Arts & Entertainment
Cowboy’s Quill: David Quammen
Published
7 years agoon
Posted By
Outlaw PartnersThe science of writing
By Doug Hare EBS Staff
I recently had a wide-ranging phone conversation with David Quammen, perhaps Bozeman’s most famous writer. Exceptionally lucid and immediately engaging, he exudes not only a technical proficiency on matters both scientific and literary, but also a boundless curiosity for the natural world.
Although he has written novels, short stories, op-eds and screenplays, these days Quammen prefers writing nonfiction, having found that the genre provides the freedom he needs—the autonomy of storytelling, the occasional literary flourish—while still allowing him to pursue intellectually demanding subjects.
For more than four years, he has been at work on his new book, “The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life,” due out in August 2018. Quammen’s latest work explores how recent advances in our understanding of the human genome have complicated our understanding of how evolution works on the molecular level. The trajectory of his argument points to the inadequacy of the Tree of Life metaphor given recent discoveries in phylogenetics.
But even in an off-the-cuff response, Quammen’s ability to distill and analyze complicated, technical information and synthesize it in a way that makes it accessible to the layman, but also eye-opening for the expert, is undeniable. He is erudite without ever being pedantic, scholarly yet never boring.
Even the late literary giant Jim Harrison would call him up late at night and ask him to explain arcane cosmological theories that Harrison could not wrap his head around.
Quammen also spoke of his days as an English major at Yale University and studying Southern literature with Robert Penn Warren. This period is where the author pinpoints the influence of William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor and Raymond Carver—on both his fiction and nonfiction styles—not so much on the sentemtial level, but on a broader, structural scale.
“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,” Quammen said in a self-deprecating manner.
Now back on assignment for National Geographic magazine, Quammen’s globe-trotting ways will take him to Africa next, where he will continue to find ways to combine his lifelong loves of writing, science and nature.
Toward the end of the interview, I asked Quammen why he has called Bozeman home for more than three decades. He said that when people hear he is a “Montana writer,” they ask him if he has a ranch. He doesn’t.
Quammen moved to Montana in 1973 where he was drawn by the trout fishing. Initially bouncing around the state and living in Butte, Missoula and Ennis, he eventually settled down in Bozeman in the early ‘80s to use the Montana State University library for research, and stills holds status there as an adjunct professor.
Nowadays, he says he enjoys his friendships with neighbor and writer Tim Cahill and poet Greg Keller, among others, and living a few blocks from Main Street, so he and his wife can walk to enjoy a nice meal even on a snowy evening.
Doug Hare is the Distribution Director for Outlaw Partners. He studied philosophy and American literature at Princeton and Harvard universities.
The Outlaw Partners is a creative marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky, Montana.
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Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by
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Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by GAS for ride information.
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Hike Big Sky is a FREE guided hike for our community and visitors alike. A different trail will be featured each Monday at 9 a.m. Visit BSCO.org for trail description information. Please wear layers, bring water and snacks. Bear spray recommended.
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Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by
Event Details
Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by GAS for ride information.
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Join Santosha, BASE and Gourmet Gals to bring you a donation based all levels community yoga lunch break class every Wednesday throughout the summer. It will be
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Join Santosha, BASE and Gourmet Gals to bring you a donation based all levels community yoga lunch break class every Wednesday throughout the summer. It will be taught by a variety of teachers from Santosha and BASE. This summer all proceeds will go to Big Sky Band-Aid, aside from the first one on the 26th that is happening during Pride week- all funds donated for that class will go to Big Sky OUT. A delicious lunch will also be served by Gourmet Gals following our practice each Wednesday (included in donation). You are welcome to donate with cash at the event or you can Venmo @Santoshabigsky and make a note for Community Yoga. Hope to see you in the Park!
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