Jim Harrison on James Welch

There’s scorn aplenty in Jim Harrison’s introduction to a Penguin Classics reissue of James Welch’s early novel "The Death of Jim Loney." No one else would dare the following opening line: "Recently while rereading ‘The Death of Jim Loney’ I wanted to write or call Jim Welch in Missoula and talk about his novel but he’s dead."

Isn't that a direct violation of the "speak well of the dead" clause we’re all supposed to follow as card-carrying members of Western civilization? Harrison (right) isn't being insulting, but only he could get away with this type of lede.

Introductions are often easily discarded. They offer a few pages of warmup before the plunge into the narrative; they’re the treadmill before the exercise session begins. But what Harrison’s piece provides, besides the glowing praise for a writer who should not be far from any of our imaginations, are the cuts and jabs that are part of the trademark of his style. Here he is, casting a glance at his own career, with a parting shot at the academic profession:

It is arguable that we don’t have a national literature but the work of specific regions unrelated to tradition. Of course I’m nearly forty years away from the academy and don’t make a living inventing connections between writers.

Ouch. He’s faulting critics for trespassing, isn't he? Isn't the invention of connections what fiction writers practice? And here is a rich anecdote that captures his own discovery of the differences existing between the reality and romance of things:

A couple of decades ago in Key West I won a private detective’s license in a poker game and thought of myself as an operative for a few weeks until I became frightened when I learned the malefactors I was investigating carried guns, at which I determined that I should limit my daring to my imagination.

Harrison’s essay is one of those examples of when an introduction doesn’t function as a piece of forgettable support furniture, like a bedside table. After reading it, you can go on and read the Welch novel (and you really should), but you don’t have to.

Nick Owchar

Harrison photo: Ralph Radford

Comments

[Charlotte]

Why is it "scornful" for Harrison to say that he misses his friend? He wanted to call him up, but sadly, he's dead. It's not scornful, it's just the way it is.