John Larison, Whiskey When We’re Dry (2019)
Content warning:
Child abuse, death (major character, animal), discrimination and bigotry, gun violence, hate crimes, murder, self-harm, serious injury, sexual content, substance abuse, war and displacement
Synopsis
Whiskey When We’re Dry follows the life of seventeen-year-old, half-Mexican Jessalyn Harney. After the death of her father, she disguises herself as a man and leaves home in search of her older brother, Noah Harney, who is now known across the West as an infamous outlaw. Passing as a young white man, she finds work as a militiaman with the Governor who also holds a heavy bounty above her brother. Throughout the story, Jess navigates her new identity, skill, and survival—along with the hard choices she is forced to make to preserve them all.
Essay
Whiskey When We’re Dry questions the popular narrative of the American West. Larison does this by bringing forth narratives and perspectives from underrepresented minorities in the Western narrative such as Mexican and Indigenous people. The novel references many locations across the continent such as Kansas, Montana, Wyoming, and California. Since Oregon is not directly referenced, it therefore begs the question of how Whiskey When We’re Dry counts as Oregon Literature. To answer this question, I was given an incredible opportunity to interview John Larison about the novel’s potential ties to Oregon’s geography and history.
Before the interview, I came across the “Penguin Reader’s Guide” in my copy of the book, which included an interview with Larison. In it, he says that his experiences in Eastern Oregon’s ranching community had first inspired this novel. Knowing this, I first asked him why he had chosen California as the main setting when it was Oregon that had inspired this novel. His answer took me by surprise: he said that he never considered the book to be set in California. He explained to me that he wrote Whiskey When We’re Dry as a fictionalized American West. Larison left an explicit setting out because he did not want the plot to be chained to the historical accuracy of whichever state he would have chosen to commit as the novel setting. As such, his choice in writing a fictionalized American West had given him more freedom to mold the plot and geography to how he seemed fit. By doing this, Larison was able to incorporate elements of Oregon within this novel without having to worry about historical accuracy in the plot.
For example, Larison incorporated hidden elements of Eastern Oregon within his novel’s “Fictional America.” Many of the “easter eggs” Larison revealed to me in our interview took place in Jess’s childhood home. Despite the implication that Jess’s home took place in the Midwest, Larison stated that the valley Jess grew up in was directly inspired by Silvies Valley in Eastern Oregon. The landscape of this valley mirrors how Jess describes her home, where they live near a large lake that borders a lush green valley and dry desert area. Eastern Oregon is also incorporated into the choice of names in this novel. For instance, the “Harney” last name was a reference to Harney County in Eastern Oregon, which is where Silvies Valley is located. One of the big lakes located in Silvies Valley is also named “Harney River” as well.
“There was a lake and the valley held its green long after the hills went brown ... Ma wept when she saw the valley...Here no view reminded her of someone she had lost” - Whiskey When We’re Dry, pg. 4
This was when Jess’s parents first arrived in what would then become their family land. Larison had also explained to me some of Oregon’s history and how he had even incorporated pieces of such into Jess’s beginnings. To paint the scene, Oregon had represented what those [the pioneers] had hoped to find by the end of their journey on the Oregon Trail: a new beginning to a good life. In addition, Larison had told me that after the Civil War, rich people from the North and those from the South would soon migrate to Oregon. The claiming of land was a “first-come-first serve" basis, meaning that the Northerners with money to spare claimed land in Western Oregon due to their cooler climate in the valleys. Meanwhile, the land left for the rest were patches in dry Eastern Oregon. For Jess’s family, it is implied that after the Civil War, they had gotten a lucky balance between the climates of both the East and West, making it more appealing to Jess’s neighbors. As a result, holding onto the family land alone was an impossible task for Jess to do as a woman, which is why she needed to find Noah. From the start, Oregon’s portrayal of “new beginnings” did not apply to Jess because of the death of her parents and Noah’s abandonment, leaving Jess to fend for herself. As such, the lack of Oregon’s promise portrayed in Larison’s novel thereby prompts Jess into her troubled journey.
Whiskey When We’re Dry criticizes the American West that is falsely portrayed in Hollywood media. As such, it would not have made sense for Larison to only set the book in Oregon. Regardless, Larison’s fictional West had been influenced by rich elements of geography, history, and the author’s personal experiences in Eastern Oregon. Therefore, even as a novel representing the span of the West, Whiskey When We’re Dry is a valuable piece of Oregon literature.
Author Bio
John Larison is a local Oregonian with great appreciation for the outdoors. During his childhood, his parents had worked on a National Geographic film in Eastern Oregon, meaning Larison spent loads of time with ranching families doing ranching activities. His biggest advice when writing about a place is that the best inspiration comes from firsthand experience. He highly encourages writers to take advantage of seeing the places they wish to write about. He is currently a professor at Oregon State University in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film. He also currently lives in Bellfountain, Oregon with his family.
Further Reading
John Larison, Northwest of Normal (2009)
- Takes place in a fictional mountain town in Oregon
John Larison, Holding Lies (2011)
- Murder mystery that takes place in general Pacific Northwest