Feels Like Far: A Rancher's Life on the Great Plains

The brutality and beauty of South Dakota ranch life suffuse this articulate memoir by award-winning western author Hasselstrom (Windbreak). Her difficult relationship with her stepfather, John, who adopted her in 1952 when she was nine, runs through the short pieces collected here. While her mother actively disliked ranching, Hasselstrom found it ""like slipping my foot in a perfectly fitting soft boot."" An eager pupil, she strove to please John, who taught her to ride, shoot, brand and castrate cattle; one day she even had to kill a sick steer. Strong and silent, John doled out large doses of tough love to his stepdaughter, once telling her that if she got into trouble at school, he would double her punishment. When she became a published writer, he refused to read her work and belittled all activities aside from ranching. Hasselstrom eventually returned to live and write on the ranch with her second husband, who died from cancer. Shortly after this loss, a close female friend revealed to Hasselstrom that she had been diagnosed with AIDS. At the same time, John's physical and mental health began to deteriorate. The author's stoicism in the face of these events began to crack after John ordered her to stop writing and work for him as a paid ranch laborer. Hasselstrom fled to Cheyenne, Wyo., where she found freedom but sorely missed her hardscrabble life. After John's death, Hasselstrom returned to the ranch to look after her mother and to reconnect with the landscape that has shaped her life. (Nov.)