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Oil Notes
Oil Notes is about the excitement of the earth below us, the passing of time, and where it is trapped, how it is discovered, and its gradual disappearance. Writing in the form of a journal, Rick Bass brings a lyric imagination to the oil geologist’s craft, measuring people’s short lives and relationships against the seemingly immutable history of the earth, showing mountains and forests that do not move while we are free to race across them, living our lives in the ultimate freedom of speed. To dig for oil is a way to dig deep into human experience, a kind of subterranean exploration of self. And nothing escapes this writer’s eye or imagination.
In lean, considered prose, Bass’s essays and notes offer fascinating insights into the oil industry while skillfully painting the picture of a young man on the verge of adulthood. Oil Notes successfully conveys the excitement of possibility—a stimulating career, the pursuit of a wonderful woman, the beautiful mystery of the earth—that so addresses and captivates us in our own lives.
Bass provides a new introduction for this edition reflecting how much—and how little—has changed since his youth in the oil industry.
In lean, considered prose, Bass’s essays and notes offer fascinating insights into the oil industry while skillfully painting the picture of a young man on the verge of adulthood. Oil Notes successfully conveys the excitement of possibility—a stimulating career, the pursuit of a wonderful woman, the beautiful mystery of the earth—that so addresses and captivates us in our own lives.
Bass provides a new introduction for this edition reflecting how much—and how little—has changed since his youth in the oil industry.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Rick Bass
99 books453 followersRick Bass was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up in Houston, the son of a geologist. He studied petroleum geology at Utah State University and while working as a petroleum geologist in Jackson, Mississippi, began writing short stories on his lunch breaks. In 1987, he moved with his wife, the artist Elizabeth Hughes Bass, to Montana’s remote Yaak Valley and became an active environmentalist, working to protect his adopted home from the destructive encroachment of roads and logging. He serves on the board of both the Yaak Valley Forest Council and Round River Conservation Studies and continues to live with his family on a ranch in Montana, actively engaged in saving the American wilderness.
Bass received the PEN/Nelson Algren Award in 1988 for his first short story, “The Watch,” and won the James Jones Fellowship Award for his novel Where the Sea Used To Be. His novel The Hermit’s Story was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year in 2000. The Lives of Rocks was a finalist for the Story Prize and was chosen as a Best Book of the Year in 2006 by the Rocky Mountain News. Bass’s stories have also been awarded the Pushcart Prize and the O. Henry Award and have been collected in The Best American Short Stories.
Bass received the PEN/Nelson Algren Award in 1988 for his first short story, “The Watch,” and won the James Jones Fellowship Award for his novel Where the Sea Used To Be. His novel The Hermit’s Story was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year in 2000. The Lives of Rocks was a finalist for the Story Prize and was chosen as a Best Book of the Year in 2006 by the Rocky Mountain News. Bass’s stories have also been awarded the Pushcart Prize and the O. Henry Award and have been collected in The Best American Short Stories.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 13, 2012
I give this book 10 stars. 10 of the best things, the best songs, the coldest stars, ten bottles of original Coke; our Elizabeth equivalents. 10 jars of oil lined up like promises that will keep.
Rick Bass talks about Oil in this book, Gas, Wildcats, the evils of Coal, old timey Creekology, but really it's the best love story. My favourite love story.
I've already lined up Christmas gifts of this book and if they don't care about the Geology, they will care about Jimbo the bully, Ann and Homer, Elizabeth's luck, imagined opium dens and the almost Map to Happiness.
When Rick isn't telling us about Oil, he's wanting to, and he wants to get it down to one sentence. I'm glad he couldn't, glad too that he dug up more of that ancient sea:
'The sea. Maybe when you look at the sea, at night. Have you ever done that? That is the same type of thought as knowing about oil and wanting somehow to get it out of the ground. Have you ever looked at the sea at night, when you could almost hear better than you could see?
So what do these journal notes on Oil do for the reader? What don't they? They sharpen the hunger in you, even if you don't know what for.
'Your heart is beating as you read this. You have a pulse. The words on this page are sitting flat on it and are not moving, will not move, after you close this book.'
Rick Bass talks about Oil in this book, Gas, Wildcats, the evils of Coal, old timey Creekology, but really it's the best love story. My favourite love story.
I've already lined up Christmas gifts of this book and if they don't care about the Geology, they will care about Jimbo the bully, Ann and Homer, Elizabeth's luck, imagined opium dens and the almost Map to Happiness.
When Rick isn't telling us about Oil, he's wanting to, and he wants to get it down to one sentence. I'm glad he couldn't, glad too that he dug up more of that ancient sea:
'The sea. Maybe when you look at the sea, at night. Have you ever done that? That is the same type of thought as knowing about oil and wanting somehow to get it out of the ground. Have you ever looked at the sea at night, when you could almost hear better than you could see?
So what do these journal notes on Oil do for the reader? What don't they? They sharpen the hunger in you, even if you don't know what for.
'Your heart is beating as you read this. You have a pulse. The words on this page are sitting flat on it and are not moving, will not move, after you close this book.'
July 31, 2015
I've never rated a book based upon the impromptu book mark found inside the used copy I bought for $2, but in this case it actually is such a perfect pairing that they both get 4 stars. The bookmark is actually a pamphlet titled "1991 Kentucky Fishing Digest" and details the major regulations for freshwater sport fishing. The back cover illustrates the differences between Kentucky Spot, Smallmouth, and Largemouth Bass. I can only imagine the individual who read this book selecting this bookmark randomly, by chance, on the fly, straight off the dash of his Ford truck. That's what this book is about basically. The serendipity between things of the natural world and those of our creation.
Secondly, in some cosmic bang, the day I started this book, Larry Brown's piece in the very first Oxford American came across my eyes and he starts it off by explaining he had just finished reading the very book I had just started. Boom.....straight from the grave, a syringe of drug straight into my veins.
It's all done by a favorite author- an author who contrasts lots of interesting seemingly opposite vantages. Things like being an environmentalist who works as a geologist that is addicted to getting all the oil he can out of the earth (the author in this case). Things like living a health focused life which is fueled by dive bar barbecue and a lack of sleep. Things like writing and geology. Love of another who can't quite commit to marriage but also the fear of being more in love alone. In the end, he finds solace, and love, and meaning, and purpose. Through not only nature, but also leverage of how it all fits together. Go get that oil Rick.......get that damn oil.
Secondly, in some cosmic bang, the day I started this book, Larry Brown's piece in the very first Oxford American came across my eyes and he starts it off by explaining he had just finished reading the very book I had just started. Boom.....straight from the grave, a syringe of drug straight into my veins.
It's all done by a favorite author- an author who contrasts lots of interesting seemingly opposite vantages. Things like being an environmentalist who works as a geologist that is addicted to getting all the oil he can out of the earth (the author in this case). Things like living a health focused life which is fueled by dive bar barbecue and a lack of sleep. Things like writing and geology. Love of another who can't quite commit to marriage but also the fear of being more in love alone. In the end, he finds solace, and love, and meaning, and purpose. Through not only nature, but also leverage of how it all fits together. Go get that oil Rick.......get that damn oil.
October 14, 2022
We figured out some time ago that Bass is Wallis, Wallis with his ear to the ground in “Where the Sea Used to Be.” Here’s your further proof.
“The sea. Maybe when you look at the sea, at night. Have you ever done that? That is the same type of thought as knowing about oil and wanting somehow to get it out of the ground. Have you ever looked at the sea at night, when you could almost hear better than you could see?”
“The sea. Maybe when you look at the sea, at night. Have you ever done that? That is the same type of thought as knowing about oil and wanting somehow to get it out of the ground. Have you ever looked at the sea at night, when you could almost hear better than you could see?”
January 7, 2013
If you are a person that appreciates (or needs) the world to be as it is, without euphemisms, without zealousness, then you’ll appreciate Rick Bass’ writing. Bass strives to pull off the layers that life uses to cover itself up. Political rhetoric intended to pacify, positive spins intended to manipulate, romantic sentiments intended to persuade, are all left somewhere outside of the front and back covers of Oil Notes, and what remains are hard little diamonds of reality.
At face value Oil Notes eludes to its own realities by describing the geological layers, strata, and formations that trap the elusive prize of oil far below the surface of our planet. Continue deeper into the book, however, and the universal nature of Bass’ stories becomes apparent. By the end, the reader is left with a certain amount of satisfaction that life is actually the way we perceive it to be, even though seeing it as such can be, at times, as difficult as finding oil.
At face value Oil Notes eludes to its own realities by describing the geological layers, strata, and formations that trap the elusive prize of oil far below the surface of our planet. Continue deeper into the book, however, and the universal nature of Bass’ stories becomes apparent. By the end, the reader is left with a certain amount of satisfaction that life is actually the way we perceive it to be, even though seeing it as such can be, at times, as difficult as finding oil.
February 2, 2020
This one sure snuck up on me. I'm interested enough in Bass' prose as it is, and tagging along for his field work drew me in... but I wasn't expecting something that led me to meditate on time, love, happiness, and time on earth. But it did.
April 1, 2023
“I am fascinated with leaves these days. It is fall, and they are turning nicely this year. They give the trees, plum and pear and apple and oak, hickory, cottonwood, elm and willow, what seems to be the most tempting of messages. I want to stare, I feel like there’s something I’m missing that’s right in front of my face, but also if I stare too long and still fail to see it, the leaves will give up on me and stop trying to show me. So I watch out of the corners of my eyes. I feel very humbled.”
Funny odd little book about oil, wells, geology, nature, love, and life. Extremely interesting, clever, and poetic language.
Funny odd little book about oil, wells, geology, nature, love, and life. Extremely interesting, clever, and poetic language.
Read
April 15, 2024more than just oil
October 4, 2007
LITERATURE IN HARD HAT
You can almost feel Rick Bass' concentration as he weighs each and every word before adding it to this sparkling little journal. The resulting prose is lean and edgy, fresh as the air after rain. I savored the writing in these essays almost as much as I enjoyed the bits of life-wisdom found a dash here and a pinch there.
No matter how intriguing, these elements are relegated to the status of sub-currents within the framework. On the surface, Bass treats the reader to a large helping of fascinating details about the oil business, and it was this that first attracted me.
Of course, as I read the author began to make contact on a second level, and my interests shifted. Years later, original motive no longer relevant, I enjoyed Oil Notes again. There is much to be learned here. Bass seemes to be that rare creature; the sensitive male. I'm not sure, but now that I've read it several times, I think maybe some of it might be about to rub off.
Art Tirrell is the author of "The Secret Ever Keeps", "...Simply put, the best underwater scenes I've ever read..." Meg W., reviewer. For the full review and other praise, go to: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601...
You can almost feel Rick Bass' concentration as he weighs each and every word before adding it to this sparkling little journal. The resulting prose is lean and edgy, fresh as the air after rain. I savored the writing in these essays almost as much as I enjoyed the bits of life-wisdom found a dash here and a pinch there.
No matter how intriguing, these elements are relegated to the status of sub-currents within the framework. On the surface, Bass treats the reader to a large helping of fascinating details about the oil business, and it was this that first attracted me.
Of course, as I read the author began to make contact on a second level, and my interests shifted. Years later, original motive no longer relevant, I enjoyed Oil Notes again. There is much to be learned here. Bass seemes to be that rare creature; the sensitive male. I'm not sure, but now that I've read it several times, I think maybe some of it might be about to rub off.
Art Tirrell is the author of "The Secret Ever Keeps", "...Simply put, the best underwater scenes I've ever read..." Meg W., reviewer. For the full review and other praise, go to: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601...
January 20, 2016
Oil Notes by Rick Bass (Houghton Miflin 1989) (Biography). I like Rick Bass' style; I had never heard of this one until I found this copy in the free book bin outside the local used book store. What I read was bemusing. It's listed as a biography, but it's completely un-biographical. It's actually more like a collection of selected journal entries from a young - very young Rick Bass. This is a loosely-structured set of the selected musings of a young man who seems to desperately wish to be a writer but who has not yet found his voice. Bass was a transient petroleum geologist who was full of the windy and verbose pronouncements that only sound significantly profound (or worth preserving) to a young man (e.g., "...we will have spiced tea and popcorn"). I recognize such pronouncements, for I have notebooks filled with them from my early twenties. I say again, I like Rick Bass' work. If he's new to you, start with his later stuff. My rating: 4/10, finished 9/23/13.
June 3, 2016
I can't even with how much I loved this book. It was like reading my own brain. This could have been my life, if I had taken that potential job offer out of St. Louis. And had graduate 20 years earlier. And was a man. But other than that, if you want to know what my brain is like, read this one...a series of vignettes, notes, journal entries, that seem disconnected but if you map out the scraps, you can find the oil deposit (or the contaminated zone, in my case). The oil is oil, yes, but it's also so much else about life and meaning, buried deep under the surface. I devoured this book in one great gulp, not slowing to savor, but I've already started to re-read to really put that complete map together. Six, eight, ten stars if I could.
March 4, 2008
This book really hit home for me. Rick Bass wrote this collection of notes and essays while he was still a petroleum geologist working in the American South. He writes about the excitement and mystery of discovering finding out what is beneath our feet and the feelings someone goes through when they are away missing someone they love because they love their job.
December 30, 2015
What a nice little read. Who thought oil geology could be so poetic? A little bit of geology, some oil business, lots of love of life. Beautifully written. If only there was a bit more depth I would have gladly granted more stars.
August 13, 2012
This is one of my take-to-the-desert-island books. I loved this book and continue to love it. It inspired me. This book made me want to read anything and everything Rick Bass writes.
December 30, 2022
I enjoyed learning quite a bit about geology! The writing style at times was very disjointed and hard to follow.. I understand this was intentional, as it was Rick’s stream of consciousness. Some of the more reflective moments, about his life on the farm, and details, such as his relationship with Elizabeth with nature and preserving the Coke recipe, was my favorite.
August 8, 2023
Lovely look into the mind of a young Rick Bass when he was still working as an oil seeking geologist - we contain multitudes. An honest book.
August 13, 2016
Mes camarades d'université qui n'ont aucune idée du contenu de mes lectures, en en voyant uniquement les titres en passant, se sont probablement dressé un portrait absurde de moi. J'imagine parfois leurs pensées: "La pêche à la truite aux USA? Le livre du yak? Désert solitaire? Petit oiseau? Et maintenant des notes sur l'huile? Et puis quoi encore? Les recettes aux poivrons rouges des bisons cuisiniers de Sibérie?"
Tout ça pour présenter ma lecture de Oil Notes de Rick Bass, me direz-vous. Oui, j'ai tendance à passer du grand-duc au bison dans mes lectures. Mais le fil conducteur du moment est reste le Nature Writing des États-Unis....
Donc Oil Notes est bel est bien dans le thème. Quoi que... les dix premières pages m'ont laissée quelque peu interloquée. Je savais bien que Rick Bass était géologue et avait pratiqué son art dans la recherche du pétrole. Mais j'avoue c'est le sourcil froncé que je rentrée dans le sujet.
La forme de ce petit tome semble prendre la forme des recherches de Bass à l'époque, d'un terrain à l'autre, d'une strate à l'autre, des "notes" d'apparences sans lien entrecoupées de petits bonheurs amoureux avec Elizabeth, sa future femme qui semble sans cesse en mouvement et refuse de se laisser saisir complètement, d'instants et de détails de la nature, de chiens croqués et de multiples incidents automobiles. Le contraste entre Bass et sa femme, du point de vue du mouvement, est frappant: elle semble toujours active et pour lui, le mouvement semble déclencher un départ de son esprit vers des humeurs rêveuses - d'où les incidents automobiles surréalistes...)
