Deep Creek by Pam Houston
Deep Creek is a memoir by author Pam Houston. In it, Houston tells the tale of impulsively purchasing a ranch in the tiny (but spirited) town of Creede, Colorado. She regales readers with vibrant anecdotes – some fun and lighthearted, others emotional and moving – of her life on the ranch and off of it. Between juggling teaching jobs all over the country, her writing career, and the ranch and its inhabitants, Houston’s ethic and heart are admirable.
Deep Creek is an ode and love letter to Creede, to her animals, to the earth, and to Colorado’s – in Houston’s words – “headstrong break-your-heart blue [sky].” As a reader who has visited Colorado but hasn’t been back since I was barely a teenager, this memoir made me miss it more than ever! Between her storytelling skills and colorful, evocative writing, each page had me longing for the vast plains and lofty young mountains of the American West.
If you, too, long for those prairies where the buffalo roam, Deep Creek is a perfect read to cozy up with.
