I don’t know if you’ve read The Beans of Egypt Maine. I did—years ago. And I really liked it.

I remember reading something about it, forgetting the title, and then accidentally buying (and reading) that Dorothy Allison book instead. (Yeesh.)

A couple of years later, though, I found the real deal. I remember it being a bit bleak, but the language was strong and straight ahead. Good sentences.

There’s a really good article about Chute in The New York Times.

That’s her holding what looks like an AK-47. Her husband is a sculptor who never learned how to read. (Also, if you look closely at the photo of the two of them, he kind of looks younger than his giant gray beard suggests. It’s his eyes.) They have an anti-corporate militia. She still writes on a typewriter. They have a sign on their property that suggests one stay away: “Woa. Visitors Turn Back.”

They also have a bunch of Scottish Terriers. I don’t know why, but that strikes me as the weirdest part of the story.