HERNES by Ursula K. Le Guin

A masterwork novella of foam and rain.
 
4th printing, ongoing
180pgs. 4.25x7in
WT014
 
This story is a literary masterpiece. Long overlooked as a sidenote of Le Guin's famed career, this deep contemplation of place, being, and naming is set on the Oregon Coast, weaving together the perspectives of 4 generations of women. It is hard to overstate the value of this work. Both in its technical skill and in its broad, multifaceted view of human experience.
 
It is, to my mind, Le Guin's deepest exploration of Taoism. It discards any direct reference to the ideology and instead invests its effort into the lived experience of the central questions of the tradition. Finding voice in the liminal conditions of the coast, the human mind, and the question of naming.
 
I retyped the whole story from a library edition of "Searoad" while down in Neskowin, OR. The winter weather clearing out tourists. The long beach extended out. Waves never ceasing their crashing noise causing my windows to rattle, and vibrating my bed.
 
I hope to keep this story in print for as long as I can. Helping continue its reverberations in the world. Bringing it fans and new readers all the same. It is a northwestern story, sunk into the soil and fog, vibrating with a deep significance.
 
Conner Bouchard-Roberts
Publisher, Winter texts
feb 2022