Annie Proulx and the gift of “Brokeback Mountain”
On October 13th, 1997—exactly twenty-five years ago—The New Yorker published Brokeback Mountain, a short story by Pulitzer-winning writer Annie Proulx. “Brokeback Mountain” is a bittersweet love story about two cowboys; Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar.
The story dutifully follows Jack and Ennis’s twenty-year relationship from when it blossomed during a ranching gig in 1963 at the fictional “Brokeback Mountain” range, to the duo reconnecting after four years with both men now married to women.
Jack is married to “a cute little old Texas girl down in Childress” called Lureen and Ennis to Alma Beers. From there, we follow them through Ennis’s divorce and separation from his kids, down to the “fishing trips” that took them back to Brokeback Mountain, and finally to Jack’s death.Annie Proulx’s mastery of American rural life shines through in “Brokeback Mountain”; the breathtaking mountain ranges, the undulating plains of Wyoming, and the ruggedness of American cowboy life leap off the pages.
Most importantly, she introduced us to one of the most exquisitely written characters in literature: Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar.
