A new novel by Michael Hollister

Hollister is the author of the Hollywood Trilogy, Holywood, Follywood, Hollyworld, a story (several stories, really) set against the rise of the film industry, an achievement I greatly admire. Now he has a new book, Salishan, epic and political in reach by the sound of the press release:

Five generations of Bowmans help to build the West. Nat Bowman, a logger half Salish Indian, studies forestry and becomes a double agent in the culture war between environmentalists and timber workers focused on owls. Known only as Owl Man--spotted or barred?--he exposes crooks and penetrates an eco terrorist cell after 9/11. Dramatizes the conflict over forests, effects of the Endangered Species Act and urban versus rural politics, with a cast including over thirty tribes.

A retired English professor, Hollister also is a writer on the downhill side of a literary career, which means he's been around long enough to see the changes in the publishing industry after the corporate buyouts and consolidation of media power. These changes, which have turned "literary novel" into a more pejorative term than ever, have run parallel to developments in technology that can be liberating to writers who don't have to establish reputations or seek validation. A lot of writers are taking their good work into their own hands, and Hollister is among the best of the new breed. He deserves your attention.

Michael Hollister Website.