What do you think?
Rate this book
Niagara Digressions
A seasoned storyteller's work via cut-up method, combining history and naturalist memoir, Niagara Digressions presents land as historical palimpsest, from ancient cave paintings to 1960s mimeographed poetry, the massacre of the buffalo to the manufacture of shredded wheat cereal.
E. R. Baxter III is a Niagara County Community College professor emeritus of English and has been a recipient of a New York State Creative Service Award for fiction and a Just Buffalo Award for Fiction. Previous publications include Looking for Niagara (Slipstream Press) and various chapbooks.
E. R. Baxter III is a Niagara County Community College professor emeritus of English and has been a recipient of a New York State Creative Service Award for fiction and a Just Buffalo Award for Fiction. Previous publications include Looking for Niagara (Slipstream Press) and various chapbooks.
250 pages, Paperback
First published April 10, 2012
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 29, 2012
A lifetime in the making and beautiful work of literary non-fiction, Niagara Digressions is one man's ponderings and wanderings of a life. Baxter uses memoir and metaphor to make sense of his world and of the ones' that came before. He offers an ecological history and recounting of place worthy of being amongst those like Dreiser and Dillard. An excellent read for a better understanding of Niagara and one man's insights into human engagement in and ravaging of the natural world.
April 11, 2012
“The ideal reflecting pool is smaller, rather than larger…deep enough to suggest mystery and to sustain schools of minnows or other small fish so that these may be observed in the shallows.
Ferns, wildflowers, and grasses should be permitted to grow unmowed on some of the shore, trimmed grass in other areas….Mature trees, native to the region, not nursery ornamentals, should also be left to grow on the shores, establishing groves or small forests. There should be no artificial lighting.”
When I hit this section of E.R. Baxter’s new book, Niagara Digressions, I couldn’t help but think he was talking about more than simply viewing a landscape. The quote above felt more fitting in describing this book, a collection of stories, musings, and history by a writer who is unpretentious and honest. There’s nothing artificial or hyped up about his recollections, and there’s nothing showy in the famous names he drops.
As Eric Gansworth, who wrote the introduction, states, “this book, in its more unorthodox style, is closer to truth than most of those memoirs with which you might already be familiar. It’s an aesthetic representation of the way we really see our lives, if we are at all careful listeners and viewers, witnessing the way we perceive the world.” Baxter is all over the place in how he recalls events that were significant in his life, and ultimately, in the history of that region and even in literary culture. And the almost rambling path he takes isn’t annoying, it’s endearing. Better yet, he’s not one of those figures who nostalgically look back and whitewash realities that are easier forgotten. His voice is honest, and just as importantly, unadorned with anything extraneous.
In one part of the book, he speaks extensively about his Uncle Bill McCoy, cataloguing details of his life that tell their own story, right down to the personal effects left when he died. These included numerous photographs of his life at sea:
“Photographs: there are photographs of ships at sea, foggy, misty, too far off to be recognizable, street scenes, all taken from too great a distance to be focused on individuals, but more on the aggregate, picture of a lone man on a deserted street at dusk, almost half a block distant, nearly a silhouette, walking away.”
Somehow the description feels eerily poetic, filling out the stories he’s already told about Bill to make him both complicated and endearing. Besides colorful characters he’s known, and some especially dishy gossip about Ginsberg and W.S. Burroughs, he also speaks seriously about toxic chemicals in the region, the romantic life of red foxes, Shredded Wheat, the annoying habit of people who stir their coffee too long, and the beauty of flaws in old houses. The play between dead serious and wry wit is compelling, and makes you wish you could sit by a fire and listen to him talk. His reflections, like those found in the pond he described, can only have come through his personal perception. Yes, that’s obvious, but unfortunately, it’s rare. Few people can talk about life without whining or trying to instill some all-important message.
The title is based on his lifelong location on the Niagara River, and many, but not all, of the 'digressions' are from this location. From his website (www.erbaxteriii.com), he explains simply the subjects about which he writes: "it all rises from here, originates, is foundationally from here, the place that increasingly these days becomes the imagined landscape I call home."
Ultimately, Baxter’s work here coincides with his vocation as a teacher. He wants readers to observe and think, to write well for having interpreted for themselves life around them. It’s fitting that when again, he discusses the reflecting pond, he asks, “Where are you in the picture, standing or sitting tentatively near the edge, staring down?”
Ferns, wildflowers, and grasses should be permitted to grow unmowed on some of the shore, trimmed grass in other areas….Mature trees, native to the region, not nursery ornamentals, should also be left to grow on the shores, establishing groves or small forests. There should be no artificial lighting.”
