is off to him for his very astute review of the recent history of Oregon and Washington. Sven Engblom

He Good Rain is a documentary of the Pacific Northwest in book form. Sympathetic to the natural past,yet hopeful fir the technological future, Mr. Egan paints a wonderful portrait of my part of the country. Highly recommended.

The Good Rain is an in-depth appreciation of the Northwest taken from a gifted writer who has thoroughly researched what we have lost in this extraordinary environment. There were times in reading this that I felt like I couldn’t take any more of the sadness I felt for what has been lost due to short sightedness and greed. I would encourage you to persevere and benefit from the personal commitment the author has made to understanding what has gone before us in the false hope of short term gains over the natural bounty lost.

Having lived in the Pacific Northwest the vast majority of my life, reading this book I realized just how ignorant I am about its history. Timothy Egan takes you on a grand tour of the region, using characters you have likely never heard of. That’s just one element of Egan’s magical gift.I have read 5 Egan books in the last ten days – have one on the shelf and another in my cart on-line. That’ll mean I’ve read ALL of Egan’s books in two weeks. I read approximately 100 books a year. I have for decades. I have NEVER read consecutive volumes of one author’s books – one after another – until I ran into Egan.Reading Egan is an adventure – a particularly satisfying and unique one. I have few favorite authors. Egan is now in my top 3. PERIOD. His work is just than damn good…better than good…it’s hard to put into words my appreciation for this man’s literary talent. A MASTER storyteller.LOVED this book. BUY IT! – – – NOW!Warning: After you read The Good Rain – you’ll be hooked on Timothy Egan…trust me…