Rose City Audition: Stories from My Portland Adventure

What do snuggle parties defiant chickens black spot autism and Buddhism have in common? They permeate the authors frevent quest to become a Portlander.Over forty years ago a story about Portlands local currency the greenbucks inspired M. J. Coreil to set her sights on the Rose City. When she finally arrived in 2012 recently retired from academia she discovered the story was bogus. Would everything she expected of this blue-green paradise turn out illusory as well? This collection of essays written over a five-year sojourn chronicles the authors audition to become an authentic Portlander. The stories reveal the humor elation and wounds of her zealous pursuit to build community and achieve a sense of belonging. Along the way she discovers the snobbery of neighborhoods competition in volunteering trauma in chicken raising the politics of snuggle parties and the wisdom of Buddhism. She finds disquieting mementos of the maligned previous owner of the house she inhabits. Being somewhere on the autism spectrum complicates her efforts to make friends and connect with groups. Her reflections underscore the challenge of putting down roots in a new city and explore what it means to belong somewhere. Unlike media caricatures of Portland Rose City Audition reveals insights observations and amusing takes on local life by an anthropologist who cant help but see the world through an ethnographic lens. Her account blends serious commentary engaging story-telling and dry wit to paint a nuanced portrait of life in the progressive Promised Land. Taken together the collection offers a wide-ranging look at community alternative lifestyles philosophical questions like what it means to find or forge home quirks of Portland and flashes of autobiography. The stories demonstrate a dogged willingness to try new things discover new facets of life around her and subject herself even to environments and situations that make her uncomfortable in an effort to learn about her surroundings gain authenticity and come to feel a genuine stake in the place.The writing is clear and straightforward at times lyrical or humorous conveying changes in mood from one encounter to another. The tone of the essays reflects different purposes. For example Soul Repair is sensory and experiential a dreamy interlude of reflection while The Specter of Michael Hewitt narrates a suspenseful detective story. Snuggling with Peers takes a polemical stance on societal acceptance of snuggle parties. The satires use tongue-in-cheek humor to lampoon local culture. The Springwater Corridor combines Zen-like description of a natural setting with journalistic reportage of the homelessness problem. Chickenmania weaves an introspective journey with a nuts-and-bolts account of chicken keeping. The collection captures the multiplicity of engagement and emotion experienced by someone auditioning to become part of an adopted city.Each essay is illustrated by one or more photographs taken by the author in Portland. In keeping with the Rose City theme of the collection most images are flowers in poses that metaphorically convey the mood of the essay. Other photos realistically illustrate an essays topic such as shots of the chickens and their coop in Chickenmania.