When I hit this section of E.R. Baxter’s new book, Niagara Digressions, I couldn’t help but think he was talking about more than simply viewing a landscape. The quote above felt more fitting in describing this book, a collection of stories, musings, and history by a writer who is unpretentious and honest. There’s nothing artificial or hyped up about his recollections, and there’s nothing showy in the famous names he drops.
As Eric Gansworth, who wrote the introduction, states, “this book, in its more unorthodox style, is closer to truth than most of those memoirs with which you might already be familiar. It’s an aesthetic representation of the way we really see our lives, if we are at all careful listeners and viewers, witnessing the way we perceive the world.” Baxter is all over the place in how he recalls events that were significant in his life, and ultimately, in the history of that region and even in literary culture. And the almost rambling path he takes isn’t annoying, it’s endearing. Better yet, he’s not one of those figures who nostalgically look back and whitewash realities that are easier forgotten. His voice is honest, and just as importantly, unadorned with anything extraneous.
In one part of the book, he speaks extensively about his Uncle Bill McCoy, cataloguing details of his life that tell their own story, right down to the personal effects left when he died. These included numerous photographs of his life at sea:
“Photographs: there are photographs of ships at sea, foggy, misty, too far off to be recognizable, street scenes, all taken from too great a distance to be focused on individuals, but more on the aggregate, picture of a lone man on a deserted street at dusk, almost half a block distant, nearly a silhouette, walking away.”
Somehow the description feels eerily poetic, filling out the stories he’s already told about Bill to make him both complicated and endearing. Besides colorful characters he’s known, and some especially dishy gossip about Ginsberg and W.S. Burroughs, he also speaks seriously about toxic chemicals in the region, the romantic life of red foxes, Shredded Wheat, the annoying habit of people who stir their coffee too long, and the beauty of flaws in old houses. The play between dead serious and wry wit is compelling, and makes you wish you could sit by a fire and listen to him talk. His reflections, like those found in the pond he described, can only have come through his personal perception. Yes, that’s obvious, but unfortunately, it’s rare. Few people can talk about life without whining or trying to instill some all-important message.
The title is based on his lifelong location on the Niagara River, and many, but not all, of the 'digressions' are from this location. From his website (www.erbaxteriii.com), he explains simply the subjects about which he writes: "it all rises from here, originates, is foundationally from here, the place that increasingly these days becomes the imagined landscape I call home."
Ultimately, Baxter’s work here coincides with his vocation as a teacher. He wants readers to observe and think, to write well for having interpreted for themselves life around them. It’s fitting that when again, he discusses the reflecting pond, he asks, “Where are you in the picture, standing or sitting tentatively near the edge, staring down?”
March 20, 2019
This book was all over the place which I guess is the purpose....it is called Digressions. It had some interesting stories, some tied together in weird ways, some didn't seem to have any reason to be there. I don't know....this just wasn't my kind of book. I found myself being a bit frustrated that there didn't seem to be any cohesiveness. I found a lot of the hunting and killing descriptions too detailed....I skimmed over those parts. The writing was good I just had a hard time reading it because it was jarring, no real flow, the pace was start and stop.
The details and descriptions were so well written you felt like you were there seeing what he was seeing. You could tell that he really saw the world around him growing up and looking back to recount the tales. He writes about his family and growing up in Niagara depicting the area so differently than I've ever thought of it. He makes it seem like a wonderous place with infinite possibilities. His love of animals is apparent throughout the book. His love of nature comes across easily.
I did especially like that it was about an area where I live so it was familiar to me. At one point Baxter wrote about someone I knew, Joe Greene. It was a surprise to read about Joe and his untimely death. I'm glad that account is in a book for all to read. It's a wonderful book if you're an outdoors person, especially a hunter but it didn't hold my interest all the time.
The details and descriptions were so well written you felt like you were there seeing what he was seeing. You could tell that he really saw the world around him growing up and looking back to recount the tales. He writes about his family and growing up in Niagara depicting the area so differently than I've ever thought of it. He makes it seem like a wonderous place with infinite possibilities. His love of animals is apparent throughout the book. His love of nature comes across easily.
I did especially like that it was about an area where I live so it was familiar to me. At one point Baxter wrote about someone I knew, Joe Greene. It was a surprise to read about Joe and his untimely death. I'm glad that account is in a book for all to read. It's a wonderful book if you're an outdoors person, especially a hunter but it didn't hold my interest all the time.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews