Image used with permission from publisher

The book is a collection of 11 short stories, mostly set in Montana and the American West. It was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2009 by The New York Times Book Review, along with one of the Los Angeles Times Favorite Fiction Books of the Year. It was also listed on Amazon.com’s Top Ten Story Collections of 2009.

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 First-Year Reading Essay Contest  

We are pleased to announce the winners in both categories of the First-year Reading Experience Essay Contest. This year, students were invited to submit in two categories:  Scholarly Analytical and Personal Reflection. The many strong submissions in each category evidence students' insightful engagement with the first-year book, Maile Meloy’s Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It. 

Mercedes Becker’s essay "Go Fish. Find Yourself.” is the winning essay in the Scholarly Analytical Essay category.

Rebecca Collins’s essay "Siamese Twins" is the winning essay in the Personal Reflection Essay category.

In Maile Meloy’s collection of short stories, Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It, flawed and vulnerable characters experience conflicting desires, and they struggle to find their way. Meloy’s stories demonstrate that having it both ways comes with both satisfaction and costs, and that life sometimes gives us impossible choices.

As part of the events and activities surrounding the First-Year Reading Experience, we invite first-year students to submit 750-1250 word essays in one or both of the following categories: (1) the scholarly/analytical essay or (2) the personal reflection essay. A cash prize of $250 will be awarded to the writer of the best, most compelling essay in each category; the essays themselves (with the authors’ permission) will be posted to the First-Year Reading Experience webpage. Students are limited to one entry per category.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRY:
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

The purpose is to provide new students a common connection through a thought-provoking book.  Every year, a committee of faculty, staff and students at The University of Montana select a book from nominations submitted by the entire campus community. The program is not mandatory but it is highly encouraged to help prepare students for their academic life on campus. 

Some classes may include it as a textbook and others may simply refer to it, but students will always be told when they receive the syllabus and will have ample time for any mandatory reading.  There is also a wonderful writing contest with a cash prize for students’ essays about the book.  This year, the author of the book will come to campus to present a free lecture about the book and conduct an exclusive forum for students to ask questions.  The book is available online from the bookstore or when students arrive on campus. 

We believe that books forge powerful bonds and we are excited to begin the discussions this year!

Photo courtesy of the author

Come listen to Maile Meloy during her visit to UM!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012: Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It

8:00 p.m., in the George and Jane Dennison Theatre. UM is delighted to welcome the author to campus.  Don’t miss the opportunity to hear her speak!

Thursday, October 18, 012: Student Forum

11:10 a.m., UC Theater. Students are invited to a morning session with the author.  Bring questions!

Books

Meloy, Maile. Apothecary. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2011.

---. Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It. New York: Riverhead, 2009.

---. Family Daughter: A Novel. New York: Scribner, 2006.

---. Half in Love: Stories. New York: Scribner, 2002.

---. Liars and Saints: A Novel. New York: Scribner, 2003.

Essays and Narrative

Meloy, Maile. “The Books that Changed Me.” The Sun-Herald 16 Oct. 2011: 4.

---. "Hot Or Cold." New Yorker 79.40 (2003): 76.

---. “Landscape with Figures: The Georgic in Montana Literature.” Writing Montana: Literature Under the Big Sky. Eds. Newby, Rick, and Suzanne Hunger. Helena, MT: Montana Center for the Book, 1996. 249-272.

---. "Reading and Its Rewards." New York Times 31 July 2011: 9.

---. "Swimming to Montana." New York Times 15 Aug. 2003: 29.