Customer Comments

As an Oregonian who has spent a lifetime in and out of the rain, I found Of Walking in Rain one of a kind. Finally there is a book that gives voice to the permeating rain of Oregon. Author Matt Love’s writing is relentlessly good. He writes about his personal experience of rain and those who reside in it both drenched and heartened. The book is part memoir, essay, vignette, diary, oral history and commentary (plus a lot more) on rain. In this collection rain is beautiful, humorous, educating, lonely, healing, moving, sexy and inspiring. It is not the science of coastal storms or a dull weather report. Far from it. It is about rain and truly living in it. Put down your umbrella and pick-up this book.

After reading two other books by Matt Love I dove into Gimme Refuge. He tells the story of a time in his life when he took the chance to transition from teacher to caretaker of a wildlife refuge so he could realize his dream to become a writer. I loved this book. It was easy for me to vividly imagine the story as I read it. I loved that he took a chance, that he was sometimes in over his head, that he had hope, that he had passion for the refuge as he invested himself in its restoration and that he wrote with humor and compassion about the people he met, and the wildlife that make the refuge home. It is an authentically told story and well worth reading.

I flipped through this book and landed on a page where author Matt Love asks a cab driver if he has a good story about the Yaquina Bay Bridge. I read the cab driver's story then bought the book and started over from page one. A bridge may be steel and cement, form and function, but it is also anyone who has ever crossed it, built it and designed it in the first place. You can read about Oregon's New Deal Era bridges in other books, but I guarantee you won't have as much fun. The photos throughout the book set the mood and who knew a bridge in fog could be so captivating. The back cover of "Love and the Green Lady" says it is the author's gift to the Yaquina Bay Bridge for her 75th birthday. It was also a gift to this reader. I'm glad I found it. I will never look at the Yaquina Bay Bridge (or any other bridge) the same way again.

This book was the first book I read by Matt Love and I read two more soon afterwards. The one thing about any beach town on the Oregon coast is the ability to go out your door, hit the nearest tavern (Newport has plenty) or take a walk to the beach, and encounter all kinds of people. Matt Love does both and creates a very readable book. There is an irreverent inventiveness and energy in the 46 pieces contained in the book. They were irresistable for their humor, compassion, and intelligence so I read it straight through. Not everyone can observe and write absorbing stories, essay or commentary like this. "Super Sunday in Newport" is both funny and touching. It's the heart of coastal Oregon in a book.