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Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008

A summer in Montana

Writer Larry Watson’s ‘Montana 1948’ is this year’s choice for Preface, Cal Poly’s shared reading program, for incoming freshmen and community members who will read the book and later discuss it during a lecture by the author

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Although his book “Montana 1948” was published 15 years ago, novelist Larry Watson hears about it all the time.

After all, thousands of people discuss the book every year in classrooms and community reading groups.

“I have to say I’ve learned more about my book in the years since it’s come out—having had access to some of those discussions — than I did while I was working on the book,” Watson said from his home in Milwaukee.

Poly reading program

Watson’s short novel about two brothers on the opposite side of the law has been chosen for this year’s Cal Poly shared reading program, Preface. Launched in 2002, Preface merged with SLO County Reads to involve both incoming Poly freshman and members of the community.

Students are required to read the book during the summer and then participate in discussions during the Week of Welcome, beginning Sept. 17. The week before that, community discussions are held at county libraries.

Past Preface books have included Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” Alice Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones” and last year’s selection, “All Over Creation,” by Ruth Ozeki.

The reading program concludes with a visit from the author — in this case Sept. 24.

A popular read

Watson’s “Montana 1948” has been a popular choice for community reads, having been selected by cities nationwide since 1996.

The book is narrated by David Hayden, an adult looking back on his childhood. Specifically, he recalls the summer when his father—a small-town sheriff — had to decide how to respond after his brother, a respected physician and war hero, was accused of heinous crimes.

With race, justice and family loyalty at odds, the book is obvious fodder for discussion.

“Often one of the things that comes up is a discussion of the moral choices that the characters in the book must make,” Watson said. “And it’s wonderful to hear what readers’ takes are on that.”

Like his narrator, Watson’s father and grandfather were small-town sheriffs. And while his life does not mirror that of his narrator’s, elements of his family did inspire the plot.

“My father didn’t have a brother — he had brothers,” said Watson, who will discuss the book in a free discussion at Cal Poly next month. “His brothers were not criminals, by any means, but they had various kinds of troubles through their lives. And my father was the white sheep of the family and sometimes was called upon to help his brothers out of various kinds of trouble. So when I was growing up, I knew there was this conflict in my father as he was pulled in different directions.”

A novella

Watson knew he wanted that conflict in “Montana 1948.” But he also wanted to keep the book sparse. At 168 pages, it’s more of a novella than a novel.

“The book I had written before ‘Montana 1948’ was very long, and I just sort of put everything in as I was writing that book,” he said. “So I decided that with the next novel I’d take the opposite tactic. And whenever I had a decision to make on whether to put it in or leave it out, I’d leave it out and see what happened.”

Once released, the book garnered rave reviews. The San Francisco Chronicle would later call the book “a work of art,” and the Baltimore Sun would call it “wonderful.” But the book might never have been published had Watson not taken a gamble.

Now a full-time instructor at Marquette University, Watson had no problem getting his first book, “In a Dark Time,” published in 1980. He had submitted portions of it to a contest, and one of the editors—who was becoming a literary agent — asked if he could represent it.

“My first novel was published with so little effort on my part ... that I thought for a while there, ‘What’s all the talk of how hard a writer’s life is?’ ”

But the book didn’t sell well. And Watson, who has a doctorate in creative writing, found it difficult to get another one published. As the years passed and the rejections piled up, Watson’s wife would keep him motivated.

“I would complain to her about

my lack of success, and she would say, ‘So quit,’ ” he recalled. “It wasn’t the heartless thing that it sounds like. But it was exactly what I needed to hear and needed to remember—that if I kept writing, I might have little chance, but if I quit, I’d have no chance.”

A second chance

He sent “Montana 1948” to a large publisher in New York. There an editor expressed interest, though the book languished for months with no action. So Watson asked the publisher to return the book so he could submit it elsewhere.

“And as soon as I did that, I thought, ‘Oh, you idiot—what have you done?’ It had been 13 years since I had a novel published, and here I had one on an editor’s desk— and I asked him to send it back.”

Discouraged with the big publishing houses, Watson decided to send his novel to a smaller press.

“And so I sent it to Milkweed Editions for their annual contest, and it worked,” he said.

Milkweed, based in Minnesota, is a nonprofit publisher that typically publishes fewer than 20 titles a year.

With the success of “Montana 1948,” the bigger publishers were again interested in Watson’s writing. And several more books would follow, including “Laura” — a novel he’d written before “Montana 1948” —and “Justice,” a prequel to “Montana 1948.”

Three of Watson’s books, including “Montana 1948,” have been optioned for movies. One of those, “White Crosses,” has also been selected for community reading events.

At Cal Poly’s reading program, a committee of readers, including staff and students, chooses books based on several criteria — including author availability. The program began with honor students in 2002 and went campuswide two years later. In 2006, the county joined the program.

When he appears in San Luis Obispo, Watson said he’ll talk about his family background and answer questions about his novel.

Discussion participants generally have a lot of theories about the characters in his book, Watson said. And while he doesn’t wish he’d written it differently, he invites other views about it.

“I always tell them, ‘If you have an interpretation of the book and you can support it with the text itself, then it’s as valid as anyone else’s.’ ”

Reach Patrick S. Pemberton at 781-7903.