Je me suis en fin de compte rapidement laissée gagner par la passion infectieuse de Rick Bass pour la géologie, les mouvements millénaires de la terre, sa magie (il insiste, pour un géologue, localiser possible un réservoir de pétrole et que celui-ci se révèle riche est de l'ordre de la magie), sa fascination pour la nature et son enthousiasme pour chaque instant qu'il vit.
On sent au-delà de cette passion pour le pétrole un esprit critique écologique, bien plus prononcé dans ses œuvres suivantes, et une réflexion sur la surconsommation, le gaspillage et l'enrichissement au profit des autres et de l'environnement.
Il effleure aussi de nombreuses réflexions plus philosophiques, le bonheur, l'amour, la simplicité... il effleure et réussit encore une fois à me faire choisir sans escale chez un autre auteur, de poursuivre mon voyage naturaliste en sa compagnie avec Winter: Notes from Montana.
Voilà qui va encore faire râler le reste de mes livres en attente...
Tout ça pour présenter ma lecture de Oil Notes de Rick Bass, me direz-vous. Oui, j'ai tendance à passer du grand-duc au bison dans mes lectures. Mais le fil conducteur du moment est reste le Nature Writing des États-Unis....
Donc Oil Notes est bel est bien dans le thème. Quoi que... les dix premières pages m'ont laissée quelque peu interloquée. Je savais bien que Rick Bass était géologue et avait pratiqué son art dans la recherche du pétrole. Mais j'avoue c'est le sourcil froncé que je rentrée dans le sujet.
La forme de ce petit tome semble prendre la forme des recherches de Bass à l'époque, d'un terrain à l'autre, d'une strate à l'autre, des "notes" d'apparences sans lien entrecoupées de petits bonheurs amoureux avec Elizabeth, sa future femme qui semble sans cesse en mouvement et refuse de se laisser saisir complètement, d'instants et de détails de la nature, de chiens croqués et de multiples incidents automobiles. Le contraste entre Bass et sa femme, du point de vue du mouvement, est frappant: elle semble toujours active et pour lui, le mouvement semble déclencher un départ de son esprit vers des humeurs rêveuses - d'où les incidents automobiles surréalistes...)
Je me suis en fin de compte rapidement laissée gagner par la passion infectieuse de Rick Bass pour la géologie, les mouvements millénaires de la terre, sa magie (il insiste, pour un géologue, localiser possible un réservoir de pétrole et que celui-ci se révèle riche est de l'ordre de la magie), sa fascination pour la nature et son enthousiasme pour chaque instant qu'il vit.
On sent au-delà de cette passion pour le pétrole un esprit critique écologique, bien plus prononcé dans ses œuvres suivantes, et une réflexion sur la surconsommation, le gaspillage et l'enrichissement au profit des autres et de l'environnement.
Il effleure aussi de nombreuses réflexions plus philosophiques, le bonheur, l'amour, la simplicité... il effleure et réussit encore une fois à me faire choisir sans escale chez un autre auteur, de poursuivre mon voyage naturaliste en sa compagnie avec Winter: Notes from Montana.
Voilà qui va encore faire râler le reste de mes livres en attente...
May 11, 2012
Easy-going, enthusiastic diary entries from a young man who loves his work (finding oil and writing). It has quite a bit to teach the layperson about what it means and what it's like to be a geologist and work in the petroleum field, but it spices up the hard facts with quirky stories and whimsical digressions. A surprisingly breezy and fun read for the topic. Great introduction in the 2012 edition too.
May 8, 2010
Bass writes good short stories, but this book is about his previous career as an engineer for a large oil company amongst other things...I recommend reading this book then going out and throwing empty coke bottles against the side of a barn...
May 27, 2013
so thankful this was recommended to me some years ago - it's such a beautiful description of love. (I know... doesn't look like it from the cover, but trust me... ) it's like coming-of-age biography meets love story meets environmental conscience... I mean, how can you beat that??!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews