{"product_id":"anything-will-be-easy-after-this-9781496220219","title":"Anything Will Be Easy after This","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBethany Maile had a mythological American West in mind when she returned to Idaho after dropping out of college in Boston, only to find a farm-town-turned-suburb instead of the Wild West wonderland she remembered. Haunted by what she had so completely misremembered, Maile resolved to investigate her attachment to the western myth, however flawed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Deciding to engage in a variety of “western” events, Maile trailed rodeo queens, bid on cattle, fired .22s at the gun range, and searched out wild horses. With lively reportage and a sharp wit, she recounts her efforts to understand how the western myth is outdated yet persistent while ultimately exploring the need for story and the risks inherent to that need. \u003ci\u003eAnything Will Be Easy after This\u003c\/i\u003e traces Maile’s evolution from a girl suckered by a busted-down story to a more knowing woman who discovers a new narrative that enchants without deluding.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Blending personal insight with sharp-eyed cultural analysis, the author celebrates the West and Western identity without ever losing sight of the myriad complexities that underlie both. An eloquent and perceptive memoir in essays.\"—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eAnything Will Be Easy after This\u003c\/i\u003e traces Maile's evolution from a girl suckered by a busted-down story to a more knowing woman who discovers a new narrative that enchants without deluding.\"—\u003ci\u003eEntropy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eAnything Will Be Easy after This\u003c\/i\u003e pairs old school journalistic immersion with formal ingenuity and weds Maile’s healthy skepticism to her legit enthusiastic love for the West’s stories. Half excellent memoir and half blade-sharp cultural critique, this terrific book made me a convert to the complicated appeal of the state.”—Ander Monson, author of \u003ci\u003eVanishing Point: Not a Memoir\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e“Gorgeously written, vividly imagined, and poignantly observed, Maile’s open-eyed essays are a heartbroken love song to Idaho: what it was, what it never was, what it is, what it might yet be. Whether she is contemplating motherhood or mustangs or Ray LaMontagne, rodeo queens or Dairy Queen, \u003ci\u003eTrue Grit\u003c\/i\u003e, or the gut-wrenching shame of genocide, Maile is a brilliant new voice in and of the West.”—Kim Barnes, author of \u003ci\u003eIn the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e“Bethany Maile writes with the emotional clarity of William Kittredge and the historical attention of Timothy Egan. In this wise, wide-ranging debut, Maile roots her inquiry in the old western concerns of authenticity, mythology, land, and family, yet her approach is fresh, fun, even postmodern.”—Joe Wilkins, author of \u003ci\u003eFall Back Down When I Die\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Going West\u003cbr\u003e Anywhere, USA\u003cbr\u003e How Lady Antebellum Wrecked Country Music\u003cbr\u003e The Slaughterhouse\u003cbr\u003e Anything Will Be Easy after This\u003cbr\u003e The Wild Ones\u003cbr\u003e Ladies’ Night at the Shooting Range\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTrue Grit\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCountry Strong\u003c\/i\u003e, and Other Lies\u003cbr\u003e The Trouble with Two-Heartedness \u003cbr\u003e This Will See Us Through\u003cbr\u003e Notes","brand":"University of Nebraska Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409230864727,"sku":"9781496220219","price":15.19,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781496220219.jpg?v=1730506060","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/anything-will-be-easy-after-this-9781496220219","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}