If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Life in Alaska is different. Life in small-town Alaska is quite a bit different. Haines, a community in the Southeastern region of the state, has a population of only around 2,000 people. The high school has a mere 100 students, with a grand total of two school buses to transport them. Though most of the roads are now paved, there is still not a single traffic light. Nobody puts numbers on their houses, because there is no individual mail delivery - all mail is picked up at the post office. There are few land routes in and out of the town, and air and water travel are limited to good weather conditions. The town has no hospital. Those needing medical care beyond what the local clinic can attend to must either fly to Juneau, Alaska's capital, or drive to Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territory.

Author Heather Lende moved to Alaska with her then-newlywed husband right after graduating college, spent a short time in Anchorage, and then traveled to Haines where she has lived ever since. She writes the obituaries for the Chilkat Valley News, the local newspaper, as well as a column entitled "Duly Noted," which consists of short blurbs about current minor news related to the community. Through her work at the paper, gathering information for the obituaries she writes, she has become very close to many members of the community, and has many heartfelt and interesting stories to tell. This is the focus of the book.

Other reviewers have criticized the book for being too "self-centered" but that is exactly what a memoir is - a personal reflection. Flip to the back cover and you'll see "Travel / Memoir" printed right above the barcode. Lende's writing accomplishes two things: It takes us into the close-knit world of a remote Alaskan town, and it relates what the author has seen and experienced to her own life, showing us how living in Haines has affected her personally. There is no plotline to the book. It is a collection of vignettes about life and death in the town and surrounding area, and they are arranged in no distinct topical or chronological order, but nevertheless manage to come together into a pleasing whole. The vignettes are also interspersed with excerpts from Lende's "Duly Noted" column, giving us further insights into what is important and noteworthy to people in this small community.

This is not grand literature, but the writing is clear and enjoyable to read. It is not really as humorous as it is advertised to be (though there are some funny moments), but I do not think this was the intent in the first place. It is a heartfelt glimpse into small-town life, and though I am originally from Alaska myself, I have no experience living in a small, remote community, and found the book intriguing. Though I don't think I could live permanently in such a place, I am now very interested in visiting Haines myself, and I think the book may well have the same effect on other readers. It's a light, quick read, but definitely worthwhile, even if all you're looking for is a way to pass the time on an airplane (which is, in fact, how I read the book). I'd certainly recommend giving it a shot.

I picked up this book intrigued by the title of the book, and the location of the small town. Of course there are many small towns across America, but not too many as isolated as Haines, Alaska, population 2,400, about 90 miles north of Junea.

In "If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name" (281 pages) author Heather Lende brings us everyday stories of what life is like in Haines, Alaska. There is no story line in the book, just observations of what life is like in a place that is reachable only by ferry or by plane (no McDonald's!). Surprise, but even in a close-knit community like that, it turns out that there is trouble in the high school (less than 100 kids in total) with kids being picked on etc. Hende writes the obituaries for the local weekly, and that allows her to get even closer to the people in the community, and it comes across in the book. Her love for Haines is obvious, and affectuous. It makes me want to visit the place myself.

No, this book is not some grand statement of literature. Instead, this is the perfect beach reading for the summer. "If You Lived Here" will take you to a place that most of us have never lived in, visited, or ever will visit. Highly recommended!

Heather Lende's neck of the woods--Haines, Alaska-- is a place where the name of the game is subsistence, and the surroundings are both breathtakingly beautiful and frequently downright dangerous.

Episodic in the fashion of an Alaskan "All Creatures Great and Small", Lende's book creates a panoramic view of her small community built out of informal, conversational anecdotes. No one could be better equipped to write about Haines than Lende, who authors all the local obituaries for the local newpaper. Her job as the "chronicler of deaths" also wins her the dramatic role as the Narrator in the local production of the play, "Our Town". She plays softball for a team called the "Diehards", and each Christmas can be found with a chain of her friends beneath the costume of the "Christmas Dragon" weaving through the streets.

It's a measure of Lende's authentic and intimate writing style that most readers will feel as if they are right beside her as she recounts the triumphs and travails of her family, friends and neighbors.

As for her politics--who really cares? She tips her hand about her causes once or twice, but for the most part the book is not overtly political. She seems like a fair-minded and caring individual. I thank her for providing readers with this quaint book elucidating the mysteries of a small Alaskan village. The local tourism industry should be thrilled with this book-- it will bring curious readers to Alaska in droves.