In Extremis And Other Alaskan Stories

By Jean Anderson and Anderson

Alaska, with its midnight sun, seemingly endless winter and vast stretches of isolated land, is a main character here, playing subtle but key roles in each story of this superior first collection. In PARTING OUT, a professor's middle-aged wife sits at her breakfast table, her thoughts jumping from the facts of her marriage to fantasies of her husband's unfaithfulness. But even with her disturbing inner visions, it is the winter scene outside the window that transfixes her. In VREELUND, a transplanted Alaskan attends a memorial service for a friend, a mountain climber. The mother of toddler twins in DISTANCE discovers that the climate is not her harshest foe, when tragedy compels her to recall the bravery she and her husband had needed to travel so far together, into this land whose very extremity was the thing she loved and wanted. A pioneer charting frontier, Anderson surveys both the exotic terrain and the readily recognisable natives.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0917635078
• ISBN13: 9780917635076
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Short Stories with a Fairbanks, Alaska Theme

These are very well-written stories that document the special character of Fairbanks people and its lifestyle. The every day perceptions, exchanges, and interactions are colored by the adversity of the climate and environment that could lead an outsider looking in to classify the ordinary here as bizarre. Fairbanks accepts a broader range of differences and has a different set of criteria for relationships that anywhere else. Eccentricity is the norm. Jean Anderson gets this. Some of her stories such as 'Vreeland' are based on real people and events. Being a Fairbanksan myself, and being familiar with the people and events, brought the stories closer to me on a personal level. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves short stories and has an interest in the farthest north city in Alaska. I also recommend Cold Starry Night (New Edition) for anyone interested in Alaska and Fairbanks in particular.