Author Bass's account of life in Montana's Yaak Valley is a crowning achievement in his career. It begins with his family settling in for the long Montana winter, and captures all the harbingers of change that mark each passing month--the initial cruel teasing of spring, the splendor and fecundity of summer, and the bittersweet memories evoked by fall. It is full of rich observation about what it takes to live in the valley--ruggedness, improvisation and, of course, duct tape. Bass emerges not just as a writer but as a father, a neighbor, and a gifted observer, uniquely able to bring us close to the drama and sanctity of small things, ensuring that though the wilderness is increasingly at risk, the voice of the wilderness will not disappear.--From publisher description.